Retiring landlords risk fuelling rental shortage

[Deleted User]

Bonniepurple said:

I inherited half a house when my Mum died.  My brother bought me out, so he now owns a whole rental property, mortgage free.  Neither of us wanted to give the tenant notice as we felt - and still feel- very strongly that it’s her home.  The problem now is that in order to be able to afford to live closer to family (as opposed to completely by himself), my brother needs the capital from the house.  A mortgage on it wouldn’t work due to his personal circumstances (newly self employed, single).  Obviously, in an ideal world the tenant would give notice but I don’t think she will.

House prices are complicated.  Sure, BTL has removed some stock.  There are also many people in unsuitable houses.  Some rattle about by themselves in a 4 bed.  Others are crammed in, 6 to a 2 bed.  Short of insisting that at retirement everyone moves into a sheltered accommodation flat (!) that’s going to be an issue.  First time buyers tend to be older nowadays, so what used to suit them (1 or 2 bed starter home) doesn’t work.  The increase in working from home has meant that people want at least one spare room to work in.

Of course, what would really help a lot of people who are on low incomes/precarious jobs/want to stay local to family etc is if a load of new council houses (not housing association, or affordable housing, but proper council housing) was built.  Build proper communities with a good mix of housing stock and employment opportunities- and repeal the Right to Buy.  I’ll get my coat!

Part of the problem is that much of the UK housing stock is quite bad. Unsuited to modern living, often bodged over and over again through the decades. Terrace so it can't just be demolished and replaced. Poorly insulated, difficult to make efficient.

Often what happens is it falls into disrepair or gets bodged one too many times, so the only people willing to buy it are those who can do it up. That makes it harder for FTBs without the capital, and those unable to do the work themselves.

MultiFuelBurner

Interesting and diverse read this one with some snipping between forumites.

I have already given my opinions on the retiring landlords main discussion aim of the thread.

Here's my take on the latest curve the chat has taken.

Imo no one has the right to ownership, it takes hard work and sacrifice in the most part to own a house. Working 2-3 jobs for that first step on the ladder. You can't always buy where you want first time round and compromise.

I do not believe in giving ownership away for free and I don't have experience of the FTB schemes and the 25% help to buy loans scheme and whether this is a success or not?

There have been too many handouts in the past year, poorly focused and that all has to be paid back so I doubt there will be any meaningful schemes to solve this perceived issue or others for some time.

tooldle

The other thing they usually forget is pensions. You have to put a hell of a lot more in now to get a decent return. All those fantastic final salary, defined benefit schemes are long gone.

Combined with a higher cost of living now, the loss of decent public transport links and the fact that many new estates are in the middle of nowhere... The cost of living is much higher now.

Care is another huge cost that is being laid on younger people, to put a limit on lifetime costs for older people. The idea being that they have something to pass on. The irony...

Many of those 'gold plated' schemes are not as magnificent as they seem. My mum was in the Civil Service for most of her working life, with a some years working for a private company and fewer years working in a school kitchen. She now receives a pension of a few pence less than £400 per calendar month. It all helps of course although a small dent in the £49K annual care bill she pays. No sign of any lifetime limit being placed on care bills for the forseeable future.

If we are still talking about the 80's, then personally for my family circumstances i would say the cost of living was greater then. Food has been very cheap for some years and is now only rising to levels similar to what i remember of much of the 80's. Clothes certainly are far cheaper as are consumer electronics. Most folks of my acquaintance back then rented a tv for example. In our house, no phone, no washing machine, no central heating, no credit cards, no car, no minimum wage, little in the way of employment protections for women in particular and no pensions for many. 

You get the picture, it was a different time. Sure, some will now be winning in comparison and some will be losing. 

One of the standout memories for me being, I was briefly employed by a high street bank in 1988. On a Friday afternoon the branch was very busy with customers cashing their weekly wages cheque, mostly from factories and the construction industry. We would cash cheques, subject to a photo ID or supporting letter from the employer and it was not uncommon to have to phone the company for verification, especially where the customer was not recognised, as a regular weekly visitor.  Those people didn't have bank accounts, hence cashing their wage  cheque was the only option. Current and Deposit accounts were available and the bank would offer accounts only to those it deemed suitable. So, for those people, in those manual jobs, there was no chance of a mortgage. 

Edited to add, there were of course getting on for 4 Million people unemployed, most of them youth, out of a population of approx 54Million. Youth Opportunity Scheme was introduced to 'help' youth into employment, paying £25 per week for a max period of 1yr. The majority (or at least amongst my school cohort) were dismissed at the end of their year and replaced by the next influx of school leavers.