How bad is renting?

Graham_Devon

wotsthat wrote: »

Lots as in 100 or lots as in 1,000,000?

It makes a difference - one indicates a problem with a small number of houses; the other indicates a problem with society.

Still makes not a jot of difference to those with problems. Seems you are just scratching around for non issues to take issue with me.

Neither does the fact that owner occupiers have problems too....point about fluffy bread stands there just as much.

Even if its only 0.008% with problems, I doubt fluffy bread is going to make things seem better for those people, which seemed to be cleavers suggestion.

My point still stands and I still don't understand what cleaver was getting at.

delain

ElleR wrote: »

There's so many posts on here about bad landlords/letting agents, because, to be fair, they do exist. But there are also lots of great landlords.

I've had 2 great landlords - rented through a letting agent but the lls then said come straight to us if you have any problems. We got a lovely card and pot plant when we moved in to our current house. They come over as soon as they can if we have any issues. We had a long chat with the previous tenants when looking around about how they found the LLs and that gives you a good idea of what you're letting yourself into.

It's like the news and other tv progs really, you only hear the horror stories when there could be just as many good stories. There may be some laws etc that need reviewing but it's not all bad.

People who have never rented or had 1 or 2 bad experiences should think twice before shouting down renting. I'm perfectly happy with it and so are my friends and to be fair, I live too far away to call my dad out when something breaks! I like Cleaver's post, minus the breasts comment! Haha!

I also like the idea that I don't have to fix things... I'm not the one paying the plumber £££ per hour to drink tea when the boiler/radiators pack up every year

Oh and our LL brings a tin of chocolates to all his tenants at Christmas :D

We don't get any grief at all

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Still makes not a jot of difference to those with problems. Seems you are just scratching around for non issues to take issue with me.

Neither does the fact that owner occupiers have problems too....point about fluffy bread stands there just as much.

Even if its only 0.008% with problems, I doubt fluffy bread is going to make things seem better for those people, which seemed to be cleavers suggestion.

My point still stands and I still don't understand what cleaver was getting at.

I think all agree that if you are in the s**t then fluffy white bread is likely to have no benefit. However, if it's only 0.008% then you are simply making up nice stories to pass the time of day as there's no context.

I'm not scratching around making non-issues with your issues. I'm taking issue with your non-issues - I think.

Turnbull2000

http://www.lettingagentnews.co.uk/tenants-opt-to-move-out-rather-than-give-up-their-pets-1967

Pet lovers are complaining landlords are making them give up their animals if they want to move in to a rented home.


Around one in five tenants have had their rental applications rejected because the landlord refused to let their pet live in their home, says a study by property portal FindaProperty.com.

Samantha Baden, of FindaProperty.com, said: “We are a nation of pet lovers and fast becoming a nation of renters, but these two obsessions can sometimes clash making things more challenging when finding a new home to rent.


“In a highly competitive rental market, landlords have the luxury of being able to pick and choose their tenants and for some pet owners this can cause problems, particularly if they’ve failed to tell the landlord that they have an animal.

Meanwhile, in London, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home reports 141 pets were abandoned in to care because the owners could not house them because of strict tenancy agreements.


Battersea’s Liz McWalter said: “The rental boom has seen an increase in the number of animals coming into our care because of bans on keeping pets. Owners are coming to us because they are being left with no choice but to give up their animals.”

Cleaver

Graham_Devon wrote: »

I really fail to understand your point here.

Have a look at the house buying and selling board and how many rental problems threads there are. This stresses many people out, landlord and tenant alike.

I don't understand why you would flippantly suggest all this makes zero difference to happiness.

Having access to ice cream is great, but for the people who haven't got lighting in stair wells, and have small children in houses with windows which won't shut, holes in rooves etc and it's approaching winter, frankly telling them they should be happy as they have access to ice cream is absurd and insulting. It might be OK for cleaver in cleaver world, but sometimes I think you need to look at problems people face instead of suggesting life is good cus of fluffy bread on various threads. Begining to sound like some sort of hippy!

Apologies if I wasn't clear, I'll try to explain a little bit better.

Of course, if you have a really bad landlord then your life will be very unhappy. Having an awful living situation is probably one of the worst things that can happen to you. But, it's rare. And it's not limited to renters. You could buy a house and find that you didn't know it had woodworm and have a bill you can't pay. You could buy a house and find that you've got the neighbours from hell and can't move. You could find that your boiler doesn't work, you can't afford to fix it and you have a freezing winter. But all these are also rare.

