landlord bashing

Guest101

AdrianC wrote: »

Hmm. That's exactly what the job of government is, of course. To make new laws, based on the consensus of the MP's moral positions...

Sure, ofcourse. Or the moral position of a judge.




I think I wasn't clear in what I wrote, so apologies. I'm providing my ideal - the reality unfortunately is that morals and feelings are now more important than fact.


To me it's fundamentally wrong for the state to force a positive. IE To compel someone to do something, rather than no do something. (I appreciate it's all linked)


To use the earlier example - it's fundamentally wrong for the state to force an individual to accept an offer on their house, purely on the basis of who made that offer.

AdrianC

Guest101 wrote: »

Or the moral position of a judge.

Judges don't make laws. They interpret them.

Guest101

AdrianC wrote: »

Judges don't make laws. They interpret them.

Indeed, but the interpretation is often not uniform. The judges personal experience and morals may dictate how they interpret it.

steampowered

AdrianC wrote: »

Judges don't make laws. They interpret them.

"Common law" means "law made by judges" - essentially the outcome of judge decisions made through the years.

Judges do have to interpret Acts of parliament. But there are plenty of areas of law which are solely common law, with no Acts of parliament.

For example contract law is almost entirely judge made.

Cakeguts

What I want to know is how many people who can't afford to buy a property can afford car finance? I am only asking this because when I was younger I used to drive to work in a silver coloured car that had a green bonnet. The orignal bonnet had rusted so we got another one from a scrap yard but couldn't find one the same colour as the car. I don't see nearly as many cars now with odd coloured doors etc. The point with my car was that we considered buying a home much more important than having a new car or even a second hand newer one. If the old one still went you got a spare part from a scrap yard.

LadyL2013

Guest101 wrote: »

I'm glad you put that last line. Absolutely it is about human decency. Which is a moral stand point. Me and you are unlikely to share the same morals - probably not drastically different, but not identical.


What I'm opposed to is the state saying: The moral position of one party is backed up by the law.

Well yes, there is only one type of bread and your options are to have no bread at all, to borrow the bread off of me or buy your own bread, but if I buy your bread, you're left with only 2 choices. There are other breads, but you're likely to run into the same problem.

The law wouldn't be prohibiting landlords from buying property, far from it, it would just be saying that in X situation with X type of property, FTB get first priority. It's no different to waiting lists for other things, it just means those who need it most, get first try (as long as that offer is reasonable). They don't get it for free, they still have to be financially suitable.

LadyL2013

Cakeguts wrote: »

What I want to know is how many people who can't afford to buy a property can afford car finance? I am only asking this because when I was younger I used to drive to work in a silver coloured car that had a green bonnet. The orignal bonnet had rusted so we got another one from a scrap yard but couldn't find one the same colour as the car. I don't see nearly as many cars now with odd coloured doors etc. The point with my car was that we considered buying a home much more important than having a new car or even a second hand newer one. If the old one still went you got a spare part from a scrap yard.

I see what you're getting at and it's true that some live beyond their means and that's why they can't afford things, but there's also many people living within their means and they still can't afford a property. For example, the average price for a starter home where I live is 150k, let's assume, you've saved your average 10k deposit, hen you'd need to be earning at least 28k a year to get a mortgage for said property and that's being optimistic. The average wage for the UK last time I checked was about 25k. So even if you're earning about average and have saved a deposit, you're still out of luck in many areas.

Spikey's_mum

I'm a landlord of one property that I rent out. It's a one bed flat in Edinburgh which cost me £145K to buy and is being rented for £650 per month (the mortgage is £920). On top of that I have home insurance, gas checks, electrical safety checks, maintenance, cost of furnishing etc. So why do it?

The reason I and many other small landlords have bought a 2nd property is because we have no pension or very little pension. In my case I put money into a pension for years and my estimated retirement income from it is laughable. By buying another property it is my way of saving towards my retirement so I am not completely poverty stricken or reliant on the state. If people still had good pensions like my parents did then I would not have bothered. This pension problem is forcing people to provide themselves a pension plan via the only way they know how... property. My flat that I rent is well furnished, very well maintained and before my first tenant moved in I spent close to £2000 on furniture and lots of non essentials like towels and bedding many things most landlords don't provide. My aim was to provide a nice home for someone whilst yes getting help to pay the mortgage. Am I a heartless ogre? I don't think so. Feel free to disagree. I earn a very average wage from my day job and nothing at the moment from renting the property (it's a cost to me)

However I have lots of sympathy for FTB who are trying to get on the property ladder. I bought the flat at closing date and had to bid against several others. I had to mortgage my own little flat (previously mortgage free) to raise the deposit and outbid the other interested parties.

I don't know what the solution is. I feel for my generation who are retiring in 10-15 years with no pension and I also feel for the young ones struggling to get on the ladder.

AdrianC

Guest101 wrote: »

Indeed, but the interpretation is often not uniform. The judges personal experience and morals may dictate how they interpret it.

steampowered wrote: »

"Common law" means "law made by judges" - essentially the outcome of judge decisions made through the years.

Judges do have to interpret Acts of parliament. But there are plenty of areas of law which are solely common law, with no Acts of parliament.

For example contract law is almost entirely judge made.

Judges form precedents, especially in higher courts. Precedents determine interpretations.

Much of the detail of contract law is codified, built on top of basic common law principles. The one thing you forgot to mention about judges making common law... it happened over centuries.

AdrianC

Spikey's_mum wrote: »

I'm a landlord of one property that I rent out. It's a one bed flat in Edinburgh which cost me £145K to buy and is being rented for £650 per month (the mortgage is £920).

Are you sure about that...?
A BtL mortgage is typically maximum 75% LtV. That's £108,750. Over 25 years, a repayment mortgage would have to be north of 9% for that monthly repayment. Even at 95% LtV, that'd be north of 7%...

On top of that I have home insurance, gas checks, electrical safety checks, maintenance, cost of furnishing etc. So why do it?

Indeed. Roughly how much loss would you expect you make in an average year? Even on the figures you've given, your yield is -2.25%, and that's before inflation...

The reason I and many other small landlords have bought a 2nd property is because we have no pension or very little pension. In my case I put money into a pension for years and my estimated retirement income from it is laughable. By buying another property it is my way of saving towards my retirement so I am not completely poverty stricken or reliant on the state.

Let us know what your annual loss is, and we'll work out what sort of averaged annual growth you need to get from this flat to beat even a very low risk index...

If people still had good pensions like my parents did then I would not have bothered. This pension problem is forcing people to provide themselves a pension plan via the only way they know how... property.

That doesn't mean it's the only way - or, even, the best way.

My flat that I rent is well furnished, very well maintained and before my first tenant moved in I spent close to £2000 on furniture and lots of non essentials like towels and bedding many things most landlords don't provide.

Are you registered with the charities commission? You probably should be...