Rents increases in Charlbury (Debate)

Sun 6 Nov 2022, 09:22

If land "shoujd" be made available at "less than the 'market rate" - rents certainly SHOULD be charged at less than the market rate too.

Sat 5 Nov 2022, 18:24

There's a lot of agreement about the (un)fairness/injustice of excessive rents- ant Not building affordable housing. And 'investment' in property is no (reasonable) justification for property exploitation (or any kind of exploitation). What buy-to-let landlords, in particular, never seem to choose to see is the fundamental injustice of getting someone with no other option to buy a house for them, meanwhile expecting an income from the process as well. Sudden, excessive rental increases are well beyond the realm of market forces if there is no (self-)restraint and reason: without sufficient properties there's no well-functioning 'free market' (just bandit capitalism). Greed increasingly is the problem. The accumulation of capital inevitably drives inequality, to the impoverishment of society as a whole. This is time-honoured: the Old Testament saw the problem well before Marx. 

Sat 5 Nov 2022, 17:55

We don’t have to leave it to market forces- there needs to be the will to build affordable housing in both the social rented sector and shared ownership models. This needs land to be made available at less than the market rate - or build on land already in public ownership. However, if you look at the outcry every time somebody proposes a new project in Charlbury - Rushy Bank? - I don’t see that happening any time soon.

Sat 5 Nov 2022, 13:31

But is it right to leave it to market forces? Are we happy to see single parents/disabled/elderly renters moved away from families and friends by market forces? And who's going to work in our pubs/shops/childcare when we've relocated all the lower paid to Carterton? 

Sat 5 Nov 2022, 11:54

Market forces and economic conditions - basic issues of supply and demand ?

Sat 5 Nov 2022, 11:28

James, you are asking for rent control - but there is no rent control for private rented in England. Landlords can put up rent as much as they like. This article explains more and also talks about what Scotland are doing to bring in emergency rent controls. Unfortunately there is no prospect of this happening in England. 

https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/rent-freeze-england-scotland-landlords/

Sat 5 Nov 2022, 11:01

This risks obscuring the issue - massive, sudden rental increases are exploitative and VERY damaging socially. Landlords must (and if necessary ne made to) adjust profits to the minimum to respect the vital needs of people (renters), not their pockets.

Sat 5 Nov 2022, 10:27

Sat 5 Nov 2022, 09:07 (last edited on Sat 5 Nov 2022, 18:29)

I absolutely respect why people buy properties as investments and then become landlords - and why for some it is a legitimate business.  This will probably (and rightly) be chucked into the Debate corner, but I don't think the real issue is that local landlords are randomly raising rents as high as they can get away with, as implied in this thread. The underlying issue is that we have a completely disfunctional housing market.  The selling off of social housing without replacement means long waiting lists, people therefore have to depend on privately rented properties which are hard to find (hence the premium),  people who need to rent a home from a private landlord but cannot afford to do so are supported with housing benefit which is paid out of other people's taxes, people who want to move away from renting cannot find affordable homes because there aren't enough being built, the building of new homes is dependent on developers which are businesses therefore want to make a profit and build as few affordable homes as they can, building regulations are in desperate need of updating so that new homes have to be zero carbon.....the list goes on.  Meanwhile rents in Charlbury and everywhere else are rising.....

Sat 5 Nov 2022, 07:38

It was an investment, I make no apology for that and I paid any tax due on the income. It provided me with a modest return, and while interest rates were low, was a better return than in the bank, while at the same time providing a home for someone who wanted it. The private rented sector is being demonised by some people and good and well meaning landlords have had enough - which is why I am no longer one and there is one less house to rent in Witney

Sat 5 Nov 2022, 07:16

But Helen, your tenants didn’t live there at your benevolence, you presumably made a profit beyond paying for any mortgage payments? There is no judgement of that but it’s not out of kindness that landlords rent their properties, whether good or bad. 

Sat 5 Nov 2022, 06:40

Landlord is indeed a broad term  James, and includes both good and bad - just like there are good and bad tenants. I have been a landlord and have endeavoured to be a good one and have had had good and bad tenants.  My tenants have always had legal tenancy agreements and I have abided by them and expected my tenants to do the same. I used to manage the property myself, but it became clear that the legislative requirements were such that it would be better to use a professional company to ensure I met all my legal obligations. If  a tenant chose to extend their tenancy beyond the end of the written term, i did not increase the rent for the next year - I absorbed any increased cost. This is simply not going to be possible for landlords who have fixed term mortgage deals coming to an end. 

I have had tenants of all descriptions - couples starting their lives together, single professionals, young families, people coming out of divorces - all have different reasons for needing to rent in the private sector- landlords should not be demonised as somehow preying on their tenants and profiteering - this is far from the case. I am no longer a landlord - it is just not worth it. My property is no longer available to rent. I, like many other small landlords with one or two properties have decided it is just not worth the effort and hassle.

I used to say to my tenants that it was my house but it was their home- when my final tenants left, they needed a bigger house as they were having another baby - they thanked me and said how much they had loved living there. 

I am very relieved to no longer be a landlord with the responsibilities that go with it.

Fri 4 Nov 2022, 22:59

'Landlord' is a broad term and does not disclose true or actual need. Tenants/renters clearly have more specific need for residence. Pleading imposed obligations, however true, obscures this distinction and suggests a poor excuse for injustice.  

Fri 4 Nov 2022, 19:08

Landlords are being hit by the same increases to mortgage rates as other households.  Obviously this has meant they have to had to increase rents in order to make the investment viable. Over recent years private landlords have filled the gap left by the lack of investment in true social housing - this is the root cause of the problem.

Not only are they subject to increasing mortgage costs but recent legislation has imposed an increasing set of regulations - including minimum energy performance which has resulted in a number of small landlords giving up.  This has reduced the available housing stock to be rented and simple supply and demand economics pushes the price higher on the remaining private rental stock. The solution is simple - build more social housing to rent - but obviously this needs funding and borrowing costs have increased…

Fri 4 Nov 2022, 17:49 (last edited on Fri 4 Nov 2022, 17:57)

I too, have heard too many first-hand accounts of people who have had their rents put up by eye-watering amounts or worse still, of people who have had their contract terminated, evicted from their house, only for the landlord to put up the rent for a next set of tenants. The question that arises is, what kind of place do we (and that includes landlords) want Charlbury to become? We seem to be on a trajectory where only the wealthy, not even the average households, never mind the lower income groups, can afford to live. Renting agreements in this country seem to be based on gentlemen’s agreements (baffling to an outsider) which leaves tenants more or less unprotected. In the absence of proper regulation, how can landlords be encouraged to behave in more gentlemanly ways?

Fri 4 Nov 2022, 17:37

Can someone explain - preferably a landlord - why the disgraceful amount of rental increase is being imposed around here ? As much as 40% !! Whatever will this additional amount of money be used for? This is truly shocking.