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We live in Brixton and also have a flat here which we let. I'd appreciate it if you could expand on why you think we should be shot. As an aside, I enjoy your photographs very much and am grateful for your efforts in running this forum.
I was clearly referring to "exploitative landlords." I assume you're not one so have no idea why you've taken umbrage
 
There is a very real problems with private sector housing, particularly with ex local authority properties initially bought right to buy and now owned by commercial or semi commercial landlords who are riding on the crest of a cruel housing crisis that leaves some spending a huge proportion of their income on a roof over their heads. If they were being offered at Local Authority rents ie half the "Open Market" rent fair enough. But we have neighbours living in identical flats, some as council tenants and others as private tenants paying vastly different rates. I'm sure Mr paulee and pave are exemplary property owners offering an almost philanthropic service to everyone they house.

people in council flats are lucky!
 
Even the good landlords are part of a disastrous widening of the gulf between rich and poor. The tenant class have had their life chances drastically constrained, while the landlord class end up, without doing much work or having any talent, being able to send their kids to university and buy them a car and a flat, and indulge themselves in expensive hobbies. The evidence is everywhere you look. The economic data is overwhelming. Even a brain-dead 'good' landlord ought to be able to see this, unless they never read a newspaper or think about anyone other than themselves. But they think their hands are clean. Their critical faculties are overwhelmed by greed. They never stop to think whether the buy to let mortgage is a force for good. As soon as the penny drops that a BTL mortgage allows them to speculate with borrowed money, they pile in. And then they convince themselves that they're nobly providing a vital public service!
 
Even the good landlords are part of a disastrous widening of the gulf between rich and poor. The tenant class have had their life chances drastically constrained, while the landlord class end up, without doing much work or having any talent, being able to send their kids to university and buy them a car and a flat, and indulge themselves in expensive hobbies. The evidence is everywhere you look. The economic data is overwhelming. Even a brain-dead 'good' landlord ought to be able to see this, unless they never read a newspaper or think about anyone other than themselves. But they think their hands are clean. Their critical faculties are overwhelmed by greed. They never stop to think whether the buy to let mortgage is a force for good. As soon as the penny drops that a BTL mortgage allows them to speculate with borrowed money, they pile in. And then they convince themselves that they're nobly providing a vital public service!

without dramatic changes to property rights, or tax ( which to be fair there have been some of ) - nothing is going to change, to reduce this. bearing in mind some people want to rent homes - who should make those available ?

alex
 
The council.

Let's not pretend private landlords are in it to provide a public service, please!
I would say that as much as I would prefer actual public service I don't mind landlords in principle. Its more the housing market thats a fucker.

Edit forthcoming

No edit after having difficulty explaining my thoughts in a coherent manner. Will drink cider instead.
 
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without dramatic changes to property rights, or tax ( which to be fair there have been some of ) - nothing is going to change, to reduce this. bearing in mind some people want to rent homes - who should make those available ?

alex
No, nothing will change. The introduction of the assured shorthold tenancy, the council house sell-off, the prevention of borrowing by local authorities for the building of social housing, and land banking by speculators, means that the tenant class are truly fucked, permanently. Social mobility has been strangled. The poor, especially those on benefits, will be screwed. Only a genuine socialist government would dream of unpicking this trap. Private landlords will continue to hold all the cards. They'll continue to turn away tenants on benefits, and they'll pretend that their letting agent is the bad guy.
 
No, nothing will change. The introduction of the assured shorthold tenancy, the council house sell-off, the prevention of borrowing by local authorities for the building of social housing, and land banking by speculators, means that the tenant class are truly fucked, permanently. Social mobility has been strangled. The poor, especially those on benefits, will be screwed. Only a genuine socialist government would dream of unpicking this trap. Private landlords will continue to hold all the cards. They'll continue to turn away tenants on benefits, and they'll pretend that their letting agent is the bad guy.

ironically - higher home ownership may actually cause higher unemployment

 
they'll pretend that their letting agent is the bad guy.

do they have to pretend, there was a definite change when letting agents became the norm, people in creative/freelance work found private rental became virtually impossible once they wanted to see evidence of salary, bank statements blah di blah, a lot of people I knew in non mainstream work were forced to move out of zone 1 and 2 as the supply of non lifestyle relatively affordable rentals dried up...
 
