Owning your own home

Fair comments, the managed decline of the private landlord is not something I would like to be in charge of!.

My initial post was a reaction to all landlords essentially being a pox on society.

Very few people actually want to rent

long term, probably not.

but short / medium term; yes lots of people want to rent. it isn't practical or desirable for everyone to be home owners all the time.

a supply of decent, secure, affordable rental properties is a good thing. the argument is about who should provide it and how.

all landlords essentially being a pox on society

Yeah I don't believe that, sorry for jumping on you!

I find there's usually a lack of distinction between the actual job part of being a landlord (managing and renovating the building), which is totally fine, and the ultimately feudal nature baked into the landlord-tenant relationship as a result of housing being a speculative financial asset.

I don't see why we can't deal with them separately, hence housing co-ops being a good option for management, or allowing small increases in rent proportional to the actual costs associated with running a building.

It isn't practical or desirable for everyone to be home owners all the time.

For what it's worth, I think there's room for reform in the purchase market too. Ideally you'd make it as easy as possible to move at relatively short notices, reaping some of the wider economic benefit of the 'flexible labour market' that usually underpins arguments for private rental provision.

a supply of decent, secure, affordable rental properties is a good thing. the argument is about who should provide it and how.

Yep, totally agree. Our current arrangement is batshit, so any movement toward social/co-op provision and stronger protections in the private market would be a step in the right direction.

I don’t think it’s landlords that have been increasing purchase prices of late.

If their absence slows down or reduces house prices, that’s might be good news for first time buyers only.
The current homeowners who might see their house prices slashed, and former first time buyers who bought new builds in the past couple of years who will soon be in negative equity might not be so thrilled.

I don’t think it’s landlords that have been increasing purchase prices of late.

They represent about 10–15% of purchases every year, so if you believe that additional demand pushes up prices, then the counterfactual where they are removed from the demand pool would lead directly to reduced prices. There are other factors adding to the asset value of housing, but it's not as if you can dismiss it as at least one of the causes.

If their absence slows down or reduces house prices, that’s might be good news for first time buyers only.

It's mostly irrelevant for people who only own their own home. Since there's a general movement up/down, the place they move to will have changed price in the same direction as the one they've moved from. It also helps anyone sizing up, since the gap between bands is proportionally smaller.

The current homeowners who might see their house prices slashed, and former first time buyers who bought new builds in the past couple of years who will soon be in negative equity might not be so thrilled.

It would be between 1–5% of owner occupiers (depending on age, see below) who would go into negative equity if prices reduce by 9%, which would be the largest fall since 2008. Not great for those people, I'll grant you that, but the fixes are relatively easy — target a nominal housing inflation figure of between around -2% and 0%.

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This is worth a read too, if anyone's interested in the demand-side drivers of housing inflation:
https://x.com/jryancollins/status/1844700553596559617

Mortgage market liberalisation saw lending increase from 20% of GDP to 80% by 2006, the vast majority of which went in to the purchase of existing homes. There is no feasible increase in supply that could have absorbed such a flood of credit.

The introduction of Buy-to-Let mortgages in the late 1990s, following earlier liberalisation of the PRS, ramped up investment demand further. Banks will always prefer low-risk borrowers so those who already have collataral (existing homes) will outcompete first timer buyers.

Report here:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/public-purpose/sites/bartlett_public_purpose/files/241009_iipp_policy_report_ukhousing_layout2.pdf

Very few people actually want to rent, and this is borne out by many many surveys.

It's a bit chicken and egg though isn't it?

I still have loads of things on my house tdl so the idea of having a LL right now to take care of it is quite appealing. However, that would also mean spending* 50-100% p/m on accommodation, with no more than a year's security at a time.

*as opposed to having part of it being paid into an asset

However, that would also mean paying 50-100% p/m on accommodation, with no more than a year's security at a time.

Not just that, but sacrificing a level of agency and control over your own environment, like the ability to plant things in the garden and see it grow, or express yourself with decoration. To be actively engaged in material stuff where your actions have a physical and aesthetic/cultural/emotional effect I think is so important, and I can't see how being forced into a transient and limited existence without it is good for the soul.

That you're often expected to undo your creative work at the end of the tenancy, so it's as if you never existed at all, is just depressing. We're meant to live in these places, not just exist!

Anyway, enough rambling, here's a chart for who wants to be an owner-occupier in 2 and 10 years.

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One of the main issues is the huge deposit alot of the time, 10 percent doesnt sound a lot then you've got all the other costs as we all know that go along with it.

