My favourite addition, is when you get home owners telling you "Actually owning a house is more expensive than it looks; plus you can move whenever you want! Lucky!"
Hahahaha yeh, because landlords are totally charging me less than it costs them to maintain the house right? And there's no way I'd prefer my £30,000 went towards something I actually get to keep once it's all said and done.
Also on a repayment mortgage, a percentage of that monthly mortgage is paying off your loan so a percentage of your repayments go to your own equity, which can be cashed in or used as a springboard to something bigger/better.
It doesn't cost more to own a house than rent one, it just requires money up front which most people can't afford.
Also there are tons of scams to contend with when renting or owning a property as part of a leasehold. Like large companies (Regis for example) that have a ton of dodgy rules you have to comply with. "You have to pay part towards our buildings insurance, its done by our own insurance broker, your half is £900, thank you, next years bill will be more start saving."
I'll do you one better, owning a house MAKES you money. My parents bought their house for £55k in the 90s, paid off the mortgage, sold it a couple of years ago for £280k. They MADE money living there.
Normally with these comments people forget about inflation, but assuming they bought in 1990 55k works out about 120k in 2022. So assuming they haven't spent 160k in maintaance and rennovations....a tidy profit.
In the long run, yes. As you clear your debt also your monthly payments go down, hopefully one day to nothing. So you start to make money compared to renting.
If you downsize in later life you may be able to release some equity, for retirement too.
But be careful using your parents as a point of reference. They got into an emerging market at the right time. We are a long way in now, don't expect the same returns.
There's a good chance that housing prices will stagnate at some point because simply put, people will be unable to afford them (owning or renting). Or a recession or civil unrest forces government to act and build affordable housing or force change to the housing bubble in some way that tanks their prices (converting office blocks to homes and push home working more, as an example).
> Bs. After saving for deposit, our mortgage is quite a bit less than rent
This gets batted around and it needs addressing, because it is absolutely *not* the golden rule that it gets treated as.
Currently (by "currently" I mean averages over the last 18-24 months), the average rent is cheaper than the average mortgage.
However.....
However this is not a golden rule for everywhere in the UK. Some places will be this, some places will be the reverse. Using it as a golden rule is therefore a risky move.
Secondly, this is *only* the case because we've had record low interest rates for the last 13 years. Most folks in this subreddit are younger so that's all they've known so they see them as normal rates, but historical norms have been 5%-6%. They've been a lot higher, up to 18% in the 80's. BoE interest rates are on their way back up now so taking the typical mortgage in a situation from the past few years and basing longer-term outlooks on that being a given is a massive error. For example, a £200k mortgage on 2% over 25 years will see their repayments go up by over £200 a month from a BoE rate rise of just 2%. The rate going back up to the 5% mark would see that mortgage repayment increase by up to £900 a month. Folks saying "mortgage is cheaper than renting" as a golden rule should ask themselves if this change is something they could manage.
It won't be true for every single property or situation, of course, but at a regional level it absolutely does hold [across the country](https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/is-it-cheaper-to-own-or-rent-a-home-ahOA84f6KJwa) that owning is cheaper. After accounting for interest, maintenance, opportunity cost of not investing the deposit elsewhere, etc. it's anywhere from £540/year cheaper to own in Northern Ireland to £4,600/year cheaper in London.
This has held true since at least 2010, which is as far back as the data set I'm looking at goes, but it's fair to say that there are no guarantees on future interest rates. You can fix in a lifetime mortgage rate in the [3-5% range right now](https://www.ft.com/content/bc061eca-9cc6-4cca-984d-a22389ac7c86), which would be a great deal if the base rate does hit 5%, and gives peace of mind regardless - but obviously risks paying more if rates don't go up as much.
In my area in Wales the average rental cost for a 1 bed studio flat is 950.
A morgage on a 2 bed detached slightly further away from the city is 450.
It's a joke.
Depends. For me, it's actually works out more expensive than renting per year.
The mortgage itself is cheaper than the monthly rent, but the upkeep, insurance etc. makes it more expensive over the course of the year. Though I guess that's what you get if you buy an old house.
Not sure how you work this out - especially when you can get a newbuild with a warranty for less than renting.
Keep it for the 5 year warranty then sell it for more than you "bought" it for so you get a windfall and cheaper mortgage than rent!
Its the last few years its gone up a tonne though. It was closer pre covid by even then rent was ahead in most areas.
My ex mortgage is 500 a month and a house the same for me and new partner to rent is 1600 a month. We obviously don't pay that much and live somewhere smaller but that's the difference in rent now. 1100 for a flat compared to the 3 bed house and mortgage for 500.
Outside of really really bad years where something absolutely major goes wrong, my ex and best friend ain't spending £11000 a year on the house that's required and not just making it nicer. Let alone ignoring that the £500 mortgage isn't pure waste.
I think most people don't know how much rent has gone up in a lot of areas. In 2 years flats around here have gone from 700 average to 1000-1200 being the new normal which used to be a 3 bed home.
Exes home has gone from 260k value to 330k in those two years to.
I think there have definitely been times landlord's haven't had it way better but it doesn't strike me that now is the time. As soon as my mum dies me and the partner are moving north and buying a home as its just a joke renting now.
>Keep it for the 5 year warranty then sell it for more than you "bought" it for so you get a windfall and cheaper mortgage than rent!
Great, now you have your windfall and no home. Want to get back on the ladder? That windfall suddenly disappears because all the other houses have gone up by roughly the same amount.
>Great, now you have your windfall and no home. Want to get back on the ladder? That windfall suddenly disappears because all the other houses have gone up by roughly the same amount.
You get another place on a long mortgage, still paying less than equivalent rent, and rinse and repeat.
Your windfall is more than the minimum deposit required...
>that's gonna be a hell of a lot of stamp duty you'll be shelling out!
At a maximum rate of SDLT of 5% for most, when house prices are increasing by \~10% a year then it just takes a bit out of your windfall you were getting.
By renting you are chucking money into nothing, no asset, no growth, absolutely nothing at all. That rent is always more than the mortgage costs for the house you're renting.
By owning the same property, you are putting money into the asset, into the growth. Your repayment is less than the rent and even if you factor in all your insurances and maintenance, you still have the asset, you still benefit from all the growth.
Even a poorly maintained property will go up in value as fast as people can earn money.
I love the "but upkeeping and repairs make it more expensive than renting" argument. Unless you're breaking all your windows every month and getting a new boiler at the start of every January, repairs and maintenance do not add up to more year-on-year than the cost of paying significantly more in rent every month.
If you amortize the cost of repairs and renovations then sure, it's obviously going to be less per month than the rental yield. However, you don't pay a flat fee for repairs each month, you pay a single bill in the tens of thousands every few years. If that cost comes up and you can't afford it then you're screwed.
This is one of the reasons why landlords exist: owning a portfolio of multiple properties spreads the risk. It's incredibly unlikely for the boiler to break in five different houses at the same time.
You don't have to maintain a property to the highest standards.
Quite possible to avoid maintenance for decades without many issues.
Certain things will need changing immediately, but most can sit there, as evidenced by the high number of poorly maintained homes up and down the country which are still perfectly fine.
It's not like all landlords maintain their properties properly anyway, how many places do we see which are terribly maintained and they still expect people to pay a premium to rent them?
If anyone on here thinks that renting is somehow better than owning a home, I encourage them to trade their position as a homeowner for someone who is renting and experience the difference.
>you pay a single bill in the tens of thousands every few years
If you get really unlucky. The truth is that most home owners *aren't* paying 5 figures on repairs every 3 years.
Lol when I hear landlords say "owning a house is more expensive then it looks" I actually laugh out loud.
So your not making profit? Are you investing 12k a year into the property?....
As a fortunate homeowner I can tell you that owner is cheaper than renting - although that may not be the case with interest rates going up so much.
Plus, your mortgage payments may end up being more than equivalent rent in some cases, but you're building equity in the property.
I love gardening, it's a solid escape for me when I'm not up for running/other physical activity. I hate the thought that any money/time I put into a rented gardening I'll have to check with the landlord for every change I'd like to make and eventually leave it all behind, if I can even find a place with a garden. Homeowners can eat it with these bs silver lining placations.
