Daily Mail; Generation rent has no stake in society!

[Anna B 1,414]

According to the Telegraph, 1,000,000 buy to let homes are standing empty, presumably because people can't afford to rent them. How come market forces are not bringing the rents down? What is propping up the system?

[truman 10]

According to the Telegraph, 1,000,000 buy to let homes are standing empty, presumably because people can't afford to rent them. How come market forces are not bringing the rents down? What is propping up the system?

 

Do you havea link Anna?

[maxmaximus 10]

Do you havea link Anna?

 

Nearly a million buy-to-let properties are standing empty

 

Anna B very low interest rates are propping up the system.

[poppet2 13]

Nearly a million buy-to-let properties are standing empty

 

Anna B very low interest rates are propping up the system.

 

But this article is more than 4 years old. I should imagine, the population and therefore demand has increased since then, and that they have mostly been let now.

[maxmaximus 10]

But this article is more than 4 years old. I should imagine, the population and therefore demand has increased since then, and that they have mostly been let now.

 

There are plenty of empty properties near me up for let and some have been empty for over six months, it’s a pity they don’t come up for sale so young couples can buy them and live in them.

[Anna B 1,414]

Nearly a million buy-to-let properties are standing empty

 

Anna B very low interest rates are propping up the system.

 

Thanks for providing the link.

 

I must admit I didn't see the date as significant, and would imagine the situation is getting worse as the article sugests.

 

---------- Post added 12-12-2012 at 17:44 ----------

 

There are plenty of empty properties near me up for let and some have been empty for over six months, it’s a pity they don’t come up for sale so young couples can buy them and live in them.

 

There are plenty near me as well. They were up for sale originally, although some were bought as by-to-let. Now they are being offered for rent. They've been empty for the best part of two years.

[chem1st 10]

Rents in the rest of Europe are regulated, unlike ours. Thatcher put a stop to that!

Most of the rents in Europe are equivalent to council rents.

 

Social rents are forced to rise above inflation and have been for 10 years now.

 

---------- Post added 12-12-2012 at 20:50 ----------

 

You need a free market in rents to allow investors a return to fund maintenance and even improvements.I have seen many houses with a fixed rent from that era and they lack central heating,have cloth wiring and are frankly Victorian in character.

 

You would also need a free-market in land and in currency.

 

---------- Post added 12-12-2012 at 20:51 ----------

 

You can increase mortgage repayments by raising either house prices or the interest rate,or both.Which of these three options would you pick?

I would not visit London purely to observe the misery of others so I must answer in the negative.

 

Shouldn't house price and interest rates be determined by the market? As long as the market is free from control.

 

---------- Post added 12-12-2012 at 20:59 ----------

 

My main problem with chem1st and his threads is that he refuses to play nice.

 

As a child, I was brought up playing monopoly. I was taught that everyone in the game starts with the same amount of capital. You use a little luck, sometimes negotiation to acquire land in the most lucrative rental locations. The more exclusive, the higher the cost. Once you own the land, you can develop property on that land, again, using your skills in cash-flow and money management wisely. Maybe you can acquire land cheaply with property already developed on it because another landlord over extended himself and went bankrupt. Either way, after all this time and effort to leverage my capital using skill and daring, chem1 lands on my old kent road, and not only will he not pay the rent he owes, but he now wants to squat in it whilst campaigning to anyone who will listen to have my land taken away from me and to have me punished for being a doer and contributor to society. When chem1 plays monopoly, he picks up the board and throws it, houses, hotels and players flying everywhere and anarchy ensues.

 

Chem1 should go directly to jail, not pass go and not collect £200. And only be released when he pays me the rent he owes on old kent road.

 

I often play the landlord's game (a.k.a Monopoly) originally patented by Elizabeth Magie in 1904, for it is an educational tool, and it is one which helps to explain why we need a land value tax. The game is designed to teach the principles of Henry George, unfortunately in this country, people do not learn the messages contained in the game, and they instead believe that they should live their life in a way that benefits themselves at the expense of everyone else.

 

I do not throw the board in a tantrum, and if anybody does, anarchy does not ensue. Anarchy is peace!

Chem shouldn't be paying rent in the first place, chem should be paid a citizens income and given access to land, which, if he chooses to access he can they pay a land value tax upon to fund citizens income for everyone else!

