Buy To Let Degradation?

neddog

See below for link to an interesting article from today’s Guardian regarding the negative aspects of Buy to Let.

I do agree with some of the points raised in this article. In 1995 I bought two flats in a very well kept and well managed block of 38 flats close to Luton Airport. These dwellings are located 5 minutes from where I live. Back then 95% of the flats were owner occupied nearly all the residents were employed and considerate of their neighbours, taking pride in the upkeep of their flats as well as the communal areas. Fast forward to 2007 and the block is now 90% Buy To Let. The majority of the Buy to Let owners who have bought the flats are from outside Luton.

The whole fabric of the block has changed. Broken windows, broken doors which remain in a state of disrepair for months. Dirty communal areas and a lot of neighbour disputes mainly over loud music and young babies crying etc. I am finding it increasing difficult to keep tenants for over six months due to the other owners who are not so fussy about the tenants they place in their flats. I have never used a letting agent.
I am now seeing the same thing happening in other parts of Luton.
Ok I might be a hypocrite as I have possibly contributed to the problem but I think this article makes a valid point.

http://money.guardian.co.uk/property/buyingtolet/story/0,,2103971,00.html


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wecanhelpu

I've aready posted this as a new thread "BTL causing misery"

david29dpo

the chaves revolution i,am afraid.

Ron2256

wecanhelpu wrote: »

I've aready posted this as a new thread "BTL causing misery"

And Generali posted this in
'Don't need a weatherman (pt II)'' earlier.:p

Very interesting article. If councils are allowed to restrict the number of BTL in an area we may find a lot of cheap FTB flats or houses up for sale.
The cheap ex-council house of the past could become the cheap ex-BTL properties.:rotfl:

nelly_2

Christ I hate people who play their music dead loud!

Why cant they just use headphones?


nobs!

epz_2

its simple people always look after something that belongs to them better than something they are just paying someone for the privalage of having, especialy if that person is indirectly the reason they cant get a home.

on a personal example ive got a 20 year old merc i look after very well, service it properly myself, best oil, waxed regularly etc. then i also have a company pickup truck worth several times my cars value, do probably 20x the milage in it and i dont even wash it, it not mine so i dont care if it blows up as long as i aint in it.

if you think back to the council estates of the past, the buildings might have been a little grim but one of the main issues was nobody owned so had a reason to look after the area, btl is causing the same issues except its the btl'er who is place gets devalues rather than my tax money.

lynzpower

david29dpo wrote: »

the chaves revolution i,am afraid.

What Hugo Chaves? He might be held to blame for a lot of world affairs, but the behavoiur in this block cant be pinned on him can it! :rotfl:

Ad

The only thing that this NuLabour government has created can be summed up in four words ‘the death of aspiration’.

We now live in a soulless society of buy to let landlords and a generation who have been robbed of aspiration.

I cannot even begin to say how much I hate what this government has allowed this country to become.

Ad

It’s a disgusting abuse of a much needed resource in society. If people were hording food and water there would be riots in the street, but it seems a home a roof the security that is so important to us all can be abused and speculated upon.

Within five years Britain will be a wasteland. An almighty property crash is the only solution and these greedy b*stards can go to the wall for all I care.

It certainly seems that from the readers comments people are slowly waking upto the consequences of ten years of the Labour governments pro property speculation and Gordon Browns so called miracle economy.

hearts

Ad wrote: »

The only thing that this NuLabour government has created can be summed up in four words ‘the death of aspiration’.

We now live in a soulless society of buy to let landlords and a generation who have been robbed of aspiration.

I cannot even begin to say how much I hate what this government has allowed this country to become.

Why do people keep mentioning the present government when looking for reasons for these things. No matter what government was in things would be more or less the same. Same BTL owners same Problem families...and same wars.
Maggie Thatcher Death of Hope ;-(

Nenen

epz wrote: »

its simple people always look after something that belongs to them better than something they are just paying someone for the privalage of having, especialy if that person is indirectly the reason they cant get a home.
.....
if you think back to the council estates of the past, the buildings might have been a little grim but one of the main issues was nobody owned so had a reason to look after the area, btl is causing the same issues except its the btl'er who is place gets devalues rather than my tax money.

I think that is often true for the last 30-40 years epz but what about the immense pride people took in the 1940s & 50s(whether they owned their home or not)? My dad grew up on a huge council estate in Dagenham, Essex and the family were extremely hard-up. However, his mum (my grandma) took enormous pride in keeping the house spotless (as well as her children who were scrubbed to within an inch of their lives). No one could ever get a shirt as white or as well ironed as my grandma could and grandpa kept the lawn looking better than Wimbledon! I wish I knew where the pride in cleanliness and good manners, even in the face of abject poverty, went to