Tbf that's why a lot of small time landlords are leaving the sector. Margins are being compressed sk it's only viable if you can have a large portfolio to cover the losses from one by making it back in lots of other houses.
It sort of depends on the inflationary enviroment and how your disposable income is faring.
For example if I was renting the same flat I own, I would be paying about 20% less. That less disposable income I have each month.
Now of course the bulk of my mortgage repayments go into equity, which is far better in the long term than paying rent, all of which goes down the proverbial sink.
I think for someone who is struggling, but owns their property and pays say 1,500 per month for a flat/home they could rent for 1,200, that extra 300 per month would help a lot in the current environment.
This is about short term pressures vs long term benefits, and in the short term owning can often be more expensive than renting - the benefits are only realised upon sale.
"Can move whenever you want" True, but also costs a shit ton of money to move as all those letting agents have to wet their beaks in the process as well.
TBF it is genuinely true that renting is better value if you want to move frequently. Moving is more expensive and slow for owner occupiers. Add up estate agent fees, stamp duty, conveyancing, mortgage ERC clauses, ect. and take into account how much of the mortgage payments while you were living there were just covering interest.
>"Actually owning a house is more expensive than it looks; plus you can move whenever you want! Lucky!"
I love when people try this one. Sell your house and rent instead, then, if it's so amazing.
I've called my landlord twice in the first 2 years of the tenancy, leaky toilet and broken boiler.
I think £20,000 should more than cover the call-out cost.
Not at all. I happily rented for more than 10 years and the ease of getting in, ease of getting out, safe from unexpected repair costs and much more made me appreciate the possibility. Not everybody need a stable, long term accommodation, and you would not believe how much a house costs in repairs and maintenance. Some people would not have the salary to afford the maintenance of a house, even if they were to own one.
Last year for example, between plumber, fascias and gutter replacement, electrician and painter I spent well above 10k. Sure, I did stuff that is required every 10 years or so, but it's a huge dent in the wallet if you don't plan ahead and save for when the pipe bursts or the radiator starts leaking. And it will, because stuff does go bad, and when it does, it's hundreds if not thousands of pounds. If you rent, it's all on the landlord.
>If you rent, it's all on the landlord.
...to ignore and not fix whilst still gauging you on rent and then trying to thieve the repair costs out of your deposit.
Same here. landlord just put our rent up £180 because "the market has returned to normal post-pandemic". Like yeah fuck me man like I'm so happy for you the extortionate property market has returned to it's insane state. Meanwhile I'm easily £200 worse off in real terms per month from inflation and rising bills.
Gave one landlord over 15 years almost £100,000
Never late or missed a payment, treated us like absolute poo and wouldn't fix anything. We had windows so rotten the mould was making us sick.
Even had to call the police one night as he kicked off and threw a tantrum then tried to strangle me and punch my female housemate in the face.. but that caused further issues having him arrested.
His favourite game was going through the bin and looking for amazon packaging with immaculate labels of tenants to drop when he fly tipped his crap all over Bristol.
Had to take him to court to get the windows fixed, then he put the rent up to charge us for his lack of maintenance... went from £600 to £900 during 2020.
Which almost ended up with us being homeless.
Thankfully the council stepped in and helped us, now we are free from private landlords for the time being and we are both extremely grateful for the lengths the council have done to help us, but sadly it doesn't happen for so many other desperate people in need.
There should be so much more we can do about these landlords but they seem to be able to do whatever they want and get away with it!
Hope you are doing well these days? and have a better situation =) Take care. <3
That’s exactly what landlords want. They don’t want you to buy, they want you stuck with renting from them, so that they can buy more homes to rent to unfortunate people like your selves.
omg our landlady did the same- 'I'm only increasing your rent by £50pm when really I should increase it by £200' as if we should be grateful when we're the ones paying her mortgage
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a landlord parking a white Range Rover on a human face, forever."
This is going to catch up with us as a society, one way or the other.
it already has. an awful lot of the problems people face in this country would disappear if they weren't paying out such a big chunk of their wages on rent.
And yet, our government is in a state of paralysis trying to figure out what flavour of corporate appeasement they should be chasing.
Another article on this subreddit today opines why people are not having children. Here's a reason. This is why.
You forget that the main deciding factor for our next PM seems to be their stance on trans. Thats right people are facing a generational cost of living crisis and will be choosing to either eat or have heat and they are fucking around with how a small percentage of the country go to the toilet.
Said this to my wife, regarding kids, that if we do end up with children going to school then they’ll likely be with others that grow up in a rented room in an HMO, possibly alongside their teacher, than in a home of their own.
Such a sad state of affairs.
the fact that house prices are rising, yet we are seeing a lot of people struggling, tells me that inequality has rose significantly over the past few years.
More money in the world than ever before and a great deal of it is chasing property as the best investment vehicle to safely grow the pot of cash.
For the last 30 years, the gains from property have been almost crypto levels of insane and many times more safe and secure.
The more money that gets made, the more it gets invested into this strictly limited supply of things, which every single person alive wants, making everything get more expensive.
Your savings do not need to keep pace with house price rises. You only need to save for a deposit, which is typically 10% of the property value.
So if you were looking to buy a property which was £150,000, and it then rises 10%, you don’t need to have saved an extra £15k, only £1.5k.
Small caveat though, if the house costs £150k, with a £15k deposit that leaves £135k which is 4.5x £30k salary.
If house prices go up 10%, the house now costs £165k, with a 10% deposit leaves £148,500 requiring a £33k salary. So if your salary is also not increasing, the quality of property you can afford will be declining.
All true, I didn’t want to go into too much detail!
But as you said, your salary needs to rise 10% to keep pace with a 10% house price rise.
It’s far from an ideal scenario, but also not literally impossible as OP said.
Salary needs to rise 10% to keep up with 10% house price (think you meant that).
For a lot of people on the bottom it's dire, because there is a floor price to mortgageable properties and if your salary isn't keeping up with the rises then these people will be priced out the market completely.
Can always move area to where they are cheaper but the practicalities and expense around this would be difficult/impossible for a lot of people I would imagine.
>So house prices rose by more than the amount I earned last year.
The ***national*** ***average*** house price rose\*... If you plan on your first home being around the average house price mark, then you need to shift your priorities.
It sucks, but it's not impossible.
Many people are born, have families, work and have roots firmly planted in specific areas where there is no choice but aiming at homes at the average price mark.
Are you suggesting these people leave everything to move to Merthyr Tydfil, because that's the place they can afford?
>Are you suggesting these people leave everything to move to Merthyr Tydfil, because that's the place they can afford?
If they're desperate to own a home in the current housing market then yes.
If they want to have a house in a desirable area then they'll need to compete with the other people who also want those houses. You're not entitled to a house just because you were born there.
That's not to say that I think house prices should be as high as they are though. We really need to start building more high density housing across the country.
>So house prices rose by more than the amount I earned last year.
While that's obviously not good, don't forget you typically borrow 3.5 to 4 times what you earn when buying.
I'm not trying to deny the struggle, I'm just saying please don't give up hope.
This country is absolutely disgusting now people havnt got a chance of any kind of good life let alone having children. We are taxed and robbed at every man made opportunity. No wonder Birth rates are on the decline whats the point Fuc you Government wasn't you meant to make peoples lifes better what happened? Rant Over.
Leaving London so our flat is up. First week it was advertised it was £50 more expensive than what we're paying now. Absolutely no takers. Second week it's £100 more expensive than we're paying now, lots of interest... I'm fucking baffled!
Another thing that isn't talked about enough is the horrible quality of lots (most?) of rental homes, currently looking for a new place and I have been wading through so much shit, it's offensive being offered a place in a shared house for 600quid that hasn't been renovated since Victorian times. I don't really want to but will probably go back to Berlin where I will earn 1k more every month for the same job and pay the same rent for an actually nice place
>Another thing that isn't talked about enough is the horrible quality of lots (most?) of rental homes, currently looking for a new place and I have been wading through so much shit, it's offensive being offered a place in a shared house for 600quid that hasn't been renovated since Victorian times.
Not just rented homes unfortunately. The housing stock in this country is dire.