 

I suggest you research the game of Monopoly and understand why such a game was made. It is not a game designed to encourage buy to let, however many imbeciles play monopoly and think they can live their life like a monopoly game, buy up all the property, deny others from accessing land and building housing, then enslave them via rents, till the point that these people become bankrupt and the possessions of the victor.

[Cyclone 10]

If interest rates went up by 350% (2% to 7%) then would there be any debt deflation? I suspect the %age increase on my payments would be greater than the %age increase on my salary..

 

It's impossible to answer because the answer is it depends on lots of things.

 

It's generally accepted that debt does deflate though, that's why the government is always happy to keep borrowing, on the assumption of constant growth the debt will be much less onerous in the future.

 

---------- Post added 12-12-2012 at 21:04 ----------

 

I was replying to Poppets sentence here

 

"Increased interest rates are better because over time your repayments dwindle anyway, so you will always pay less".

 

If interest rates climb by 350% as (s)he suggested then my payment will not have reduced even in relation to my salary.. (I don't think I'll increase my salary to that extent )..I wasn't aware they were comparing different mortgages (30,000 versus 150k) you're complicating the issue when there's no need to..

 

I was thinking that poppet was actually talking about it being a better way of generating profit for the banks. But I'm not entirely sure.

 

I don't think I've complicated the issue though, if you take a 25 year loan and always pay the interest (whether that be 2% or 7%) at the end of the 25 year period the loan will look quite small because the capital will have undergone an average annual deflation of about 2.5% (ie money has inflated by 2.5%/annum).

This is why I laugh at the fact that my parents bought their first house for the cost of £1,500.... Their second house cost £6000.... 35 years later and I might spend that much on a holiday!

[chem1st 10]

Not feeling part of a community

A stark distinction emerged between those who owned a home and those who rented

a house in terms of their connection and investment in a community. New IPPR analysis

finds that owning a home increases a person’s sense of belonging to a neighbourhood as

much as simply living there without owning for 14 years. For example, when controlling

for all other variables, an individual who has lived in the same home for 20 years without

owning it is likely to feel the same sense of neighbourhood belonging as someone who

owns their home but has lived in it for just six years.

Renters we heard from exhibited a greater ambivalence towards investing in a community,

compared to those who owned.

‘It never once occurred to me to speak with our neighbours where we

were before – then as soon as we bought this place we went round and

introduced ourselves. I’ve gone to the residency association meetings.

I’ve gotten really vexed about rubbish collections!’

Male, 27, London

Although related to other areas, such as provision of local amenities, transport links,

and jobs, the connection between homes and feeling part of a community was a strong

theme and one that should not be overlooked by policymakers and developers.

 

http://www.ippr.org/images/media/files/publication/2012/12/no-place-home_Dec2012_10017.pdf

 

It is clear that people need stable housing and security of tenure to belong to their community. To even form a community in a first place!

[truman 10]

Nearly a million buy-to-let properties are standing empty

 

Anna B very low interest rates are propping up the system.

 

Have you anything a bit more up to date...?

[alchresearch 214]

I don't understand how this is news. House prices shot up in 2000 to unaffordable levels (for many) and nothing has been done in that time.

[Penistone999 10]

Something I learned a very long time ago when it comes to raising finance, take everything you read on forums, even by well qualified people with a tiny pinch of salt. You will probably find the reality is very much different. If you want to get a mortgage, get a good whole of market broker, explain your full situation and see what he can do for you. You may get a nice surprise.

 

I know a number of landlords with 50+ properties in their portfolios, they started with 1.

 

I own a successful property portfolio of student lets ,and your right , you start with one ,and build from there. I`ll admit , it was very difficult to start with , but once i had my first rental machine earning every month , i found it quite easy to borrow capital for my second. Both of these are now paid off ,and the rest i bought outright from profit made from the first two .I now have over a dozen ,and these properties are my pension pot ,as the returns on my investment are far higher that any returns would be from putting my money in a bank or pension scheme.

 

---------- Post added 13-12-2012 at 10:55 ----------

 

I don't understand how this is news. House prices shot up in 2000 to unaffordable levels (for many) and nothing has been done in that time.

 

Buying at Auction is the way to purchase property. Thats where i bought all of my rental properties. You can pick up some real bargains.