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There is a very real problems with private sector housing, particularly with ex local authority properties initially bought right to buy and now owned by commercial or semi commercial landlords who are riding on the crest of a cruel housing crisis that leaves some spending a huge proportion of their income on a roof over their heads. If they were being offered at Local Authority rents ie half the "Open Market" rent fair enough. But we have neighbours living in identical flats, some as council tenants and others as private tenants paying vastly different rates. I'm sure Mr paulee and pave are exemplary property owners offering an almost philanthropic service to everyone they house.
Don't be stupid, I charge top rates with very little added value.
if they can't pay... well .... kick them out.

That's the stereotype you want to promote right?
 
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There was a wonderful debate on this general issue in the proposal for Nationalising the Land HC Deb 14 December 1938 vol 342 cc2017-85

Just like Lambeth Progress Labour would destroy a Green Party motion in a Lambeth Council meeting today, adeptly malicious Tories in this case - aside from debating whether the proposal was Socialist or Communist put in a weaselly amendment to change the proposal from this:

Mr. T. Johnston
I beg to move, That, inasmuch as the private ownership of land is a serious barrier to the full development of the agricultural, industrial, and social activities of the nation, this House calls for legislation authorising the State and local authorities to acquire land, rural or urban, at every convenient opportunity, such acquisition to be based upon fair compensation.

To this:
Resolved, That, while recognising the value of the powers already existing for the State and local authorities to acquire land for essential purposes, this House is of the opinion that the abolition of the private ownership of land would retard its proper development and thus be detrimental to the interests of the nation.

It seems the Buy to Let moral position was supported by the Tories eighty years ago. Plus ca change.
 
E7xUJHBWEAAgMug


12 year-old Kermani Jhonwilon (pictured above) has been reported as missing, having last been seen in the Brixton
area wearing a grey tracksuit, blue jacket and white trainers.

If you can assist with his whereabouts, please call and 999 quote reference 21MIS023120.1508AS with any information that you have.



E7xUJHBWEAAgMug

At the moment, I cannot find any confirmation that this child has yet been found.

Can anyone clarify?
 

At the moment, I cannot find any confirmation that this child has yet been found.

Can anyone clarify?

i checked the Missing People website and found the same as ricbake


...hopefully he will be found safe soon.
 
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I was clearly referring to "exploitative landlords." I assume you're not one so have no idea why you've taken umbrage
Thank you for your reply. I didn't take umbrage, rather I was continuing your metaphor of the firing squad. I think you would agree that you do express in this forum a general dislike of private landlords and in that context I would like to make a couple of points.

43% of landlords, including myself, have only one property and I would expect have an amicable relationship with their tenants.

The flat in Coldharbour Lane which prompted your comment does not represent an example of exploitation. The flat has been recently been renovated and is also on the market for £315,000. Taking that valuation, a weekly rent of £277 and an allowance of 25% of that rent for expenses such as repairs, estate agent fees and empty periods etc, the return is 3.4% before tax. I don't think that can be considered excessive. Of course there is potential for capital gain, but again this would be taxed.

Finally, I believe further investment in the private sector, particularly by pension funds, would improve the situation with housing.
 
The question for those who do feel that the return is excessive, is what they would advise private landlords "should" do in the absence of any changes to legislation. Should they just sell the property and make it someone else's moral problem? Should they ensure exactly zero return so that they are not committing usury? Perhaps any capital gains achieved on eventually selling the property should be distributed back to all previous tenants?
 
Thank you for your reply. I didn't take umbrage, rather I was continuing your metaphor of the firing squad. I think you would agree that you do express in this forum a general dislike of private landlords and in that context I would like to make a couple of points.

