Landlords to blame for Britain's rising house prices

Graham_Devon

Don't shoot the messenger!

I checked out the rightmove article and indeed it does mention the fact that BTL is taking a larger chunk of the properties available, and indeed, they suggest they will take even more as pensioners start entering BTL too.

The website said the UK's chronic housing supply shortage, caused by three decades of low levels of construction, is now being intensified by an increase in homes being owned by buy-to-let investors, who tend to be buying a property as part of a long-term plan and are more likely to keep it for longer than an owner-occupier would.

There is also a reluctance among people looking to move to put their own property on the market as they can see few suitable homes to buy.

The article is a little lackluster though and doesn't really live up to the promise of it's title. Significant though considering it lays the blame on BTL's in a high circulation national paper.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/house-prices/11414643/House-asking-prices-rise-as-buy-to-let-blocks-up-supply.html

BJV

TBH can not comment on BTL but can completely understand the not enough properties.


We are saving like mad and renovating our old house, almost done and hope top move in the next 18 months.


I have been keeping an eye on properties just in case the dream house comes up and there is nothing. Lot of very cheap and lots of million pounds but nothing in the middle. In our post code there are over 13000 people registered for alerts when houses come on the market. But nothing ever does.


Have to say it is worrying so much so that we are considering just staying put or having to move out of the area.

stator

Buy to let is evil and should be banned. All it does is increase house prices and rents and encourage amateurs to get into the landlord business where they innevitably become very bad slumlords.
Osborne's decision to turn pensions into cash slush funds will only make the matter worse. In Australia where they had a similar system for a while most old people put their money into property, pushing up house prices.

Carl31

BTL just needs to be regulated a bit better, its seen as 'getting someone to buy me a house', instead of someone starting a business where they are providing an essential life commodity to their customer.


If people were more aware of their responsibility from the off, then it might not be as an attractive choice for investment, hence the properties might be released back into the supply pool

ruggedtoast

The buy to let scummers will get their just deserves.

The Pain Train is on its way and it's scheduled to open a a can of whupazz all up inside the faces of Britain's loathsome rentiers.

the_flying_pig

Buy to let could be quite a force for good if it were to be banned outright *other than for new builds*. That would put a fair bit of pressure on supply. As things stand, yeah, its influence is a mixture of negative and neutral, rather than benign.

CLAPTON

There are about 500,000 immigrant that arrive in the UK each year.
In addition there are about 800,000 people that move out of the family home each year

so up to 1,300,000 people per year that will be looking to live somewhere
-are unlikely to have sufficient money for a house deposit
-are unable to get a mortgage even if they wanted to.
-and of course numerous students and people moving round the country for various reasons

So unless the state provides all these people with instant homes there is a need for private rented accommodation.

jjlandlord

stator wrote: »

Buy to let is evil and should be banned.

ruggedtoast wrote: »

The buy to let scummers will get their just deserves.

This is why we need more investment in education in this country, from primary school.

The irony is that the people making such claim would also be quite angry if called "Stalinists". Or perhaps not ironic at all...

Pixie5740

There is a market for private rented accommodation. There isn't enough social housing to go around since a lot of it has been sold off for peanuts, and it suits some people to rent, especially at the start of their careers when the flexibility to move around for job opportunities means renting is more suitable that home ownership.

The problem (as I see it anyway) is that it's become so easy to become a landlord that any moron can, and does do it. That's not to say that all landlords are morons, because they're not, but there are some real chumps and shady shadsters letting out property in the UK who don't do any of the things that as a LL they are supposed to and why should they as the chances of being caught are slim and even if they are caught, the penalties are paltry.

I understand why the Housing Act 1988 was brought in, there were too many properties lying empty and people needing somewhere to live, there was so much red tape that people didn't want to become landlords. Now it's swung too far the other way. A Section 21 to get rid of a tenant for nothing.

House prices go up because of supply and demand (and because of government policies to prop up the housing market...HTB).

wymondham

In times of low interest rates when your money does not go far, being a landlord seems to offer people a reasonable return. After all, the government do all they can for house prices to keep rising so you're on to a winner! Pity they don't encourage people to save through normal means, as ISAS are very low value etc ...


If I had the cash I'd buy a house and rent it out.

londonTiger

Landlord inflation is a symptom of the much larger problem of the landed gentry who own so much of land.

This medieval honours system where knights and nobles were given vast swathes of land in return for their loyalty by the king.