The point I was making is that often on this forum buying a house is seen as a financial and personal utopia: make tens of thousands of pounds whilst happily decorating your own secure and delightful palace. And it's often said that everyone renting is throwing thousands up the wall to some awful landlord who makes them live with rats and often breaks in during the night to watch them sleep.

Neither of these points are true. Most people, whether they buy or rent, will have some, niggling issues with their living situation. A neighbour who watches their TV a bit too loudly. A tree hanging over their garden that their insurance won't cover. And landlord that's always a few days too late to fix the fridge. A letting agency who don't back to e-mails. A floorboard problem you can't afford to get sorted yet. All annoying and most of us have something like them at various times, but none of these are really that detrimental to your overall hapiness in life, and that's the point I was trying to make. 95% of people have niggles and complains about public transport, shops, services, landlords and the houses they own, but it's not really the be all and end all. It's swings and roundabouts whether you rent or own for most people, we always need to remember that we, the users of this forum, are really odd about housing issues. We don't represent the general public.

Most people consider their landlords like they do Virgin Trains. Most of the time they forget they exist, sometimes they annoy them for a day or two, but then it's back to forgetting about them again. The housing board on this forum isn't really representative of the public, as it's the place people come to discuss housing issues, thus you think everyone has housing issues. The majority of people don't.

I still maintain that doing stuff like baking bread makes me happy, not whether I rent or own a house.

Graham_Devon

Apologies then Cleaver.

Just took it that way as this thread is mainly about the problem side of renting.

Cleaver

ruggedtoast wrote: »

The situation facing most renters isnt normal; its a disadvantage forced on , predominantly younger people, who have seen the system constantly and utterly brazenly distorted to disadvantage them, and provide a whole layer of unearned privilege to property owners. Most of whom are only property owners thanks to being born at the right time.

I enjoy fluffy bread, but its not going to stop me being angry about something which is blatantly an injustice.

A wonderful post that demonstrates nicely the skewed view of this website. I have a friend called Ellen. She has no interest in buying a property as she doesn't want the responsibility of a mortage. She rents a lovely flat from a man called George who is also her ballroom dancing partner, despite being 30 years her senior. She coudn't give two hoots about all the stuff you're talking about.

Of course, neither her or you are 'wrong' or 'right'. She's one extreme ho doesn't care at all, you're someone who feels so strongly about property ownership that you've posted on the subject thousands of times on a niche forum over the past four years. It's a bell curve thing: you're one end, Ellen is the other and 80% of the general public are in the middle. Meaning that they buy or rent a house, have a bit of a moan about the hassles of both every now and again, but generally don't get to bothered about it all and just get on with life.

You know I'm right Mr Toast. Don't get me wrong though, it's good that there are people like you as you're completely correct in everything you say. Renting needs to be sorted out in this country. But no one really seems to care that much, hence my point.

Cleaver

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Apologies then Cleaver.

Just took it that way as this thread is mainly about the problem side of renting.

Yeah, I guess my comment was a bit out of context. I'm just a bit bored of all these "oh my god, isn't renting the most awful thing since sliced bread? You have to live with rats, every landlord is a pervert and you lose £429,365 over 12 years comparing to buying" type of threads.

Don't get me wrong, renting can be bad but so can buyng a place. And renting can be more than buying over the long term, but that isn't always the main consideration for most people. Basically, most people rent or buy a place and don't obsess about it like people on here. I was happy renting for a good few years, then I wanted my own place, so I bought one. I wouldn't choose to go back to renting tomorrow, but if I had to I'd be fine. It's just four walls and a roof at the end of the day.

Cleaver

ElleR wrote: »

I like Cleaver's post, minus the breasts comment! Haha!

Breasts are quite obviously amazing and I won't hear a bad word said about them.

Percy1983

REWIRED_GHU0L wrote: »

Bet you're a real hit with the ladies. Grow a pair of balls and cut that umbilical cord for once in your life.

Yes my fiancee is just fine with it, funnily she is the same age and also living with her parents... Come to think of it most of my friends are all living with parents too, maybe we can't just buy houses like the generation before us.

Just consider that the umbilical cord was cut long ago I basically just have a cheap room and sandwiches made (she won't stop).

Of course in your eyes we are better off enriching a landlord and never being able to afford a home, then I can live at the mercy of landlords for the rest of my life like a real man... oh wait...

Of course I could learn a lot of a [STRIKE]keyboard warrior[/STRIKE] real man like yourself.