43% of landlords, including myself, have only one property and I would expect have an amicable relationship with their tenants.

The flat in Coldharbour Lane which prompted your comment does not represent an example of exploitation. The flat has been recently been renovated and is also on the market for £315,000. Taking that valuation, a weekly rent of £277 and an allowance of 25% of that rent for expenses such as repairs, estate agent fees and empty periods etc, the return is 3.4% before tax. I don't think that can be considered excessive. Of course there is potential for capital gain, but again this would be taxed.

Finally, I believe further investment in the private sector, particularly by pension funds, would improve the situation with housing.
((((((landlords)))))
 
The question for those who do feel that the return is excessive, is what they would advise private landlords "should" do in the absence of any changes to legislation. Should they just sell the property and make it someone else's moral problem? Should they ensure exactly zero return so that they are not committing usury? Perhaps any capital gains achieved on eventually selling the property should be distributed back to all previous tenants?
They should all stay out of the market. No second homes. No BTLs. Then prices just might become affordable for others.

As for tax, when the property value increases the landlord can increase the mortgage. The extra borrowing is tax free, because it's a loan. But interest rates are so low that it can be spent as income. And when the value and mortgage increase, the landlord has an excuse to increase the rent. This cycle never stops. Tenants save for ever but the values are never within their reach. The landlord keeps the property for decades and avoids CGT. The gap between rich and poor gets even wider.
 
They should all stay out of the market. No second homes. No BTLs. Then prices just might become affordable for others.
That's not going to happen though, is it?

The question is what one should do at an individual level, if you have the opportunity to rent out a property. Should you just stay away from it, in which case someone else is going to do it instead, or should you do it and make an attempt to be a better landlord than might have been the case should someone else more ruthless have bought that property?

It has to be dealt with at a legislation level. There seems little point in telling individuals that they ought to be shot. Unless of course you manage to pass legislation that does allow you to shoot them.
 
Probably not the right thread but does anyone know who Jason Cobb is and why he hates the council so much? Is the council “pocketing” £300,000 or will they use it to provide other services?


ducks for cover before being called a shill for the council
 
Probably not the right thread but does anyone know who Jason Cobb is and why he hates the council so much? Is the council “pocketing” £300,000 or will they use it to provide other services?


ducks for cover before being called a shill for the council
Hes a long term poster on here. And there’s many reasons to scrutinise the council.
 
no chance in hell my landlord ever paid 25% of my rent in repairs
just had to deal with a ceiling coming down. it required substantial repair with my family being rehoused (airbnb) and cost quite a whack to sort out. still, nowhere near 25% of my rent since I moved in. I know that because I had to deal with the airbnb and saw the builder's bill which was accidentally sent to me.
 
Hes a long term poster on here. And there’s many reasons to scrutinise the council.
Indeed there are but all his articles use very biased language- it’s quite boring.

You can criticise the council for giving public space up to private events but seems weird to criticise them for taking money when they do.
 
On housing.

Another option is to nationalise housing.
It's to important a need to be in private sector. Post war governments were gradually moving housing largely into public sector. It was Thatcher that reversed this.

This would mean not shooting landlords but taking their property off them in a civilized manner.

In Brixton start with Lexadon. Who owns ex Council property anyway. So it would just be returning it to public ownership.

A problem with saying don't blame the landlord is that realistically as David Clapson has pointed out unless there is a hard left government nothing will be done.

I remember when Ed Miliband was leader. He was proposing mild reforms to the private rented sector.

Friend of mine in Labour party was very angry about this. She had a BTL property. Even some one like her faced with possibility of move to give tenants more rights saw this as anti landlord.

I think even mild reforms would get small landlords complaining when it comes down to it. Whatever they might say now

That's why in end people get frustrated and angry.

Another thing is bring back rent controls and secure tenancies for tenants. I'm assuming landlords here wouldn't have a problem with that. With rents linked to average earnings.
 
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