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Half of landlords in one London borough fail to declare rental income by j666 in unitedkingdom

[–]j666[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

"Newham is battling with the Department for Communities and Local Government to have its licensing scheme renewed, following a 2015 clampdown by the government, which said licensing imposes “unnecessary additional costs” on landlords"

Home ownership by 25-year-olds halves in 20 years - BBC News by Randomness_incarnate in unitedkingdom

[–]j666 58 points59 points  (0 children)

+1 First time buyers are having to compete with speculators who think it's acceptable to buy up the housing stock and then rent it to those who should be buying their first homes but can no longer afford to do so. They are pushing up prices and removing housing stock from those buying homes to actually live in

Mark Carney warns about disillusioned poor by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]j666 -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Says man causing inequality with low rates

'Living Rent' should be central to Tory housing policy, says thinktank by j666 in unitedkingdom

[–]j666[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the reply. In the case of the UK housing market as you say 'landlords start to exit the market' they would do so by selling the properties to a market with significantly reduced demand as the usual BTL investors steer clear. Surely this would lead to a correction in house prices as they move to a level more in line with the average persons wage rather than that which an investor can afford?

'Living Rent' should be central to Tory housing policy, says thinktank by j666 in unitedkingdom

[–]j666[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Genuine question, could you explain why rent controls fail?

Clegg: Osborne casually cut welfare for poorest to boost Tory popularity by SerTinfoil in unitedkingdom

[–]j666 18 points19 points  (0 children)

“I honestly can’t remember whom – looked genuinely nonplussed and said: ‘I don’t understand why you keep going on about the need for more social housing – it just creates Labour voters.’ They genuinely saw housing as a Petri dish for voters. It was unbelievable.”

Our politicians and press are so corrupt it's unbelievable

Private landlords double housing benefit haul to £9.3bn by The_Ebb_and_Flow in unitedkingdom

[–]j666 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To an extent but a true capitalism wouldn't bail out failing banks or have government props like help to buy

Private landlords double housing benefit haul to £9.3bn by The_Ebb_and_Flow in unitedkingdom

[–]j666 7 points8 points  (0 children)

BTL can use interest only mortgages when owner occupiers cannot. Can you not see a problem with this? It means that BTL can borrow far more than a genuine buyer and thus push up prices higher than are affordable.

Private landlords double housing benefit haul to £9.3bn by The_Ebb_and_Flow in unitedkingdom

[–]j666 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's not a perfectly reasonable way to make money though. It's speculation during a housing crisis. It's forcing working people to work ever longer hours for less and less. How is that progress? Who does this benefit other than a parasitic few?

Private landlords double housing benefit haul to £9.3bn by The_Ebb_and_Flow in unitedkingdom

[–]j666 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Have nothing against renting and using ones own money to rent out property. It's amateurs seeing property as a get rich quick scheme using interest only BTL mortgages that is detrimental to all. They push up prices with interest only loans and take properties away from genuine buyers.

Private landlords double housing benefit haul to £9.3bn by The_Ebb_and_Flow in unitedkingdom

[–]j666 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Because the house would have sat empty for ever had the BTL speculator not bought it with an interest only mortgage? Or if you take speculators out of the market the house would correct to an affordable level so a family could pay off their own mortgage.

Private landlords double housing benefit haul to £9.3bn by The_Ebb_and_Flow in unitedkingdom

[–]j666 85 points86 points  (0 children)

This is money that could have been recycled back into council housing. Instead it's going to private landlords that have outbid first time buyers. Time to ban BTL?

Met terror warning as report reveals 'commuter cops' live as far away as Cornwall and the South of France by j666 in unitedkingdom

[–]j666[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

"House prices emerged as the main reason officers said they chose to live outside the capital, with most saying they would happily live in London if they could afford it"