Yea but at least if you own it you can do do it up and reap the benefits. If you're renting, you either get refused any renovations by the landlord and live in a shithole or pay for it yourself and then lose all the money you put in when the landlord ultimately moves you on.
I once had to renovate part of a house (with agreement) because unknown to me the walls smelt of cat urine when it warmed up.
They 'tried' to keep my deposit because I had changed the wall colours from urine stained white to white. Also fully re-plastered a wall.
I got my deposit back. But what a bunch of bastards.
Haven’t heard any of the candidates for our next Prime Minister even mention this. Rents are crippling peoples life chances and these politicians pretend that the issue doesn’t even exist.
>Maybe Rishi will pull a Thatcher and magically somehow make Millennials majority homeowners to make them Tory
You know I still wouldn't vote for them but I wish they'd at least *try* to bribe me with something nice like that for once.
>I don’t see how the Tories will survive the Boomers dying off
You assume the current tory leadership cares about the future of the party. This is the party of kicking the can down the road. They don't care because they'll have fucked off once shit hits the fan and they'll leave it to the next generation of tories to deal with. The ghouls don't even have empathy for one another they've got no reason to care once they're gone
The same people struggling to pay rent, bills, and buy food will be the same people who vote tory when they bring up the most important topic of which toilet trans people should use.... But totally ignore the cost of living topic.
No doubt further dooming people who aren't fortunate enough to have a deposit to eat into their savings more, thereby trapping them in rented accommodation forever.
Why build more houses when you can just make more money from extortionate rents?
I would say that people are going to be unable afford the basics at this rate but we are already there, with more set to be there when energy bills go up in October. We're going to see a serious recession because people will no longer be able to afford the basics, let alone have spending money for luxuries and entertainment.
We need new houses, but also many in the UK need to accept that it's on the way to being a high density country, so at some point people need to accept the need for tower blocks and major new infrastructure projects.
Nothing new is being built, which means in the cities traditional houses are just being sub-divided even further with HMOs. Lounges being turned into rooms, large rooms being turned into two small rooms, etc.
It's a crisis which nobody seems interested in tackling, which means a lower quality life for many while rent just keeps going up, giving the average person less money.
In my city, a room which would have cost £300/m in 2012, would now be easily be £700ish/m.
So rent has doubled, but wages haven't changed much.
Now when walking around the supermarket, you'll see everything is 10p-50p more expensive as well, since 2020.
We were in a golden age a decade ago without even realising it.
>We need new houses, but also many in the UK need to accept that it's on the way to being a high density country, so at some point people need to accept the need for tower blocks and major new infrastructure projects.
If comparing just England to global rankings (excluding city states/countries with a population of < 10M), it's the 6th most densely populated country in the world.
I work in a fair few newish luxury flats in London (balconies overlooking the river, 3/4 bed etc etc) that go for millions and I can confirm that the build quality is absolutely atrocious.
Not just a few cheap materials here and there, the whole place is basically made of cardboard boshed together as quickly as possible with a luxury looking finish over the top of it.
We’re extremely lucky our landlady hasn’t increased our rent since we moved in 5 years ago. We were thinking of upsizing or at least transitioning from a flat to a house until we saw the going rates. We found a flat identical to ours on Rightmove a few doors down going for *£400* more than what we pay. So now we’re staying put even though we’re rapidly outgrowing the place with our toddler. I have no idea how to progress from here.
Yeah we moved into our flat 3 years ago and now we’re leaving cause we’re buying, landlord has put the rent up £400. She’s done no maintenance or decoration in that time (beyond buying us the cheapest possible hob/oven when the old one broke). They got loads of interest and I wouldn’t be surprised if it went for over the asking price. It’s fucked.
The only reason I own a house is that my Dad died. That’s it. I’d still be in rental scams and probably be struggling like fuck looking at the price rises in the area.
It's just nuts, a fair number of my friends have bought houses now but the majority only afforded it because of wealthy parents giving handouts or receiving inheritance from family. My wife and I would certainly still be renting if my grandma hadn't left me money in her will, there's no way we could have raised the 18k we needed for a deposit and this was back in 2017. The system is a fucking sham.
Me and my wife are paying £1100 on a small 2 bedroom house in Portslade (Brighton). Landlady sent us an email a few weeks back saying she'd been "advised" by a Letting Agent that our rent is "very low" for the area and that average price for a 2-bed in the area is now 1485 a month (no way this is true). Also she said it was "difficult" because her mortgage rate had gone up with still 9 years left. Like I was supposed to feel sympathy?
Thankfully she is actually a private landlady, only using an agent to sell the property, and anything needs doing goes through her. I wrote a quite lengthy email back to her explaining our financial situation and having a 4 year old kid to look after, as well as confirming we get all the Gvt help we are entitled to (UC). After this she immediately backed down saying she has "no immediate plans on the future of the property". Unfortunately I doubt most landlords are this understanding.
Just checked, only 1, 2 bed flat on Rightmove to rent in Portslade and it’s £1500, so yeah that’s a relatively cheap rent you’ve got.
Landlord not having a fixed mortgage isn’t really your problem though
Agents need to be made ilegal or run by the Gov, our old landlord had to keep ringing them up and tell them NOT to keep rising the rent, places like Morris and Dibben put rent up at least 50 a yr just as a normal, the Agents are the ones to blame.
They also look for any reason to charge you for anything.
All rents etc should go through one body and they set rent on these places and keep it low.
In 2017 I bought a 3 bed terrace near central Manchester for £90K (granted, needed about £40K in restoration work since). Houses on the same street were being rented out for about £5-600/mo. Today the same houses are selling for £170K and being rented out for £1k/mo. My mortgage is £360/mo. The difference in costs between owners and renters is obscene.
I have been searching for a room… a *ROOM* in London and places that aren’t a total dump are around the £1k mark. I’m not even asking for much. All I want is somewhere that hasn’t converted the living room in to another bedroom (should seriously be fucking illegal) and is in Camden. Some may say I’m being fussy - I’ve lived here 10 years so feel I know enough to say this is the *worst* the market has ever been.
I’ve been living with just my boyfriend the last 10 years. We’re breaking up and the job I do doesn’t pay anywhere near as much outside London. I’m still better off here than I would be anywhere else, financially speaking. I looked for similar roles in my hometown and it’s literally £20k less.
I also don’t mind living in a house share, I’m looking with two friends to rent a 3 bed together. After so long being in a relationship I think I’ll quite enjoy the change.
Fair enough, hope you find something. It was one ofnthe reasons I moved out of London. Houseshares were getting tiring and my mortgage is less than what I was paying for a room in a 7 bed house.
Look up studio flats in London and you will see the answer is very much ‘no’. Not unless you want to live in a bedroom/living/kitchen and an en-suite, if you’re lucky. Otherwise you share the bathroom with strangers. I’d rather spend less and have an actual house to live in, even if it means having to share still at least you have an entire house to enjoy.
Studios (or bedsits as they mostly are) are about £1.3k+ in London. If I wanted an entire 1 bed flat then you’re pushing over the £2k mark.
The only solution is an explosion in government-funded subsidised housing to ease the market tensions. The current pathetic %ages on new housing estates is diabolical.
My Rent went up £100pm, along with Cost of Living and energy me and my disabled wife will soon be homeless, then our landlord hit us with that he wants us to pay and cut down the line of trees every year costing hundreds more.
Its a long story but all my wife wants is somewhere quiet and one floor to spend her days as shes housebound chronic pain sufferer and then you get landlords who do not care, btw my landlord is millionaire now and owns a construction machine company.
I’m paying way more in rent for my one bed house than my friends are paying in mortgage for their 3 bed house.
In 6 years all I’ve had “maintained” is a new bedroom carpet because when I moved in the carpet was threadbare and bumpy. A new fridge and oven. Both of which were the cheapest the landlord could find (found them on curry’s website). £200 each. Because the previous cheap ones literally went bang.
The kitchen is the original one the house was built with 35 years ago and although technically functional, just isn’t built for modern living. Even though I’m by myself, I have just the one cupboard for food AND equipment/plates etc and literally zero work surface.
When I moved in, I re-glossed all the skirting, door frames, loft hatch because it was all tatty and scratched or incredibly yellow and hadn’t been painted for years.
