Buy To Let Degradation?

Poppycat

Street I lived in early this year when we bought the house in 89 most of houses were tidy and tended to no people more. Fast forward to Jan 2007 new people coming and going, a lot of the houses tended to be untidy from outside.

I moved not for reasons above but it does show that if you do tend to own the property you look after it

We moved on and different street up the road from where we live is I think all owner occupied houses are much more tidier, in fact we spent a lot of time outside painting and thats spurred on neighbour opposite to paint there's, they even told us this, lol

keeperbear

I cannot believe this thread. So "BTL is causing the degredation of the UK's housing stock"? What utter tosh!

Where exactly were these households and tenants living 15 years ago (before BTL)? When I first came to London in 1990, I was disgusted by the state of repair of many properties. Flaking paint on the window frames and other poor maintenance. Nothing has changed. Certain owner occupiers maintain their properties poorly just like certain btl landlords. However, I know a number of BTL landlords who have refurbished their properties to a very high standard and background check all tenants.

Since owning my property, I have had more trouble from owner occupier neighbours than BTL induced tenants. Furthermore, if your property is a leasehold property, all owners are subject to the terms of the lease, and everyone pays a service charge for adequate maintenance and insurance etc.

This hysteria against individual BTL landlords is amazing. I suspect no one would be writing articles in the Guardian against BTL if all such investment was conducted by UK FTSE listed PLC companies. Properties companies cause as much urban blight from their redevelopments, but hardly anyone complains about this degrading the UK.

In summary, BTL has boosted property prices in my area of West London and has regenerated, not degraded, the overall housing stock.

Ad

Anyone who bothers to educate him or herself and goes to work should be able to provide some security for themselves and their families and have something to work towards.

The mass take up of landlordism is nothing but a cancer upon society. There is no security in renting in this country.

Tens years of NuLabour = The death of aspiration and a country spiralling out of control addicted to debt.

Mark my words those that scoff now won't be so flippant in years to come.

Ad

keeperbear wrote: »

I cannot believe this thread. So "BTL is causing the degredation of the UK's housing stock"? What utter tosh!

Where exactly were these households and tenants living 15 years ago (before BTL)? When I first came to London in 1990, I was disgusted by the state of repair of many properties. Flaking paint on the window frames and other poor maintenance. Nothing has changed. Certain owner occupiers maintain their properties poorly just like certain btl landlords. However, I know a number of BTL landlords who have refurbished their properties to a very high standard and background check all tenants.

Since owning my property, I have had more trouble from owner occupier neighbours than BTL induced tenants. Furthermore, if your property is a leasehold property, all owners are subject to the terms of the lease, and everyone pays a service charge for adequate maintenance and insurance etc.

This hysteria against individual BTL landlords is amazing. I suspect no one would be writing articles in the Guardian against BTL if all such investment was conducted by UK FTSE listed PLC companies. Properties companies cause as much urban blight from their redevelopments, but hardly anyone complains about this degrading the UK.

In summary, BTL has boosted property prices in my area of West London and has regenerated, not degraded, the overall housing stock.

The rented properties where I live are easily noticed.

Ad

hearts wrote: »

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 ;-(

It’s this present government that is at the core of the social ills we ALL now face. The social and economic consequences of rampant house price speculation will affect us all.

diesel9181

i dont think its so much to do with who owns what but the attitude of people. i stay where there are it is all private owner occupiers and some of the gardens are a mess and neglected. nobody cares and wants everything done for them!

keeperbear

Ad wrote: »

Anyone who bothers to educate him or herself and goes to work should be able to provide some security for themselves and their families and have something to work towards.

The mass take up of landlordism is nothing but a cancer upon society. There is no security in renting in this country.

Tens years of NuLabour = The death of aspiration and a country spiralling out of control addicted to debt.

In another thread (on FTBers) YOU documented your own decision to rent rather than buy. By doing so, you have created your own insecurity and have fuelled the BTL market. You cannot blame any government for your own personal choice. Many countries are experiencing economic growth fuelled by consumer deby, not just the UK. You can buy a house. Many of us did. Rather than sit around calling landlords a cancer and hoping for a house price crash, why don't you think long term and buy a house? Your choice.

We live in a capitalist society, and people are free to invest their money where they see a profitable opportunity. Investing in BTL is the same as buying shares on the stock market. If you don't like BTL, so what? But don't blame BTL for "the death of aspiration" in this country. BTL provides a pension vehicle that is not in the hands of an incompetent pension company. People are fed up with being ripped off by pension funds, so that is why BTL is booming. As demand for properties increase, so does the price. Whining about it does no good. I for one, do not want to live in a socialist/communist state where multiple property ownership is outlawed. If multinational companies can own multiple properties without criticism, why can't average joe public? BTL is here to stay, and any government that tries to regulate the housing market will be unelectable.

keeperbear

Ad wrote: »

The rented properties where I live are easily noticed.

As are many of the owner occupied ones where I live.

Moorepart

diesel9181 wrote: »

i dont think its so much to do with who owns what but the attitude of people. i stay where there are it is all private owner occupiers and some of the gardens are a mess and neglected. nobody cares and wants everything done for them!

BTL will be letting to less and less desirable tenants, as the poo gets nearer the ventilator..These "luxury" new builds are
the sink-estates of the future. :eek:

auntie_brenda

Ad wrote: »

It’s this present government that is at the core of the social ills we ALL now face. The social and economic consequences of rampant house price speculation will affect us all. The mass take up of landlordism is nothing but a cancer upon society.

Strange - I thought it was the Tories who introduced selling council houses and not building any more. So, people bought, then wanted to move to better areas. Leaving cheap houses for sale.

Pressure on council waiting lists = demand for private housing. Coupled with cheap housing for sale = business opportunity in my eyes, not 'a cancer on society' - or would you call all small businessmen that?

'It’s this present government that is at the core of the social ills we ALL now face.' - again, I'd say this was under the Tories, the 'loadsamoney' & 'no such thing as society' & 'I'm all right Jack' attitude encouraged then might have been ok when it was restricted to people earning plenty. However, it filtered down to some of the poorest who soon also wanted it all & therefore had it all - by way of stealing it or getting it on credit.

INHO it's the lack of responsibilities coupled with demand for 'rights' that's the problem here - and I say again this started under the Tories. However, Blair et al have done nothing to improve the situation.