have we done this? cost of renting in englandshire? is this accurate – if so, it’s not pretty

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/oct/13/families-unable-to-afford-rents

Another example where the ‘people’ are as much of the problem as the politicians. A landlord doesn’t have to charge as much as he can, does he? he could charge a reasonable and affordable rent which covers the mortgage and no more…

While I’m at it, buy to letters have helped create this problem – buying more houses than they need for themselves creates a shortage in the market for people wanting to buy and drives up prices.

So these people then have to rent, and massively overpay because the landlord, who helped force them to rent in the first place, is a greedy git…

That sounds pretty cheap for a 2 bed place in London, probably at that average price you’re not going to be in a nice safe area / near a tube.

So yeah, it probably is that bad if not worse.

“At £1,360, an average rent for a two-bedroom home in the capital is almost two-and-a-half times the average in the rest of the country (£568). The least affordable local authority area outside London is Oxford, where typical rents account for 55% of average earnings.”

thats about right. Add the cost of dealing with a letting agent and providing a deposit, months rent up front and it can cost near £3000 just to move into a property.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps said the government recognised the importance of private landlords in providing accessible and affordable homes.

This quote from the bbc article on the same story.

Funny that, I thought private landlords are the problem not the solution?

Living in London is as much a luxury as driving a supercar or visiting Disneyland every six months. Massive access to high concentration of high paid jobs within a short commute, and the huge concentration of museums, galleries, theatres and tourist sites. Of course the market has priced accordingly. Other places to live are available. Lots are cheaper too.

In sunny rochdale i rent two bedroom terraces full dg and ch etc new kitchen bathroom for between 465 and 495 pcm they typically cost 75 – 85k I rent privately no agencys a grand deposit plus 1 month up front.

in 23 years no one has had thier whole depoist back, many have had to pay more..

now if you can buy similar accomodation with such a deposit and pay for it and maintain it for a smaller monthly amount…

in 23 years no one has had thier whole depoist back, many have had to pay more..

Have your tenants really been that bad? 😯

You pay for what you get.

As above, £1360 seems pretty cheap to me. I also know for a fact that there I couldn’t earn any where near as much as I do outside of London.

The comment about it being the landlords fault is nonsense. They have bigger mortgages to cover.

It’s a bizarre comparison though. I live in London and pay rather less than that for my 2-bed flat (out in zone 2 though) but I suspect the averages are massively skewed by the luxury end of the market. You can pay a grand a month or twenty times that to rent a 2-bed flat depending on primarily where it is, then how spacious and well-decorated it is. You just don’t have that sort of price range anywhere else.

As for Melissa and David, they either need to get out of Brighton or find more lucrative jobs than college lecturing and part-time yoga instruction. Why don’t they rent somewhere like this instead and spend the £450 a month change on train tickets and “making ends meet”? I’d love to live in Belgravia, but I’d be strugging to make ends meet too (on a decent salary and no kids) if I chose to live there. What entitles you to live in a particular place?

“The comment about it being the landlords fault is nonsense. They have bigger mortgages to cover. “

but the second property became a way to make money and housing became a commodity it became ‘the landlords’ fault. Housing should be about somewhere to live, not a way to finance your pension or to make a quick buck.

”Have your tenants really been that bad?”
clearing a property post tenant might include ( usually involves) a skip and two cleaners plus lock changing etc etc.. soon eats into a grand.

”housing became a commodity” if you choose to live as most do in a permanent dwelling then you will have to pay to access the fruits of someone elses labours unless you can purchase a plot of land and can wield a trowel as well as you can your bombers..

but the second property became a way to make money and housing became a commodity it became ‘the landlords’ fault

Housing has been a commodity since the year dot. What about the developers, or the guy who subdivided his section, or turned his terrace into two flats, or indeed anyone who ever sold their property for more than they’ve paid for it.

FWIW, I see no other way of providing myself with a halfway decent income in retirement, with the performance of my pensions.

Most landlords base their rent on what the market will allow rather than the cost of their mortgage.

Interest only mortgage on our house would be 50% of the normal rental price for a similar property.

spot the landlords on this thread….

So the news story is correct then. and people forced to rent are financing property investors pensions?
Do you think people who rent want to rent? or do you think they have a choice?

Housing should be for housing people

plus lock changing etc etc.. soon eats into a grand.

You charge your tennents to change the locks after they’ve moved out? that doesn’t seem right. Does that mean they can never get their deposit back, even if they left the place spotless?

I have a good friend who through a decent credit rating and a good mate in the mortgage business has managed to build a portfolio of 15 flats which he rents out.
On the one hand you could argue that he is a capitalist pig dog etc on the other if he wasn’t the landlord who else would be?

So the choices seem to be that councils aquire or build swathes of property which they rent out and we know how that went (they sold loads and fueled a massive property bubble)

Private landlords contine to rent out on a buy to let basis (which I understand is around 50% of the rental market)

Banks provide easier access to mortgages for all driving massive house price inflation and further debt problems.

Housing is a right housing where you’d like is less of one.

jon1973

if he is charging tenants to change locks – he is wrong – full stop. Any half-wit tenant would have him in a tribunal for that nonsense. I am guessing he covers it up in other complaints or is trolling.

I’m a (reluctant) landlord – just the one property. I’ve so far deducted money from deposits of every set of tenants that I’ve had. One left without paying his final month of rent (often promoted on here as a “revolutionary” thing to do to the big nasty landlord). Still got my money!

I do it according to the contract – leave it how you found it or pay to put it right.

I’ve been helping a mate in London decorate his place for rental and I’m shocked at what people will pay for what I would class as squalor.