Massive Rises in Rent Costs

[Yuwipi Woman]

Over the last couple of months, I've seen multiple stories like this:



The story is usually about extremely and vulnerable elderly people on fixed incomes. Usually this is happening when some corporate entity buys a property. The amount they want to raise this women's rent to is more than the average social security payment so its likely she'll have to move. When they move people of this age, its usually into a care home. If I had to pay what they want to raise her rent to, I'd be homeless.

Nationwide, rent has increased 17%:

Rent prices in February hit a new high with a national average of $1,792 in the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the country, marking an over 17 percent increase from this time last year, according to a report.

The report from Realtor.com indicated that the spike in rent prices followed a notable dip in 2020 and into 2021 amid COVID-19-related rent deals.

But now an increase in prices has been seen and felt in cities across the country.

Prices spike across the country

In New York City, median rental prices increased by 23.5 percent in Manhattan, over 10 percent in Brooklyn and 14.5 percent in northwest Queens in February compared to rates from last year, a report from New York City real estate company Douglas Elliman found.

On the West Coast, rent prices in Seattle were up by almost 19 percent in April compared to April 2021. The median price for a one bedroom apartment in Seattle was $1,681, and it was $2,097 for a two bedroom, according to a report from Apartment List.

Record-setting rent prices spiking nationwide

Rent prices in February hit a new high with a national average of $1,792 in the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the country, marking an over 17 percent increase from this time last year, according to a report. The report from Realtor.com indicated that the spike in rent prices followed a...

www.yahoo.com

I've noticed a lot of corporations and hedge funds buying up property around me. They bought the house next to me and promptly started ripping things up and "improving" it. I don't know if they intend to rent it out or plan to sell it. They've even gone door-to-door trying to buy houses and call people multiple times a day.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

And another:



And another:



There has to be some way to curb this.

 

[stdP]

Right on schedule (and obvious to anyone who's glanced through an estate agent's window in the last year or so), UK prices right behind that, currently clocked at 14% up over the last year in London and an eye-watering 19% in Manc and Swansea.

Cost of renting jumps at record, adding more pressure to cost of living crisis

Swansea and Manchester up more than 19%, with average rise outside London in double digits for first time

www.theguardian.com

I do have to wonder, depending on how much of these properties are BtL on the never-never, if the current economic situation is either going to see the biggest house price crash in my lifetime (and subsequent acquisition by hedge funds and so forth) or the largest number of people turfed out on to the streets. Most likely both.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

I do have to wonder, depending on how much of these properties are BtL on the never-never, if the current economic situation is either going to see the biggest house price crash in my lifetime (and subsequent acquisition by hedge funds and so forth) or the largest number of people turfed out on to the streets. Most likely both.

I wouldn't be surprised by both of these possibilities. The hedge fund buyers are offering 125% of the assessed value, and there's no listing fees. It makes it very difficult for an entry-level homebuyer to compete with that. We're seeing the same thing in the home market as we've already seen in agricultural land. Ag land prices have gone up exponentially and the average size of a farm has also risen exponentially. They're buying up farms and then hiring people to farm them. Its going to mean higher prices for not only land, but food, housing--everything basically.

 

[stdP]

It's much easier for companies to secure additional loans/debt for buying properties, sorry, "future investment opportunities" than it is for your average solo buyer, hence the offers above market value as there's no way they can lose (other then economies collapsing).

Welcome to the first taste of the "rent everything for your entire life ever without the possibility of ownership" future. The forecasted returns on indentured servitude are going to deliver MASSIVE shareholder value!

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

It's much easier for companies to secure additional loans/debt for buying properties, sorry, "future investment opportunities" than it is for your average solo buyer, hence the offers above market value as there's no way they can lose (other then economies collapsing).

Welcome to the first taste of the "rent everything for your entire life ever without the possibility of ownership" future. The forecasted returns on indentured servitude are going to deliver MASSIVE shareholder value!

"You will own nothing and be happy."

 

[NoXion]

"You will own nothing and be happy."

Interestingly, I was doing some Googling around that phrase just recently. I found a couple of articles that might be relevant. First is a fact-checking piece from Reuters, talking about a video that was being shared on Misinformation Central- I mean, Facebook. The second is an article written by the person who actually originated the phrase. In the linked Reuters piece she is quoted, explaining that she was making a prediction (for good or ill) rather than being an advocate for it. Reading the Forbes article however, I'm not sure that I completely believe in the lack of advocacy.

I think the phrase really took off when the WEF decided to quote it in one of their videos - or perhaps I saw the quote in the video mentioned in this fact checking article, my memory ain't great.

On one level it really is a shame that the loonies have latched onto the phrase somewhat, because I really think there are important discussions to be had about how more and more companies trying to replace their "product" business model with a "service" business model. They want continual subscriptions instead of one-off payments. They want their customers locked into their own shitty little ecosystems, instead of being able to take advantage of the inter-operability provided by universal standards. I think the absolute last thing that the Right to Repair movement needs is to be polluted with a bunch tinfoil twats shitting their nonsense all over the shop.

 

[Yossarian]

It's sickening how private equity firms etc. are buying up trailer parks to squeeze every dollar possible from the residents.

One sign that a large investment firm has taken over a neighborhood is a dramatic spike in lot rent. Once a home is stationed on a lot, it is not always possible to move it; if it is possible, doing so can cost as much as ten thousand dollars. Most buyers aren’t eligible for fifteen- or thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages, so many of them finance their homes with high-interest “chattel loans,” made against personal property. “The vulnerability of these residents is part of the business model,” Sullivan said. “This is a captive class of tenant.” A leader of an association for mobile-home owners in Washington State has compared life in a mobile-home park to “a feudal system.”

