The UK rental market is shit!

[Chrisch]

I've been a landlord for forty years, through registered and AST tenancies. Never have been told I am/was a bad landlord and present tenants couldn't be happier. ......

Have made the decision that when the present tenants leave I'll sell up. The increasing hassle and costs just don't make it worthwhile.
Expect this years 'profit' to just about cover the dive club dinner cost for wife and i...

But that's the problem. The good people give up because they cannot make a decent return. The people that make a decent return are the ones that treat people like shit. The yield on residential property is poor, maybe 5% in many instances. That is a crap investment unless you have the 10-15% capital growth that has been enjoyed in recent years. Therefore the "investors" are either the ones seeking capital growth or the ones that make their above average return by neglecting the asset and the poor sucker that lives in it.

If, as seems likely, the capital growth turns negative then it is an even dumber investment. It's only redeeming factor is a steady revenue stream that is linked to the cost of living. If the revenue stream is more important than the rate of return then property makes sense and can be an ideal thing. Throw in a bit of maintenance and it can be a good way to keep yourself active and fed and clothed in retirement. But the only way to make serious money in property is to lend people the money to buy it.

The tide of public opinion seems to have turned against the buy to let people and so the government have turned against this investment class. The greed and dishonesty of the bad people in the business is to blame so as always it is the arseholes that spoilt it for the good people. You could write that about anything that involves our species.

The weird thing for me is how many people are prepared to pay a liar and crook 10% of their revenues just for collecting the rent and pretending to inspect the property every so often. I can understand it if the property is hundreds of miles away from where you live but mostly it seems to me that the landlords are just scared of dealing with their customers and one hell of a lot of the problems stem from that.

[Chrisch]

Now before Chris and Mark chime in - in less than a week you have managed to block the system up? Have you considered more roughage? ��

You may have tapped a whole new topic there.

[Mikael]

Now before Chris and Mark chime in - in less than a week you have managed to block the system up? Have you considered more roughage? ��

Surely more roughage would be counterproductive in this case

[WFO]

The weird thing for me is how many people are prepared to pay a liar and crook 10% of their revenues just for collecting the rent and pretending to inspect the property every so often. I can understand it if the property is hundreds of miles away from where you live but mostly it seems to me that the landlords are just scared of dealing with their customers and one hell of a lot of the problems stem from that.

My parents tried this.
Turns out flying back from Greece yourself is more reliable than trusting an estate agent.

Think liars and crooks is too kind.

Had all sorts of problems, fuckwit tenants not bothering to report the shower tray needing re caulking which leaked water into the garage below and resulted in us replacing structural timbers etc. Lying estate agents not bothering to inspect the place to see the problems. etc...

[Chrisch]

...fuckwit tenants not bothering to report the shower tray needing re caulking which leaked water into the garage below and resulted in us replacing structural timbers etc. ...

One of the issues is being evicted because you complain about the need for repairs. This practice may not be universal but it does happen. After a while it enters the thinking of people that rent and we learn to keep our mouth shut about problems. The agents should inspect the property periodically and they should identify and remedy such issues. As a tenant I am not worried that the agent has identified it, but I am worried that if I complain I might be out.

These sub-structural problems therefore go unresolved and the cheap and easy solution becomes a nightmare as in your example.

There is a naive trust in so-called professionals that is common in the average Brit. My dad was like it, a man in a suit was "respectable". Those days have long long gone.

[UnCheeky Monkey]

One of the issues is being evicted because you complain about the need for repairs. This practice may not be universal but it does happen

may be about to change, with the abolition of s21 notices

https://www.theguardian.com/society/...rights-victory

[WFO]

One of the issues is being evicted because you complain about the need for repairs. This practice may not be universal but it does happen. After a while it enters the thinking of people that rent and we learn to keep our mouth shut about problems. The agents should inspect the property periodically and they should identify and remedy such issues. As a tenant I am not worried that the agent has identified it, but I am worried that if I complain I might be out.

These sub-structural problems therefore go unresolved and the cheap and easy solution becomes a nightmare as in your example.

There is a naive trust in so-called professionals that is common in the average Brit. My dad was like it, a man in a suit was "respectable". Those days have long long gone.

Or there were the fookers who got "a cat", which had kittens, which the filthy shits let live in the kitchen. We ended up burning the floorboards after that one!

Currently got problem tenants who owe us a shit load of rent in my partners house.


And you wonder why some landlords are not nice...

[Chrisch]

Or there were the fookers who got "a cat", which had kittens, which the filthy shits let live in the kitchen. We ended up burning the floorboards after that one!

Currently got problem tenants who owe us a shit load of rent in my partners house.


And you wonder why some landlords are not nice...

No, there is no mystery to it. Landlords all have tales of woe about some tenant or another that is bad in some way and all tenants have tales of bad landlords. As Mike says the UK rental market is shit. So both sides expect the other to be problematic, neither side respects the other.

Many owner occupiers have cats and a great many of them will be in the kitchen. I wouldn't like to put numbers on it but it must be a fair percentage. Virtually all rental agreements forbid pets so I would guess rental based cats are in the minority.

If people don't pay the rent then they can be evicted.

I'm sure Hertz find that people have puked in their rental cars and I know for a fact they get the odd one stolen or involved in a crime and impounded by the police. You need to factor it into the investment decision. No one owes you a living.

[UnCheeky Monkey]

If people don't pay the rent then they can be evicted.

its not quite that simple though and the damage that some do in the meantime (while more unpaid rent accrues) can be eye watering

seen both sides of all this, with various hats on !

[Chrisch]

its not quite that simple though and the damage that some do in the meantime (while more unpaid rent accrues) can be eye watering

Agreed. Take out insurance.