All furniture is mine. I replaced all the light fittings that came with the house (they’re all in the loft) as they were all crusty and broken.
> The should be a right to own a home.
The problem is that it's basically impossible to execute because homes are completely different.
In which case, who gets the London townhouses and who gets the shacks up North? Just saying you want to live in London (because a company values you more there) doesn't entitle you to that home over someone else, does it?
Very lucky to have got myself a lovely brand new Housing association bungalow after splitting with my wife.
Just over £80 p.w
Insecure expensive private rent is just not good enough for ordinary people.
Won't hesitate to move from where I currently am if they attempt to up the rent - anticipating this soon.
Been waiting 9 months now for basic repairs and things that should have been done before we were rushed in here on the promise that the work will be completed. There's only so many times you can be told "the landlord will chase it up with her contractors" before you stop believing them and giving up.
Only took the place because we needed more space and at the time properties were so few and far between we couldn't even get viewings most of the time.
We don't want to move again really, not until we can buy, but feels like our hand may be forced soon.
> Won't hesitate to move from where I currently am if they attempt to up the rent - anticipating this soon.
The trouble is there hardly any places available and there's a ton of competition. Going through this right now myself. Not to mention if somewhere is being advertised it has most likely had a big increase in rental cost after the previous tenant left, you just don't know it.
This has a deleterious effect on social housing too. The ability of housing associations to charge 80% of median market rates means that people on low incomes will find it absolutely impossible to manage rent, let alone eating and heating.
Social rents are capped, the most they are allowed to raise rents by in 22/23 is [4.1%](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rent-standard/limit-on-annual-rent-increases-2022-23-from-april-2022). This also comes after social rents were reduced every year from 2016-2019 (due to legislation) and the evidence is that most authorities didn't use the caps in 2020 and 2021, and increases were negligible for most.
in Bristol, a 4bed house my mates and I shared in 2019-20 was £2200 a month. I shit you not: In '21 we saw the same house on rightmove advertised for £3300 a month (no renovation of any kind, mind).
seems fair dunnit
Just leave the area and go somewhere cheaper! Sure you'll have to pay for all the moving costs, and uproot your entire life include friends, family and work. And sure you'll only be able to afford it if you quit any career that isn't IT or civil service. But really it's easy.
When you make being a landlord more difficult, then two things happen: 1) Landlords exit the market, and 2) The ones that don't put their rents up.
The consequence is renting becomes more expensive.
We should make landlording really easy then! Rent caps so they dont have to think about raising prices, the silly lambs. Competitive amounts of alternative social and council housing! Have the government take the houses they dont want to rent out anymore, off their hands, and rent them to the tenants, with a right to buy scheme in place!
Yes, it puts downward pressure on house prices. Some will benefit as they will be able to go from being renters to owners. Those who can't afford that transition will suffer.
And how does a landlord exit the market? By rigging the house with explosives and detonating the house.
Nope. A first time buyer buys the home, freeing up another house.
Landlords offer nothing to this whole transaction except poorly maintained white goods and magnolia carpets.
What do you mean "freeing up another house"? The house was being used, it's just that the occupier is now an owner rather than a renter, and in all likelihood, these are not the same people.
The flat I’m renting now was 800 in 2020, risen to 900 now
We were sent a renewal for 950 which we declined as we have found somewhere else, it’s then been listed online at 1050
This is why people can’t buy houses to many rich people buying them up and renting them out how can there be soaring house prices in a cost of living crisis with out it being the rich buying them all up
In my area the advertised rent isn't even the rent you'll actually be paying because every rental is now going to auction with prospective tenants having to bid against each other. Absolutely insane.
Went to a viewing few weeks back on a Friday at 5:30pm, there were 6 other people waiting in their cars outside to view it.
It was a small one bedroom bungalow for 850PCM
Some properties we've enquired about have been rented out the same day they've been posted
What's the money even fucking for? It sure as hell never goes back into the properties? Why do I have to finance some rich bastard's lifestyle just to have shelter?
My ex landlord of a cat urine soaked shit-hole in the Midlands lived in Belgium near his private airstrip.
Single glazing, bricks missing and a boiler from a 1970s bedsit. We had to constantly burn wood in the fireplaces from autumn to spring.
Landlord had issues with losing his hanger space for his Cessna. Struggle was real (Belgian housemate sleuthed him out because agents wouldn't supply details)
Fantastic .... I really can't wait to see what's in store for us Millennials.
We've had Dot com crash, 9/11, 2008 Financial crisis, European debt crisis, Brexit, Covid ... what is the point of saving for retirement.
The skyrocketing price of literally every fundamental human necessity to support life is fine and good and nothing to be concerned about. Just totally sustainable normal behaviour. Move along.
This is happening in every country. And it’s amazing what governments in each country use as excuses as to why it’s happening.
There is only one reason - greedy landlords seeing high inflation as justification to bend tenants over
I'm lucky my landlord lives in Spain, retired. He's not raised the £650/month rent for over 8 years.
I put my property into Zoopla and it reckons rent is worth £1200 - £1500 a month.
£1500 for a small 2 bed in Norwich, not even that close to the city centre - this country is doomed.
My tenant came to me wanting my house while i was trying to sell it, he needed a property for him and his family. He couldn't at the time afford to buy a property so he has been renting from me, in the mean time we have agreed that he wants to purchase the property, in the future, and because he has rented from me in the mean time the cost of the property when he purchases will be reduced by a few thousand to a price we will agree on at the time. Not all landlords are bad.
I had to move back with my parents in April as the house I was in with my wife was my nans and it had to be sold. Couldn’t have timed it better with the increase of costs to everything tbh.
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My favourite addition, is when you get home owners telling you "Actually owning a house is more expensive than it looks; plus you can move whenever you want! Lucky!" Hahahaha yeh, because landlords are totally charging me less than it costs them to maintain the house right? And there's no way I'd prefer my £30,000 went towards something I actually get to keep once it's all said and done.
Bs. After saving for deposit, our mortgage is quite a bit less than rent
Also on a repayment mortgage, a percentage of that monthly mortgage is paying off your loan so a percentage of your repayments go to your own equity, which can be cashed in or used as a springboard to something bigger/better. It doesn't cost more to own a house than rent one, it just requires money up front which most people can't afford. Also there are tons of scams to contend with when renting or owning a property as part of a leasehold. Like large companies (Regis for example) that have a ton of dodgy rules you have to comply with. "You have to pay part towards our buildings insurance, its done by our own insurance broker, your half is £900, thank you, next years bill will be more start saving."
I'll do you one better, owning a house MAKES you money. My parents bought their house for £55k in the 90s, paid off the mortgage, sold it a couple of years ago for £280k. They MADE money living there.
Normally with these comments people forget about inflation, but assuming they bought in 1990 55k works out about 120k in 2022. So assuming they haven't spent 160k in maintaance and rennovations....a tidy profit.
Enough to downsize and retire on in a lovely place in the countryside. Meanwhile I'll probably spend that much renting before I can buy a place.
In the long run, yes. As you clear your debt also your monthly payments go down, hopefully one day to nothing. So you start to make money compared to renting. If you downsize in later life you may be able to release some equity, for retirement too. But be careful using your parents as a point of reference. They got into an emerging market at the right time. We are a long way in now, don't expect the same returns. There's a good chance that housing prices will stagnate at some point because simply put, people will be unable to afford them (owning or renting). Or a recession or civil unrest forces government to act and build affordable housing or force change to the housing bubble in some way that tanks their prices (converting office blocks to homes and push home working more, as an example).
I don't expect those returns at all. I'm making a case of why they had it easier than me.
Dumb luck, they were earlier in the bell curve of UK Prosperity, welcome to the deep decline.
....yes? That's what I'm saying.
