Milliband promises rent controls

thequant

GwylimT wrote: »

My grandma lives in a council property in an area with a substantial waiting list for social housing, on her street alone there are over 14 empty properties because the council who own them are unwilling to renovate them to be able to rent them out. So when tenanta moved out they were simply boarded up. The renovation needed at the time of boarding was new boilers to replace back boilers and wired smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, now they will be in such a state much more will need doing. These are mainly three bed semi's, some are detached with large gardens and a garage each, they are lovely family homes near a fantastic secondary school.

If councila are willing to let this happen they should be fined until the house is either offered for rent or sold.

.

I use to live in a similar property and similar kind of area, my last look on street shows there is only 2 houses still occupied in the street.


Recently the council has announced plans to force the remainder out and flog off the land to developers who are buying the properties at £20k a pop, the estate is going to be demolished, replaced which much higher density houses (hence much smaller properties) which will be available for sale at £160k+


This is a Labour council and is happening in other areas too.


Labour has never been a friend of the renter.

thequant

GwylimT wrote: »

Yes some people do want more flexibility, they also want to move quickly if their landlord is poor at his/her job. Our current tenants have been in place for nine years now, but even to then a three year tenancy may be a nerve wrackinf commitment.

As an ex-renter I preferred short contracts as it gave me flexibility.


My aim in staying places when I was renting was to be a long term tenant.


I knew I could achieve this by being a "good tenant", it also gave me the leverage to negotiate below inflation price rises as LL's were reluctant to lose me and also incur their own costs in finding another tenant.

chucknorris

GwylimT wrote: »

Yes some people do want more flexibility, they also want to move quickly if their landlord is poor at his/her job. Our current tenants have been in place for nine years now, but even to then a three year tenancy may be a nerve wrackinf commitment.

I've just re-let a flat where my longest standing tenant of 11 years left, but he was never in a contract for more than one year, and was mostly on a periodical contract.

floridaman

He can't be serious about rent controls can he? How would he make that work in a free market?

padington

The last big surgery said that only 7% of people oppose rent controls. It's possibly the least unpopular policy of the whole general election.

http://survation.com/public-back-introduction-of-rent-control-survation-for-generation-rent/

It must say something about how badly the current system is working.

Its not a new thing, we've had rent controls for many years during the 20th century.

michaels

padington wrote: »

The last big surgery said that only 7% of people oppose rent controls. It's possibly the least unpopular policy of the whole general election.

http://survation.com/public-back-introduction-of-rent-control-survation-for-generation-rent/

It must say something about how badly the current system is working.

Or about how intelligent people are.

I would also like prices of iphones and strawberries to be fixed. Of course this may mean that they are only available via long queues or just not available at all in the UK but at last it would then be 'fair'

CLAPTON

padington wrote: »

The last big surgery said that only 7% of people oppose rent controls. It's possibly the least unpopular policy of the whole general election.

http://survation.com/public-back-introduction-of-rent-control-survation-for-generation-rent/

It must say something about how badly the current system is working.

Its not a new thing, we've had rent controls for many years during the 20th century.

do you think that the policy would lead to greater homelessness or illegal letting?

antrobus

cepheus wrote: »

Rent controls did just the job in Germany, affordable housing for everyone....

Combined with actually subsidising landlords.

antrobus

chewmylegoff wrote: »

... On the contrary, professional landlords tend to be in it for yield whereas amateurs are often in it for HPI. ....

That would certainly be my experience.

chucknorris wrote: »

Non of our tenants have ever wanted to sign a 2 year contract, never mind a 3 year one. ...

Whilst Labour say they want 3 year tenancies to be the 'norm', it is not clear what they mean by that. They might mean giving tenants that statutory right to a 3 year tenancy, but with lots of break clauses. As in, it might be 3 years one way, but not the other.

michaels