Is BTL Immoral?

tomterm8

Morality has nothing to do with it

I said it is neither immoral nor moral. A well run BTL investment can be good for society, a badly run BTL investment can be bad for society. Governments job is to regulate things so they have a net positive result for society.

harryhound

Morality has nothing to do with it

I have never been able to understand the difference between someone who decides to rent someone elses house and someone who rents someone else's money in order to buy someone else's house.

However once the government starts meddling, we find that the person who buys a house to rent it out to someone else gets tax relief on the rent they pay to borrow the money BUT pay CGT if they sell.
Where as the person renting money to buy a house does not get the income tax relief but does not pay the CGT if they sell.

Call me old fashioned but I remember when everyone got tax relief on renting money and nobody paid CGT.

Ho

Cleaver

P!ss off to the beach and leave us alone. Mate.

tomterm8 wrote: »

I said it is neither immoral nor moral. A well run BTL investment can be good for society, a badly run BTL investment can be bad for society.

Indeed. The question 'is BTL immoral?' is as stupid and pointless as asking 'are postmen immoral'? Well, if your postman sleeps with your wife, steals £3,000 from you and kicks grannies for no reason then he's immoral. If your postman is a man who delivers your mail in a prompt fashion and treats people nicely then he has good morals. The fact that he's a postman has little bearing on the moral judgement.

But then Generali knew that when he posed the question, the cheeky little scamp.

molerat

Yes

Cleaver wrote: »

As another example, I borrow £20k from my bank, add this to the £10k I already have and start a lovely pet shop. I sell rabbits, guinea pigs and goldfish at reasonable rates to kids and adults. They like my prices and customer service and the business is a success. I make £80k profit the next year, pay back the bank and pocket the rest.

But you do it without making the kiddies cry by reducing the availability of fluffy bunnies or causing the price of guinea pigs to rise beyond affordability.

tomterm8

Morality has nothing to do with it

harryhound wrote: »

I have never been able to understand the difference between someone who decides to rent someone elses house and someone who rents someone else's money in order to buy someone else's house.

Are you serious?

The difference is in the nature of the contract... which you decide to use has a huge bearing on your legal rights and obligations.

abaxas

Morality has nothing to do with it

BTL is not immoral.

The lack of protection for tennants is.

Cleaver

P!ss off to the beach and leave us alone. Mate.

molerat wrote: »

But you do it without making the kiddies cry by reducing the availability of fluffy bunnies or causing the price of guinea pigs to rise beyond affordability.

If I employ underhand tactics to start to manipulate the price of guinea pigs, or making children cry by restricting the supply of bunnies then you could argue that I am acting immorally. This might make me, in the eyes of some, an immoral person. However it doesn't somehow make pet shop ownership immoral. It just means that I am a pet shop owner who happens to act in an immoral way.

Which brings me back to the point I made at the start of this thread. If you own a business, especially one providing a basic need such as housing, and treat people badly then you could argue that that behaviour is 'immoral'. It doesn't mean that that entire industry or profession can be classed as 'immoral'.

Cleaver

P!ss off to the beach and leave us alone. Mate.

abaxas wrote: »

BTL is not immoral.

The lack of protection for tennants is.

Agreed. And you could simplfy your point to say:

Owning a business is not immoral.

Treating your customers in an immoral way is immoral.

LisbonLaura

Is BTL Immoral?

Buying a property for profit ahead of someone seeking a roof over their head is immoral.

It's the law that needs changing; & the poll choice needs the above addition IMHO.

Cleaver

P!ss off to the beach and leave us alone. Mate.

LisbonLaura wrote: »

Buying a property for profit ahead of someone seeking a roof over their head is immoral.

Utter rubbish.

• Is buying a restaurant to sell food at a profit immoral because there are starving people in the world?
• Is selling bottled water immoral because there are people who cannot get access to clean drinking water?
• Is spending your money on shares immoral because you could be giving that same money to charity?
• Is setting up a private nursing home and charging people for healthcare when they can get it free on the NHS immoral?
• Would it be immoral for me to set up the best plumbing business in my area which puts two other plumbers out of business?