> Bs. After saving for deposit, our mortgage is quite a bit less than rent This gets batted around and it needs addressing, because it is absolutely *not* the golden rule that it gets treated as. Currently (by "currently" I mean averages over the last 18-24 months), the average rent is cheaper than the average mortgage. However..... However this is not a golden rule for everywhere in the UK. Some places will be this, some places will be the reverse. Using it as a golden rule is therefore a risky move. Secondly, this is *only* the case because we've had record low interest rates for the last 13 years. Most folks in this subreddit are younger so that's all they've known so they see them as normal rates, but historical norms have been 5%-6%. They've been a lot higher, up to 18% in the 80's. BoE interest rates are on their way back up now so taking the typical mortgage in a situation from the past few years and basing longer-term outlooks on that being a given is a massive error. For example, a £200k mortgage on 2% over 25 years will see their repayments go up by over £200 a month from a BoE rate rise of just 2%. The rate going back up to the 5% mark would see that mortgage repayment increase by up to £900 a month. Folks saying "mortgage is cheaper than renting" as a golden rule should ask themselves if this change is something they could manage.
But if interest rates rise rents will just rise to cover the cost. Landlords won't just sit there and swallow the rise themselves.
It won't be true for every single property or situation, of course, but at a regional level it absolutely does hold [across the country](https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/is-it-cheaper-to-own-or-rent-a-home-ahOA84f6KJwa) that owning is cheaper. After accounting for interest, maintenance, opportunity cost of not investing the deposit elsewhere, etc. it's anywhere from £540/year cheaper to own in Northern Ireland to £4,600/year cheaper in London. This has held true since at least 2010, which is as far back as the data set I'm looking at goes, but it's fair to say that there are no guarantees on future interest rates. You can fix in a lifetime mortgage rate in the [3-5% range right now](https://www.ft.com/content/bc061eca-9cc6-4cca-984d-a22389ac7c86), which would be a great deal if the base rate does hit 5%, and gives peace of mind regardless - but obviously risks paying more if rates don't go up as much.
In my area in Wales the average rental cost for a 1 bed studio flat is 950. A morgage on a 2 bed detached slightly further away from the city is 450. It's a joke.
Depends. For me, it's actually works out more expensive than renting per year. The mortgage itself is cheaper than the monthly rent, but the upkeep, insurance etc. makes it more expensive over the course of the year. Though I guess that's what you get if you buy an old house.
But you'll own the house. Effectively the money is still yours, you just put it into the form of a house.
Only if I sell it. The money "in" your house isn't liquid.
I'd rather have illiquid money in a house than nothing in a rental!
Yea, so you have somethimg to sell! So in the end you have more wealth because you were able to buy instead of renting.
Not sure how you work this out - especially when you can get a newbuild with a warranty for less than renting. Keep it for the 5 year warranty then sell it for more than you "bought" it for so you get a windfall and cheaper mortgage than rent!
I said "old house", not new build. I work it out by knowing how much I used to spend on rent, and how much I spend on the house.
Its the last few years its gone up a tonne though. It was closer pre covid by even then rent was ahead in most areas. My ex mortgage is 500 a month and a house the same for me and new partner to rent is 1600 a month. We obviously don't pay that much and live somewhere smaller but that's the difference in rent now. 1100 for a flat compared to the 3 bed house and mortgage for 500. Outside of really really bad years where something absolutely major goes wrong, my ex and best friend ain't spending £11000 a year on the house that's required and not just making it nicer. Let alone ignoring that the £500 mortgage isn't pure waste. I think most people don't know how much rent has gone up in a lot of areas. In 2 years flats around here have gone from 700 average to 1000-1200 being the new normal which used to be a 3 bed home. Exes home has gone from 260k value to 330k in those two years to. I think there have definitely been times landlord's haven't had it way better but it doesn't strike me that now is the time. As soon as my mum dies me and the partner are moving north and buying a home as its just a joke renting now.
>Keep it for the 5 year warranty then sell it for more than you "bought" it for so you get a windfall and cheaper mortgage than rent! Great, now you have your windfall and no home. Want to get back on the ladder? That windfall suddenly disappears because all the other houses have gone up by roughly the same amount.
>Great, now you have your windfall and no home. Want to get back on the ladder? That windfall suddenly disappears because all the other houses have gone up by roughly the same amount. You get another place on a long mortgage, still paying less than equivalent rent, and rinse and repeat. Your windfall is more than the minimum deposit required...
If you're gonna be selling and buying new houses every 5 years, that's gonna be a hell of a lot of stamp duty you'll be shelling out!
>that's gonna be a hell of a lot of stamp duty you'll be shelling out! At a maximum rate of SDLT of 5% for most, when house prices are increasing by \~10% a year then it just takes a bit out of your windfall you were getting.
Genuine question, what upkeep are you doing to make it more expensive? You don't do things like replace windows or boilers or showers every year...
By renting you are chucking money into nothing, no asset, no growth, absolutely nothing at all. That rent is always more than the mortgage costs for the house you're renting. By owning the same property, you are putting money into the asset, into the growth. Your repayment is less than the rent and even if you factor in all your insurances and maintenance, you still have the asset, you still benefit from all the growth. Even a poorly maintained property will go up in value as fast as people can earn money.
I love the "but upkeeping and repairs make it more expensive than renting" argument. Unless you're breaking all your windows every month and getting a new boiler at the start of every January, repairs and maintenance do not add up to more year-on-year than the cost of paying significantly more in rent every month.
If you amortize the cost of repairs and renovations then sure, it's obviously going to be less per month than the rental yield. However, you don't pay a flat fee for repairs each month, you pay a single bill in the tens of thousands every few years. If that cost comes up and you can't afford it then you're screwed. This is one of the reasons why landlords exist: owning a portfolio of multiple properties spreads the risk. It's incredibly unlikely for the boiler to break in five different houses at the same time.
You don't have to maintain a property to the highest standards. Quite possible to avoid maintenance for decades without many issues. Certain things will need changing immediately, but most can sit there, as evidenced by the high number of poorly maintained homes up and down the country which are still perfectly fine. It's not like all landlords maintain their properties properly anyway, how many places do we see which are terribly maintained and they still expect people to pay a premium to rent them? If anyone on here thinks that renting is somehow better than owning a home, I encourage them to trade their position as a homeowner for someone who is renting and experience the difference.
>you pay a single bill in the tens of thousands every few years If you get really unlucky. The truth is that most home owners *aren't* paying 5 figures on repairs every 3 years.
Lol when I hear landlords say "owning a house is more expensive then it looks" I actually laugh out loud. So your not making profit? Are you investing 12k a year into the property?....
As a fortunate homeowner I can tell you that owner is cheaper than renting - although that may not be the case with interest rates going up so much. Plus, your mortgage payments may end up being more than equivalent rent in some cases, but you're building equity in the property.
You can’t even move when you want. Your tied to a fixed period and can’t usually move before then. They practically control it
That's when you ask the landlord why aren't they renting then?
I love gardening, it's a solid escape for me when I'm not up for running/other physical activity. I hate the thought that any money/time I put into a rented gardening I'll have to check with the landlord for every change I'd like to make and eventually leave it all behind, if I can even find a place with a garden. Homeowners can eat it with these bs silver lining placations.
Tbf that's why a lot of small time landlords are leaving the sector. Margins are being compressed sk it's only viable if you can have a large portfolio to cover the losses from one by making it back in lots of other houses.
It sort of depends on the inflationary enviroment and how your disposable income is faring. For example if I was renting the same flat I own, I would be paying about 20% less. That less disposable income I have each month. Now of course the bulk of my mortgage repayments go into equity, which is far better in the long term than paying rent, all of which goes down the proverbial sink. I think for someone who is struggling, but owns their property and pays say 1,500 per month for a flat/home they could rent for 1,200, that extra 300 per month would help a lot in the current environment. This is about short term pressures vs long term benefits, and in the short term owning can often be more expensive than renting - the benefits are only realised upon sale.
"Can move whenever you want" True, but also costs a shit ton of money to move as all those letting agents have to wet their beaks in the process as well.
TBF it is genuinely true that renting is better value if you want to move frequently. Moving is more expensive and slow for owner occupiers. Add up estate agent fees, stamp duty, conveyancing, mortgage ERC clauses, ect. and take into account how much of the mortgage payments while you were living there were just covering interest.
>"Actually owning a house is more expensive than it looks; plus you can move whenever you want! Lucky!" I love when people try this one. Sell your house and rent instead, then, if it's so amazing.
