Rents, debts and the cost of living...

terryw

Percy1983 wrote: »

Surely its just a matter of time, the longer the house is stood, the more rent it gains, it would have to break even at some point surely.

The difference is the profits aren't based on greed but fairness so it takes much longer.

Unfortunately not. Once the expenses including interest on capital borrowed, repairs, damages, void periods, improvements, admin, court,rents written off, fees etc are set against the relatively low rents there is a deficit from day one and this is likely to get worse as the years go by.

wotsthat

Percy1983 wrote: »

Surely its just a matter of time, the longer the house is stood, the more rent it gains, it would have to break even at some point surely.

The difference is the profits aren't based on greed but fairness so it takes much longer.

Nothing to do with greed.

If there's a negative margin associated with providing council housing the break-even point will never be reached.

IveSeenTheLight

Percy1983 wrote: »

Surely its just a matter of time, the longer the house is stood, the more rent it gains, it would have to break even at some point surely.

Potentially, but that depends on the initial cost, interest rate on those costs, administration costs and maintenance costs over time.

The question is what model would the government want these to be covered over.

Percy1983 wrote: »

The difference is the profits aren't based on greed but fairness so it takes much longer.

To clarify, BTL businesses are not built on greed, they are businesses that needs to fit into the market rate, else they will incur void periods.

As a business model you want to minimise these

The market rate is fair. The tenant has the option to agree to a lease or choose alternative accommodation.

When I left home, I rented a property.
I could have rented cheaper but I preferred a slightly more expensive property.

I'm renting now while my house gets built. I could have rented a smaller / cheaper place, but chose not to.

As long as there is a demand for rental properties and insufficient supply of rental properties, then rents will rise to that market rate.

I've said time and again. BTL only PARTIALLY filled a gap in the market created by the government right to buy scheme.

Should there be sufficient social housing, then the market for private rentals would retract.

Anarchist

Sorry but I can't understand why you would WANT a council house (never mind be entitled to one, this I have no opinion on) if you can happily afford to not have one. I would not live on a council estate if it were free (I'm sure there are some that are absolutely fine, but everyone I've been to has been pretty bad).

Just some words of optimism though. Five years ago I was in about 16k worth of debt due to putting a wedding all on finance that fell through. I could not possibly see how on earth I was ever going to clear my debt as my wage barely covered my outgoings (including the interest on the debts).

This month, I've just put a 25% deposit down on my first home. A nice three bed semi in a nice quiet part of town.

I'm not a single mum. I'm not an immigrant. I'm a white, single male in his 30s.

Now stop making excuses. Stop making daft decisions, stop looking for shortcuts. I did it, and it didn't even take that long. My story is almost identical to yours. You can do it too.

Monkeyballs

Hi Anarchist,

Its good to hear from you, you are in the position which I ultimately want to be at in the next 5 years.

I dont want to get a place and just vegetate, just to get my own place which isnt just four walls with shared areas over which I have no control over and never know month by month who will be moving in...

Im not saying I deserve it, just that my own place is the dream... Im a simple man with simple needs is all!

With regards to council properties, most in York are actually ok so long as you dont act like a !!!!!! lol.

Oh yeah, another thing I get annoyed about are houses being bought to be rented to students which are split up to make as many rooms as possible... The street on which my parents live (council house for 45 years!!!) most houses have been bought and split up- next door was a 3 bed place but now thanks to an extensiob out back and a lot a new internal partitioning its home it is home to 9 students (most of which are lovely) but most have their own car! Now the atreet looks a right dump as they have to park anywhere they can...

:-) MB

Lagoon

Would you not instead choose something like these?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-38603473.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-41284565.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-41541359.html

After that we start getting into more expensive territory, but right there are three reasonably priced properties where you'd have your own space and wouldn't be sharing your neighbourhood with council tenants.

That second one, in particular, looks very nice.

Percy1983

I keep seeing this snobbery about council tenants, my house is ex coucil and looking around it does seem to be a mix of council and private (from what I can see).

Is it a problem? not at all, next door is a council house and I can geniunely say I couldn't have asked for a better neighbour.

somethingcorporate

antrobus wrote: »

Well, the British government has (in the past) succeeded in winning a number of wars which could be regarded as pretty 'large projects'.

What a load of cobblers. I suggest you have a look at the below link to understand who really won the world war for the allies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties.

The Russian suffered tens of millions of deaths whereas the UK contributed less than half a million (in terms of deaths).

We often overstate our own importance in the second world war, no change there putting ourselves at the middle of a world when really we're just a tiny little island.

OP - plenty of places in York that are cheap and reasonable. Clifton, Leeman Road etc are all ok and cheap and would allow you to actually meet your goals. York is a very expensive place and if you don't have the means due to your financial history then you have to adjust and make the sacrifices to do what you want to.

Lagoon

Percy1983 wrote: »

I keep seeing this snobbery about council tenants, my house is ex coucil and looking around it does seem to be a mix of council and private (from what I can see).

Is it a problem? not at all, next door is a council house and I can geniunely say I couldn't have asked for a better neighbour.

My 'snobbery' is built on my own experience, though I'm not saying that all council tenants are terrible by any means.

I think the reason it's being so talked about in this thread is because the OP stated that he had to pay £550pcm for one room to live in 'some modicum of comfort'.

He then continued with:

'Basically I have learned that paying more on a place in which Im happy to stay is cheaper than a cheap place which I dont want to stay home in... '

and

'York is an expensive place to live and as a local, I know the places I dont want to live which are often cheaper for obvious reasons.'

With that attitude (and it's one I share!), why would you take that risk and apply for a council property? Or, post on a forum about how you're annoyed that you can't get one?

The truth is that the more you're willing to pay on rent, the more control you'll have over the area you live in. If OP cares about living in 'rough' areas, he can continue to pay his £550pcm. If he doesn't, then he's got options to reduce his rent by a significant amount whilst (a) continuing to rent privately and (b) having a whole house to himself, rather than just one room.

bodmil

My flat is ex-council, grade 2 listed and full of character features, and now earns me £550 a month from a lodger. I think your experience is fairly limited.