So your 20 grand can become like 30 or even more if folk want a lot of asking and then it just prices you out the game.

As far as I remember, the average(!) deposit for first time buyers in London was about £150k last year. It's just not a realistic prospect for even well-off working people without inheritances.

Yeah im more talking about up in glasgow but yeah 150k is totally unrealistic. If id have stayed in london id have never been able to buy.

It's pretty fucked everywhere 😔

I still have loads of things on my house tdl so the idea of having a LL right now to take care of it is quite appealing.

How much of your TDL would a landlord actually do? They would simply say "no" to most of it possibly including tasks a normal person would consider to be essential maintenance

It depends, but the 3 from my list that I'm thinking of, they'd have definitely done by now.

I get what you're saying, and I don't disagree with the reality in this country, and it's hard to imagine how with get to my idealised counterfactual, but I think that view is much more influenced by my two points.

I like owning and hoarding things, so I would probably want to own a house regardless. But if I could get 2 x 5yr leases back to back, and if renting was cheaper so that I could put money into savings and invest my deposit rather than sinking it into a house Idk if it would be an obvious choice.

Our housemate who sublet us part of our apartment in New York had the whole place to her taste, with her furniture and the LL painted it the colours she asked for. Similarly a mate there had their apartment to their style. I know a LL isn't going to spunk a load of money installing supermarket flooring and swapping the kitchen cupboards doors for ply, but I think you're underestimating the stamp you can put on a place.

I don't think any of my colleagues in Berlin own. Then again on teams their apartments look dull af.

if renting was cheaper so that I could put money into savings and invest my deposit rather than sinking it into a house Idk if it would be an obvious choice

Yeah, if we could get there the choice wouldn't be so obvious, which would be a great position to be in! Those that want to fuck around with kitchens and whatnot can, and those who really couldn't care less have a perfectly reasonable alternative where someone else manages it, without a financial downside. Doubtful that this will apply to the private rental sector any time soon though.

I think you're underestimating the stamp you can put on a place.

Yeah, a little for dramatic effect I guess. We've improved places we've lived as much as we can, painted neutral colours, fixed walls/doors/trims/etc. More from a position of wanting to live in a nice place (despite paying through the nose, the places were still pretty rough). You still get the feeling that you're just making the place nicer so they can rinse you next year though.

Anyway, that stuff was more my personal take, although I wouldn't be surprised if the 2010s trends of minimalist possessions or places filled with houseplants at least partially come out of that transience or inability to change your local environment.

Bit of advise needed. My skandi style 70s built house is bloody freezing.

The coldest room in the house by far is our bedroom. Largely because there is no insulation under part of the floor, where the house overhangs our decking. See pictures.

I was thinking of taking off the panelling, lining the underside with insulation foil roll then backfilling with rockwool and putting the panelling back up.

Am i missing something here? An I going to screw up the ventilation or something?

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The overhang

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I think the real bar to a lot of renting stuff in the UK is the inability to get a secure long let.

Places I've rented I never had a personal relationship with the landlord so it's always been a matter of not knowing when you're leaving so you don't want to spend any time/money doing stuff.

High point was some cunt who put the place on the market about a month after we'd moved in (and we found out when the estate agent shoved a note under the door saying there was going to be a viewing). Unsurprisingly it was still on the market when we moved out, telling everyone having a viewing that I wouldn't trust the guy an inch and there's no way I'd risk buying a property off him probably didn't help...

Don’t use ‘foil’ insulation, it’s some fake ass shit.

I figured it would work more a wind barrier than anything else. I've used it in my garage with good results

Kingspan thermo floor ?
Although I am no expect but we just used in our renovation in some under roof bits. Insulated plaster board sheet added to the outside wall, we did that to two of our external walls and it made a big difference and not that much thickesss

On the tenant / landlord / house price discussion from after the budget ...

There are so many shit landlords. I think back to when I was at uni and afterwards, some absolute shitholes. Having a quick look on rightmove now - 7 bed basic student house 750 p month excluding bills in the south west. Link

there are grads where I work living in professional HMO house shares run by 'professional landlords' which are like 850/900. it is ridiculous

Where I live, the cost of renting is mad. 1.5 bed flat in a nice (but not the best) area of Bristol £1350.

People paying 6 months up front and viewings get fully booked the day the advert goes up

That’s what a vapour-permeable airtightness barrier is for, in combination with insulation that actually works.