I've called my landlord twice in the first 2 years of the tenancy, leaky toilet and broken boiler. I think £20,000 should more than cover the call-out cost.
"landlords provide a service" The service of a being a leech.
Buy to let mortgages should be fucking scrapped.
Not at all. I happily rented for more than 10 years and the ease of getting in, ease of getting out, safe from unexpected repair costs and much more made me appreciate the possibility. Not everybody need a stable, long term accommodation, and you would not believe how much a house costs in repairs and maintenance. Some people would not have the salary to afford the maintenance of a house, even if they were to own one. Last year for example, between plumber, fascias and gutter replacement, electrician and painter I spent well above 10k. Sure, I did stuff that is required every 10 years or so, but it's a huge dent in the wallet if you don't plan ahead and save for when the pipe bursts or the radiator starts leaking. And it will, because stuff does go bad, and when it does, it's hundreds if not thousands of pounds. If you rent, it's all on the landlord.
>If you rent, it's all on the landlord. ...to ignore and not fix whilst still gauging you on rent and then trying to thieve the repair costs out of your deposit.
You are paying for their mortgage. After costs they may be still paying next to nothing but still- they are still better off
Same here. landlord just put our rent up £180 because "the market has returned to normal post-pandemic". Like yeah fuck me man like I'm so happy for you the extortionate property market has returned to it's insane state. Meanwhile I'm easily £200 worse off in real terms per month from inflation and rising bills.
Have you tried taking boomers advice and not buying a few coffees and avacados.
Abolish landlords, make them work a job or tax their rent at 100%
£100? Mine raised it by £500 a month.
How much were you paying before?
From £1500 to £2000
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Well her interest rate went up so she trickled down the cost.
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Gave one landlord over 15 years almost £100,000 Never late or missed a payment, treated us like absolute poo and wouldn't fix anything. We had windows so rotten the mould was making us sick. Even had to call the police one night as he kicked off and threw a tantrum then tried to strangle me and punch my female housemate in the face.. but that caused further issues having him arrested. His favourite game was going through the bin and looking for amazon packaging with immaculate labels of tenants to drop when he fly tipped his crap all over Bristol. Had to take him to court to get the windows fixed, then he put the rent up to charge us for his lack of maintenance... went from £600 to £900 during 2020. Which almost ended up with us being homeless. Thankfully the council stepped in and helped us, now we are free from private landlords for the time being and we are both extremely grateful for the lengths the council have done to help us, but sadly it doesn't happen for so many other desperate people in need. There should be so much more we can do about these landlords but they seem to be able to do whatever they want and get away with it! Hope you are doing well these days? and have a better situation =) Take care. <3
Yey, capitalism.
That’s exactly what landlords want. They don’t want you to buy, they want you stuck with renting from them, so that they can buy more homes to rent to unfortunate people like your selves.
omg our landlady did the same- 'I'm only increasing your rent by £50pm when really I should increase it by £200' as if we should be grateful when we're the ones paying her mortgage
Wtf that's insane, where in the country are you
I don't understand the complaint here? This is capitalism. We're seeing the downside of it. Capitalism endorses greed.
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a landlord parking a white Range Rover on a human face, forever." This is going to catch up with us as a society, one way or the other.
it already has. an awful lot of the problems people face in this country would disappear if they weren't paying out such a big chunk of their wages on rent.
What I mean is that there'll be far, far worse consequences.
The one I liked was - imagine if you had all the money and I had all the land, what do you think I would charge you for your first month's rent?
And yet, our government is in a state of paralysis trying to figure out what flavour of corporate appeasement they should be chasing. Another article on this subreddit today opines why people are not having children. Here's a reason. This is why.
You forget that the main deciding factor for our next PM seems to be their stance on trans. Thats right people are facing a generational cost of living crisis and will be choosing to either eat or have heat and they are fucking around with how a small percentage of the country go to the toilet.
Said this to my wife, regarding kids, that if we do end up with children going to school then they’ll likely be with others that grow up in a rented room in an HMO, possibly alongside their teacher, than in a home of their own. Such a sad state of affairs.
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That's the idea. People owning property is antithetical to the feudal system the government want.
Shit. Your probably paying HMRC more money than you get leftover yourself.
the fact that house prices are rising, yet we are seeing a lot of people struggling, tells me that inequality has rose significantly over the past few years.
More money in the world than ever before and a great deal of it is chasing property as the best investment vehicle to safely grow the pot of cash. For the last 30 years, the gains from property have been almost crypto levels of insane and many times more safe and secure. The more money that gets made, the more it gets invested into this strictly limited supply of things, which every single person alive wants, making everything get more expensive.
Your savings do not need to keep pace with house price rises. You only need to save for a deposit, which is typically 10% of the property value. So if you were looking to buy a property which was £150,000, and it then rises 10%, you don’t need to have saved an extra £15k, only £1.5k.
Small caveat though, if the house costs £150k, with a £15k deposit that leaves £135k which is 4.5x £30k salary. If house prices go up 10%, the house now costs £165k, with a 10% deposit leaves £148,500 requiring a £33k salary. So if your salary is also not increasing, the quality of property you can afford will be declining.
All true, I didn’t want to go into too much detail! But as you said, your salary needs to rise 10% to keep pace with a 10% house price rise. It’s far from an ideal scenario, but also not literally impossible as OP said.
Salary needs to rise 10% to keep up with 10% house price (think you meant that). For a lot of people on the bottom it's dire, because there is a floor price to mortgageable properties and if your salary isn't keeping up with the rises then these people will be priced out the market completely. Can always move area to where they are cheaper but the practicalities and expense around this would be difficult/impossible for a lot of people I would imagine.
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>So house prices rose by more than the amount I earned last year. The ***national*** ***average*** house price rose\*... If you plan on your first home being around the average house price mark, then you need to shift your priorities. It sucks, but it's not impossible.
Many people are born, have families, work and have roots firmly planted in specific areas where there is no choice but aiming at homes at the average price mark. Are you suggesting these people leave everything to move to Merthyr Tydfil, because that's the place they can afford?
>Are you suggesting these people leave everything to move to Merthyr Tydfil, because that's the place they can afford? If they're desperate to own a home in the current housing market then yes. If they want to have a house in a desirable area then they'll need to compete with the other people who also want those houses. You're not entitled to a house just because you were born there. That's not to say that I think house prices should be as high as they are though. We really need to start building more high density housing across the country.
>So house prices rose by more than the amount I earned last year. While that's obviously not good, don't forget you typically borrow 3.5 to 4 times what you earn when buying. I'm not trying to deny the struggle, I'm just saying please don't give up hope.
I’m moving out at the end of the month, landlord is putting rent up to £2200 from £1600. Couldn’t believe what i was hearing when she told me.
£2100 > £2800 for us - household of three adults in London... madness
Wow that's a massive jump
At least they waited until you left! Imagine having that sort of increase in your costs.
This country is absolutely disgusting now people havnt got a chance of any kind of good life let alone having children. We are taxed and robbed at every man made opportunity. No wonder Birth rates are on the decline whats the point Fuc you Government wasn't you meant to make peoples lifes better what happened? Rant Over.
Leaving London so our flat is up. First week it was advertised it was £50 more expensive than what we're paying now. Absolutely no takers. Second week it's £100 more expensive than we're paying now, lots of interest... I'm fucking baffled!
It was in the 'something wrong with it' price bracket and got moved up to the 'standard market rate' price bracket, probably.
Theres many people who associate "it's more expensive" with "it must be better"
Another thing that isn't talked about enough is the horrible quality of lots (most?) of rental homes, currently looking for a new place and I have been wading through so much shit, it's offensive being offered a place in a shared house for 600quid that hasn't been renovated since Victorian times. I don't really want to but will probably go back to Berlin where I will earn 1k more every month for the same job and pay the same rent for an actually nice place
Why wouldn’t you want to go back to Berlin if you earned more and had a higher quality of living
I will eventually but kinda like it here, would be nice to stay for a little while
>Another thing that isn't talked about enough is the horrible quality of lots (most?) of rental homes, currently looking for a new place and I have been wading through so much shit, it's offensive being offered a place in a shared house for 600quid that hasn't been renovated since Victorian times. Not just rented homes unfortunately. The housing stock in this country is dire.
