Homes under the Hammer

Sorry to hear about your bad experience Coolgran. Disgraceful. Of course, there are bad tenants. Its very disappointing if you have been a caring landlord.

Interesting Granny23. Why can't the rest of Uk follow suit.

I know someone who works for a council committed to maintaining its housing stock. This is how it works.

He has a budget each year to buy houses or flats. He mostly buys excouncil stock because it is generally well built and a bit cheaper.

So he buys a house for the council. Council tenants move in. After a couple of years they exercise their right to buy and get the house at a discount. He buys the house back at market price.

The tenants have made a nice profit. The council has made a loss There are no more houses available to rent than there were in the first place. Mulitiply this across the county and see how much it is costing council tax payers.

Madness!

I now have bought a small flat for myself but in between separating and getting my divorce settlement I rented for 2.5 years. I between tenants the landlords ( married couple) had repainted through out and laid new carpets, and fitted new blinds so it was lovely to move into. The rent was affordable. They sorted out any problems promptly . I in turn paid my rent at the right time and when I left it was spotlessly clean and I left behind some lampshades and curtains I had purchased myself which they were grateful for. Deposit then refunded promptly and everyone happy. So it can work. They thiught I was a good tenant and I had a nice place to live until I could buy again but I think also renting can be a risk for both parties but life is a risk isn't it?

True TwiceAsNice, it is a risk for both parties.

The present state where a landlord will ask as much as he can get has gone too far and some form of cap is needed but the beaurocracy around that is immense and there will be loopholes galore.
The solution is more homes but I can't see even Corbyns policies finding enough money to solve that one. It's all a question of how much tax we are prepared to pay, pre Thatcher housing was adequate but the family silver was sold off in the name of gerrymandering and it's got steadily worse ever since.

But is it any difference to any business?

I'm not a finance expert I know nothing really. But how I see it is the rent will pay off the cost of building over a number of years. Then the only cost is maintenance. The rest is income. Same as private landlords. Difference is the government/council gets the income. Am I naive?

It comes down to a political philosophy in the end I suppose.

But even if you have a council committed to housing they still have to compete for land and available housing stock at market rates. Then they are compelled to sell it off at below market rates.

Something does fit, people desperate to rent, people can’t afford to buy, yet new houses are being built around the country, who buys them ? Firms build what they know will sell .

Eglantine incredibly stupid system. One wonders why.

It involves a lot of complications. Firstly young people staying at home longer (and returning home after university) in order to build up enough for a deposit. Buying their first house later and starting a family later. How this will work out as time goes on is interesting, if my generation mostly bought in their 20s, and today's generation are buying in their 30s will their children continue the trend?
One of the side effects of high rents and expensive housing is the lack of local caring and education personnel. Teachers cannot aford to buy in some areas and move away. Lower paid support staff cannot afford high rents. Eventually there will be whole areas where only the well-off can live.

Then there must be many who are well off because these houses are being sold.

You’re right Annie. They do get sold. I often wonder what people do for a living that enables them to buy houses that cost half a million. Or more.

I never got to that even after a lifetime of working!

It's a process of up cycling. You buy your first small property, resell with a small profit, take out a bigger mortgage and so-on and so on. Very few people these days stay in the property they first buy. They mortgage up to the hilt and pay for a lifetime.

Baffling Eglantine, a small estate of to rent houses was recently built here, rent far higher than the small town houses for rent, all rented by young couples . I know one couple, she works for the council , not a high ranking job, he is a carer. Another small number of new houses near me, all sold, 3 bedroomed properties .

Help to buy? Small deposits and small mortgages ,certainly much smaller payments than we had on our first flat 37 years ago.
I do know we were extremely lucky to live in an area of Scotland where we were allocated a brand new 2 bedroom and boxroom semi detached house 3 weeks after we got married.We used the 8 years in that council house to save for a deposit and start a business .There are hundreds of new "social houses" as they are called now being built in our town ,Some are housing association ,some joint ownership and the rest council, and the ex council homes that come on the market aren't overpriced with a 2 bedroom flat in a quiet area selling for around 65-70k.
There is so much legislation being added almost daily to the private rental market that many landlords are selling off their portfolios .The rest of the "UK " needs to catch us up on so many things .

agree Paddyann.

granny 23 and paddyann have expressed my thoughts too. It's the political philosophy behind it that makes the difference. And yes, where there's a will there's a way which might mean the UK biting the bullet and raising taxes as has happened here in Scotland.
(Please bear that in mind next time there are comments saying that independence is NS's only priority.)

My DH and I rented a 2 bedroom flat for 6 months after we sold our last house and before we were able to move into this one. I think the agent and owner took full advantage of the fact that we were quite desperate and only needed the flat for 6 months . The rent for the area was very high and the flat whilst only being a couple of years old was in an appaling condition. Full of rubbish from the last tenant, filthy stained carpets, damaged walls, scruffy kitchen units etc. It took my DH and I 2 entire days to clean it (and the cost of a carpet cleaner) before we could move in. Fast forward 6 months, the flat was in a much better condition than when we got it (and clean too) but we had to threaten court action to get our large deposit back. Thankfully we had taken photographs of the state it was in and threatened to expose the landlord (who turned out to be a relative of the agent) .

Sadly this happens too often Gillybob. My son rented after his divorce and it wasn't a pleasant experience and getting repairs done!! My daughter at university sent me photos of the state of her kitchen It was appalling Holes in the wall thick grime on the floor and more.. I know there are bad tenants. And good fair landlords but there are also too many greedy uncaring ones. Its a very bad situation.

annep and gilly, you might (or might not!) be interested in the Landlord Licence scheme that Nottingham Council have introduced.

All private landlords have to be registered and the premises are inspected and have to meet certain standards before they are granted a licence. Tenants then have someone to go to if repairs are needed and not carried out.

I have every respect for Nottingham who are taking the bull by the horns so to speak. I wish more councils would be as responsible.

Whether it includes any protection for landlords against bad tenants I’m not sure.

annep, why didn’t your daughter viewed the property before renting ?

That's a brilliant idea Eglantine I would like to see something similar in all other LA's. There are some very poor private rentals in our town. One particular street owned entirely by one man. The LA housing in the town is of a very high standard but sadly not enough to go around.

Good to hear Eglantine. Anniebach its a long timd ago over 25 years. Also she lived in N Ireland and was going to Manchester so maybe it was difficult. can't remember. But really doesnt excuse the landlord.