What Happens When Investment Firms Acquire Trailer Parks

The financial industry’s pursuit of profits from mobile-home communities is undermining one of the country’s largest sources of affordable housing.

www.newyorker.com

 

[scifisam]

A friend has a room in her flatshare going, and another friend is looking for a room, and IMO they'd match really well as flatmates, so I messaged both to see if the looking friend was interested and then found out what the rent is.

It's a good location, nearest station is Russel Square, and it's a nice flat with a living room and a small garden. However, it's in a block on a 1960s council estate, which usually means lower rents even when private (it's not illegal subletting - the flat is owned). But - without bills - the rent for one very small bedroom with a shared bathroom is £1,167! Fuck me. That'd be around £1300 in total for a room.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Interestingly, I was doing some Googling around that phrase just recently. I found a couple of articles that might be relevant. First is a fact-checking piece from Reuters, talking about a video that was being shared on Misinformation Central- I mean, Facebook. The second is an article written by the person who actually originated the phrase. In the linked Reuters piece she is quoted, explaining that she was making a prediction (for good or ill) rather than being an advocate for it. Reading the Forbes article however, I'm not sure that I completely believe in the lack of advocacy.

I think the phrase really took off when the WEF decided to quote it in one of their videos - or perhaps I saw the quote in the video mentioned in this fact checking article, my memory ain't great.

On one level it really is a shame that the loonies have latched onto the phrase somewhat, because I really think there are important discussions to be had about how more and more companies trying to replace their "product" business model with a "service" business model. They want continual subscriptions instead of one-off payments. They want their customers locked into their own shitty little ecosystems, instead of being able to take advantage of the inter-operability provided by universal standards. I think the absolute last thing that the Right to Repair movement needs is to be polluted with a bunch tinfoil twats shitting their nonsense all over the shop.

I used the term somewhat ironically. There are people that think it's some global agenda to enslave us all under the rule of some global cabal, but that's not what I'm trying to convey.

I've read the original story you linked to before, and I do think she's advocating. Rather naively so. There are some efficiencies to be gained by creating a large rental network for something like transportation. In large cities, it probably isn't necessary or efficient for everyone to own a car. It's also more aesthetically pleasing to have open spaces, as opposed to roads. However, I don't think everything will go down the way she believes., at least not without eliminating some of the price gouging that is currently happening.

We do live in a Capitalist system and it will be the rules of Capitalism that rules us. In my original post, it talks about an elderly lady being run out of her home because the rental company decided to raise her rent 70%. Its not efficient or desirable to kick out someone who is independent and mobile.
Moving her to a nursing home would cost of $12,000 a month, and she probably wouldn't thrive there. It's better for her, and society as a whole, if she stays in the community she's lived in for a number of years. While I don't think we'll overthrow Capitalism any time soon, we can regulate price gouging and prevent some of the excesses of these corporations. We can do what some cities have done with BNBs. They found that large parts of cities were being used for BNBs and created rules for how many of them could exist in a particular area. We can also start enforcing anti-monopoly laws currently on the books. (And, discuss doing the same in other aggressively consolidated industries such as agriculture.)

There are discussions to be had here, and some of them are way overdue.

 

[stdP]

It's a good location, nearest station is Russel Square, and it's a nice flat with a living room and a small garden. However, it's in a block on a 1960s council estate, which usually means lower rents even when private (it's not illegal subletting - the flat is owned). But - without bills - the rent for one very small bedroom with a shared bathroom is £1,167! Fuck me. That'd be around £1300 in total for a room.

...and that isn't even "unreasonably" priced I don't think, at least not compared to the area. I probably know the location above as some friends lived in a place very like it when they were at uni; my digs in Bloomsbury were "only" £500pcm for a room in a shabby townhouse 20+ years ago. Don't get me wrong, it is (or at least was) an incredible part of the world to live in when you're young and/or carefree and if I was incontinently rich I suspect a gaff there would be high on my list.

The killer difference in my direct and indirect experience (I have a lot of younger colleagues still renting) is that lots of the properties owned by "management companies" will happily charge you an arm and a leg for doing precisely fuck all. £500/yr ground rent and/or £2000/yr management/maintenance fees on top of the rent or mortgage aren't unheard of.

 

[scifisam]

...and that isn't even "unreasonably" priced I don't think, at least not compared to the area. I probably know the location above as some friends lived in a place very like it when they were at uni; my digs in Bloomsbury were "only" £500pcm for a room in a shabby townhouse 20+ years ago. Don't get me wrong, it is (or at least was) an incredible part of the world to live in when you're young and/or carefree and if I was incontinently rich I suspect a gaff there would be high on my list.

The killer difference in my direct and indirect experience (I have a lot of younger colleagues still renting) is that lots of the properties owned by "management companies" will happily charge you an arm and a leg for doing precisely fuck all. £500/yr ground rent and/or £2000/yr management/maintenance fees on top of the rent or mortgage aren't unheard of.

I don't think it would be considered reasonable TBH, and if is, it's a problem. Said friend who's looking, and also lives in zone one, currently pays £845 (with no living room or garden, but that's not really worth £450 more). At least your digs would have included all bills and possibly food too.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I do have to wonder, depending on how much of these properties are BtL on the never-never, if the current economic situation is either going to see the biggest house price crash in my lifetime (and subsequent acquisition by hedge funds and so forth) or the largest number of people turfed out on to the streets. Most likely both.

As much as I loathe BTL types, they're basically just disposable proxies for the banks. Which is an annoyingly good business model. Right up until some threshold number of those proxies need to be disposed of in too short a space of time and the whole system goes down the bog, taking the rest of the economy with it. Of course that might never happen. We might instead get to the point where stagnant incomes can bear no more rises in living costs, so the growth in viable debt flatlines and the whole system goes down the bog, taking the rest of the economy with it.