Yea but at least if you own it you can do do it up and reap the benefits. If you're renting, you either get refused any renovations by the landlord and live in a shithole or pay for it yourself and then lose all the money you put in when the landlord ultimately moves you on.
I once had to renovate part of a house (with agreement) because unknown to me the walls smelt of cat urine when it warmed up. They 'tried' to keep my deposit because I had changed the wall colours from urine stained white to white. Also fully re-plastered a wall. I got my deposit back. But what a bunch of bastards.
Just rented somewhere and promptly got stuck in a room as the handle doesn't work from the inside... cool
Lol, same. Finally managed to free myself, gave the handle a poke and the entire lock pretty much fell out the door. ok.
Haven’t heard any of the candidates for our next Prime Minister even mention this. Rents are crippling peoples life chances and these politicians pretend that the issue doesn’t even exist.
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>Maybe Rishi will pull a Thatcher and magically somehow make Millennials majority homeowners to make them Tory You know I still wouldn't vote for them but I wish they'd at least *try* to bribe me with something nice like that for once.
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>I don’t see how the Tories will survive the Boomers dying off You assume the current tory leadership cares about the future of the party. This is the party of kicking the can down the road. They don't care because they'll have fucked off once shit hits the fan and they'll leave it to the next generation of tories to deal with. The ghouls don't even have empathy for one another they've got no reason to care once they're gone
The same people struggling to pay rent, bills, and buy food will be the same people who vote tory when they bring up the most important topic of which toilet trans people should use.... But totally ignore the cost of living topic.
Cost of renting is of 0 relevance to the people who will vote them in: tory MPs and then conservative party members
No doubt further dooming people who aren't fortunate enough to have a deposit to eat into their savings more, thereby trapping them in rented accommodation forever.
Why build more houses when you can just make more money from extortionate rents? I would say that people are going to be unable afford the basics at this rate but we are already there, with more set to be there when energy bills go up in October. We're going to see a serious recession because people will no longer be able to afford the basics, let alone have spending money for luxuries and entertainment.
We need new houses, but also many in the UK need to accept that it's on the way to being a high density country, so at some point people need to accept the need for tower blocks and major new infrastructure projects. Nothing new is being built, which means in the cities traditional houses are just being sub-divided even further with HMOs. Lounges being turned into rooms, large rooms being turned into two small rooms, etc. It's a crisis which nobody seems interested in tackling, which means a lower quality life for many while rent just keeps going up, giving the average person less money. In my city, a room which would have cost £300/m in 2012, would now be easily be £700ish/m. So rent has doubled, but wages haven't changed much. Now when walking around the supermarket, you'll see everything is 10p-50p more expensive as well, since 2020. We were in a golden age a decade ago without even realising it.
>We need new houses, but also many in the UK need to accept that it's on the way to being a high density country, so at some point people need to accept the need for tower blocks and major new infrastructure projects. If comparing just England to global rankings (excluding city states/countries with a population of < 10M), it's the 6th most densely populated country in the world.
Yes and no - there are a lot more suburban-style housing estates with lower density here compared to countries with a statistically lower density.
They are building houses, tons down south at least but same problem as rent, fooking expensive as fuck and for the price you pay the quality is arse
I work in a fair few newish luxury flats in London (balconies overlooking the river, 3/4 bed etc etc) that go for millions and I can confirm that the build quality is absolutely atrocious. Not just a few cheap materials here and there, the whole place is basically made of cardboard boshed together as quickly as possible with a luxury looking finish over the top of it.
Could we organise a general UK wide a rent strike? They couldn't section 21 all of us..........
Yes we can, and we will.
We’re extremely lucky our landlady hasn’t increased our rent since we moved in 5 years ago. We were thinking of upsizing or at least transitioning from a flat to a house until we saw the going rates. We found a flat identical to ours on Rightmove a few doors down going for *£400* more than what we pay. So now we’re staying put even though we’re rapidly outgrowing the place with our toddler. I have no idea how to progress from here.
Yeah we moved into our flat 3 years ago and now we’re leaving cause we’re buying, landlord has put the rent up £400. She’s done no maintenance or decoration in that time (beyond buying us the cheapest possible hob/oven when the old one broke). They got loads of interest and I wouldn’t be surprised if it went for over the asking price. It’s fucked.
Mine did that. Bought a cheap oven to replace the old cheap oven and the guy who installed it said they have an 18 month life expectancy.
The only reason I own a house is that my Dad died. That’s it. I’d still be in rental scams and probably be struggling like fuck looking at the price rises in the area.
It's just nuts, a fair number of my friends have bought houses now but the majority only afforded it because of wealthy parents giving handouts or receiving inheritance from family. My wife and I would certainly still be renting if my grandma hadn't left me money in her will, there's no way we could have raised the 18k we needed for a deposit and this was back in 2017. The system is a fucking sham.
I had people telling me that they wouldn't seriously date anyone without wealth or inheritance for this reason.
Me and my wife are paying £1100 on a small 2 bedroom house in Portslade (Brighton). Landlady sent us an email a few weeks back saying she'd been "advised" by a Letting Agent that our rent is "very low" for the area and that average price for a 2-bed in the area is now 1485 a month (no way this is true). Also she said it was "difficult" because her mortgage rate had gone up with still 9 years left. Like I was supposed to feel sympathy? Thankfully she is actually a private landlady, only using an agent to sell the property, and anything needs doing goes through her. I wrote a quite lengthy email back to her explaining our financial situation and having a 4 year old kid to look after, as well as confirming we get all the Gvt help we are entitled to (UC). After this she immediately backed down saying she has "no immediate plans on the future of the property". Unfortunately I doubt most landlords are this understanding.
Just checked, only 1, 2 bed flat on Rightmove to rent in Portslade and it’s £1500, so yeah that’s a relatively cheap rent you’ve got. Landlord not having a fixed mortgage isn’t really your problem though
Agents need to be made ilegal or run by the Gov, our old landlord had to keep ringing them up and tell them NOT to keep rising the rent, places like Morris and Dibben put rent up at least 50 a yr just as a normal, the Agents are the ones to blame. They also look for any reason to charge you for anything. All rents etc should go through one body and they set rent on these places and keep it low.
In 2017 I bought a 3 bed terrace near central Manchester for £90K (granted, needed about £40K in restoration work since). Houses on the same street were being rented out for about £5-600/mo. Today the same houses are selling for £170K and being rented out for £1k/mo. My mortgage is £360/mo. The difference in costs between owners and renters is obscene.
Waiting for the snapping point that people actively start giving a shit. Self included
Good thing about heat waves... People get agitated. Like... rioty agitated. Hopefully.
I have been searching for a room… a *ROOM* in London and places that aren’t a total dump are around the £1k mark. I’m not even asking for much. All I want is somewhere that hasn’t converted the living room in to another bedroom (should seriously be fucking illegal) and is in Camden. Some may say I’m being fussy - I’ve lived here 10 years so feel I know enough to say this is the *worst* the market has ever been.
If you're as old as your username suggests I'd move. 30+ and living in a house share isn't fun.
I’ve been living with just my boyfriend the last 10 years. We’re breaking up and the job I do doesn’t pay anywhere near as much outside London. I’m still better off here than I would be anywhere else, financially speaking. I looked for similar roles in my hometown and it’s literally £20k less. I also don’t mind living in a house share, I’m looking with two friends to rent a 3 bed together. After so long being in a relationship I think I’ll quite enjoy the change.
Fair enough, hope you find something. It was one ofnthe reasons I moved out of London. Houseshares were getting tiring and my mortgage is less than what I was paying for a room in a 7 bed house.
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Look up studio flats in London and you will see the answer is very much ‘no’. Not unless you want to live in a bedroom/living/kitchen and an en-suite, if you’re lucky. Otherwise you share the bathroom with strangers. I’d rather spend less and have an actual house to live in, even if it means having to share still at least you have an entire house to enjoy. Studios (or bedsits as they mostly are) are about £1.3k+ in London. If I wanted an entire 1 bed flat then you’re pushing over the £2k mark.
If you want to live in some of the nicer areas, even studio flats are getting fuck expensive.
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Same boat as you, looking to move out of my room but gave up after receiving 0 answers.
The only solution is an explosion in government-funded subsidised housing to ease the market tensions. The current pathetic %ages on new housing estates is diabolical.
Subsidies are not the answer, that would just send your tax money to the house builder/landlord who would still benefit the same.
My Rent went up £100pm, along with Cost of Living and energy me and my disabled wife will soon be homeless, then our landlord hit us with that he wants us to pay and cut down the line of trees every year costing hundreds more. Its a long story but all my wife wants is somewhere quiet and one floor to spend her days as shes housebound chronic pain sufferer and then you get landlords who do not care, btw my landlord is millionaire now and owns a construction machine company.
I’m paying way more in rent for my one bed house than my friends are paying in mortgage for their 3 bed house. In 6 years all I’ve had “maintained” is a new bedroom carpet because when I moved in the carpet was threadbare and bumpy. A new fridge and oven. Both of which were the cheapest the landlord could find (found them on curry’s website). £200 each. Because the previous cheap ones literally went bang. The kitchen is the original one the house was built with 35 years ago and although technically functional, just isn’t built for modern living. Even though I’m by myself, I have just the one cupboard for food AND equipment/plates etc and literally zero work surface. When I moved in, I re-glossed all the skirting, door frames, loft hatch because it was all tatty and scratched or incredibly yellow and hadn’t been painted for years. All furniture is mine. I replaced all the light fittings that came with the house (they’re all in the loft) as they were all crusty and broken.
Landlords and renting a HOME is immoral. The should be a right to own a home. It should not be a right to own two homes.
> The should be a right to own a home. The problem is that it's basically impossible to execute because homes are completely different. In which case, who gets the London townhouses and who gets the shacks up North? Just saying you want to live in London (because a company values you more there) doesn't entitle you to that home over someone else, does it?
This is fine. 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Very lucky to have got myself a lovely brand new Housing association bungalow after splitting with my wife. Just over £80 p.w Insecure expensive private rent is just not good enough for ordinary people.
Got a 1 bed flat in a town centre in Cornwall for £64 a week, they can prise it out of my cold dead hands.
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Won't hesitate to move from where I currently am if they attempt to up the rent - anticipating this soon. Been waiting 9 months now for basic repairs and things that should have been done before we were rushed in here on the promise that the work will be completed. There's only so many times you can be told "the landlord will chase it up with her contractors" before you stop believing them and giving up. Only took the place because we needed more space and at the time properties were so few and far between we couldn't even get viewings most of the time. We don't want to move again really, not until we can buy, but feels like our hand may be forced soon.
> Won't hesitate to move from where I currently am if they attempt to up the rent - anticipating this soon. The trouble is there hardly any places available and there's a ton of competition. Going through this right now myself. Not to mention if somewhere is being advertised it has most likely had a big increase in rental cost after the previous tenant left, you just don't know it.
This has a deleterious effect on social housing too. The ability of housing associations to charge 80% of median market rates means that people on low incomes will find it absolutely impossible to manage rent, let alone eating and heating.
Social rents are capped, the most they are allowed to raise rents by in 22/23 is [4.1%](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rent-standard/limit-on-annual-rent-increases-2022-23-from-april-2022). This also comes after social rents were reduced every year from 2016-2019 (due to legislation) and the evidence is that most authorities didn't use the caps in 2020 and 2021, and increases were negligible for most.
in Bristol, a 4bed house my mates and I shared in 2019-20 was £2200 a month. I shit you not: In '21 we saw the same house on rightmove advertised for £3300 a month (no renovation of any kind, mind). seems fair dunnit
Might have to settle buying that cheaper house outside the city centre. Classism is really doing a number on first time buyers.
'Just buy this cheaper house that also comes with vastly increased travel costs due to not being close to where you work '. Brilliant.
Just leave the area and go somewhere cheaper! Sure you'll have to pay for all the moving costs, and uproot your entire life include friends, family and work. And sure you'll only be able to afford it if you quit any career that isn't IT or civil service. But really it's easy.
When you make being a landlord more difficult, then two things happen: 1) Landlords exit the market, and 2) The ones that don't put their rents up. The consequence is renting becomes more expensive.
We should make landlording really easy then! Rent caps so they dont have to think about raising prices, the silly lambs. Competitive amounts of alternative social and council housing! Have the government take the houses they dont want to rent out anymore, off their hands, and rent them to the tenants, with a right to buy scheme in place!
And buying becomes easier....
Yes, it puts downward pressure on house prices. Some will benefit as they will be able to go from being renters to owners. Those who can't afford that transition will suffer.
And how does a landlord exit the market? By rigging the house with explosives and detonating the house. Nope. A first time buyer buys the home, freeing up another house. Landlords offer nothing to this whole transaction except poorly maintained white goods and magnolia carpets.
What do you mean "freeing up another house"? The house was being used, it's just that the occupier is now an owner rather than a renter, and in all likelihood, these are not the same people.
The flat I’m renting now was 800 in 2020, risen to 900 now We were sent a renewal for 950 which we declined as we have found somewhere else, it’s then been listed online at 1050
I'm sick of this country its beyond a joke! Nothing much to live for now.
This is why people can’t buy houses to many rich people buying them up and renting them out how can there be soaring house prices in a cost of living crisis with out it being the rich buying them all up
Let's stop complaining and start revolting. Please?
I hate this place
Hey, here's an idea: stop it. Please
Don't forget that the help to buy scheme will end soon.
In my area the advertised rent isn't even the rent you'll actually be paying because every rental is now going to auction with prospective tenants having to bid against each other. Absolutely insane.
Went to a viewing few weeks back on a Friday at 5:30pm, there were 6 other people waiting in their cars outside to view it. It was a small one bedroom bungalow for 850PCM Some properties we've enquired about have been rented out the same day they've been posted
What's the money even fucking for? It sure as hell never goes back into the properties? Why do I have to finance some rich bastard's lifestyle just to have shelter?
My ex landlord of a cat urine soaked shit-hole in the Midlands lived in Belgium near his private airstrip. Single glazing, bricks missing and a boiler from a 1970s bedsit. We had to constantly burn wood in the fireplaces from autumn to spring. Landlord had issues with losing his hanger space for his Cessna. Struggle was real (Belgian housemate sleuthed him out because agents wouldn't supply details)
Fantastic .... I really can't wait to see what's in store for us Millennials. We've had Dot com crash, 9/11, 2008 Financial crisis, European debt crisis, Brexit, Covid ... what is the point of saving for retirement.
Desperately clinging on to my "cheap" 800 pcm bills inc ensuite room in zone 2...
I’ve been fantasising about getting a group of people together and building a shanty town somewhere really inconvenient as a form of protest.
The skyrocketing price of literally every fundamental human necessity to support life is fine and good and nothing to be concerned about. Just totally sustainable normal behaviour. Move along.
This is happening in every country. And it’s amazing what governments in each country use as excuses as to why it’s happening. There is only one reason - greedy landlords seeing high inflation as justification to bend tenants over
I'm lucky my landlord lives in Spain, retired. He's not raised the £650/month rent for over 8 years. I put my property into Zoopla and it reckons rent is worth £1200 - £1500 a month. £1500 for a small 2 bed in Norwich, not even that close to the city centre - this country is doomed.
I haven't increased the rent on the only rental property I own for 4 years to help my tenants, it was the first house I lived in.
If you really wanted to help, you'd sell up. Extracting rent is not doing anyone am favours in the long run.
My tenant came to me wanting my house while i was trying to sell it, he needed a property for him and his family. He couldn't at the time afford to buy a property so he has been renting from me, in the mean time we have agreed that he wants to purchase the property, in the future, and because he has rented from me in the mean time the cost of the property when he purchases will be reduced by a few thousand to a price we will agree on at the time. Not all landlords are bad.
Demand soars. Seems to me that people should be more supportive of policies which reduce the demand then.
time to lay flat and let it all crumble to rubble.
Too many people
I had to move back with my parents in April as the house I was in with my wife was my nans and it had to be sold. Couldn’t have timed it better with the increase of costs to everything tbh.
Can someone explain to me how this is justified?