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James Smith
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James Smith
Its this sort of attitude that is only going to create greater problems for landlords in the future, because the larger generation rent grows the more pressure there is for govenrments to win their votes. Its not often the fecklessness of younger people that prevents them buying a home. There are a myriad of factors that I'm sure wouldn't have applied when you were 30. Lets start with massive net population increase over the last 20 years with nowhere near a commensurate level of homebuilding. That has driven both prices for rents and to purchase up, therefore those who have to rent until they can buy can put less money aside which is a diminishing proportion of the cost of saving up for a deposit. The general cost of living increases and wage stagnation also contribute to this. In Manchester, the average wage sits around the mid £20,000s mark, whilst house prices are reaching £200,000+, so a typical mortgage giving 4, at a push 5, times annual salary doesn't even make a dent. Theres still around a £50,000-£80,000 shortfall and if you think about how long it would take to save that up and the house price inflation continuing by the time you've saved that up the price has gone up another £50-100k. Its a non-starter. 'Well, why not move somewhere more affordable?' - Possibly because we still need to have a job. Its great that properties in Blackpool cost a fraction of what they do in Manchester, but there aren't any jobs in Blackpool and you can't get a mortgage on the dole so its a pointless conversation. I might agree that plenty of people have useless university degrees that haven't given them access to good work, but the one who encouraged that was Tony Blair, and all those young people who have been affected by that man's disastrous legacy weren't old enough to have voted for him in the first place. Many people my age blame the older generations for Brexit and the Tories, I just think they've got a lot to answer for for electing that slimy charlatan! The way to fix it needs a threefold approach; - Build More and Fast - Fix the PRS, stop introducing overburdonsome admin and legislation because all those costs just get passed on to the tenants and drives rents up - Reform the mortgage industry to take a more practical approach to dealing with the transition from renting to buying (I'd start with having rent payments registered on credit profiles) Obviously there are more issues, but the reason why a lot of first time buyers can't get on the housing market is rarely them just being a 'failure'.

From: James Smith 14 May 2021 16:15 PM

James Smith
Considering its a civil matter, the police don't turn up att all unless its to prevent a breach of the peace when bailiffs are enforcing a possession order.

From: James Smith 18 March 2021 11:18 AM

James Smith
Is there any evidence put forward to back up this claim? I'm going to say no, considering evictions are a civil matter and the police don't get involved unless its to prevent a breach of the peace during a bailiff eviction. Its not even a debate, its the law. This is a clear falsehood.

From: James Smith 18 March 2021 10:18 AM

James Smith
Andrew, that's a ridiculously vacuous statement. Its not a lack of 'hard work' that means a lot of people cannot afford to buy a house with cash. The average house price in England is around 8 times higher than the average salary (£236,000 average house price, £31,000 average salary). Someone could work for 8 years, not spend a penny and just about afford to buy a house outright. Yet, predictions suggest house prices will increase closer to £280,000 on average, so they almost certainly wouldn't be able to afford one by the time they've saved up. Its a ridiculous suggestion that the average person could through just more 'hard work' or 'not buying a coffee' could suddenly afford to buy a house. There are more broad issues, including an increasing demand due to people living longer and staggering rates of net migration, decreasing supply partially because foreign investors by properties and leave them empty which artificially inflates prices and mainly because no government has done a competent job at building homes at anywhere near the necessary rate, a cautious mortgage market and stagnant wages. Your smug self-congratulation does nothing to resolve an issue which is creating a generation of renters, who represent an increasing voting bloc and will therefore get more and more concessions, restricting the ability for landlords to operate in the market.

From: James Smith 10 February 2021 10:40 AM

James Smith
Actually, the rights in regards to serving notice on Lodgers that come from the status of a residential landlord creating a non-assured tenancy and the lodger's protection from eviction would require a landlord to be in occupation at the start and end of the tenancy, the rest of the requirements are vague; Housing Act 1988 Schedule 1 Tenancies that cannot be assured Resident landlords 10(1)A tenancy in respect of which the following conditions are fulfilled— (a)that the dwelling-house forms part only of a building and, except in a case where the dwelling-house also forms part of a flat, the building is not a purpose-built block of flats; and (b)that, subject to Part III of this Schedule, the tenancy was granted by an individual who, at the time when the tenancy was granted, occupied as his only or principal home another dwelling-house which,— (i)in the case mentioned in paragraph (a) above, also forms part of the flat; or (ii)in any other case, also forms part of the building; and (c)that, subject to Part III of this Schedule, at all times since the tenancy was granted the interest of the landlord under the tenancy has belonged to an individual who, at the time he owned that interest, occupied as his only or principal home another dwelling-house which,— (i)in the case mentioned in paragraph (a) above, also formed part of the flat; or (ii)in any other case, also formed part of the building; and (d)that the tenancy is not one which is excluded from this sub-paragraph by sub-paragraph (3) below. …. It continues on but that’s the main bit And Protection From Eviction Act 1977 s.3A (3) (3)A tenancy or licence is also excluded if— (a)under its terms the occupier shares any accommodation with a member of the family of the landlord or licensor; (b)immediately before the tenancy or licence was granted and also at the time it comes to an end, the member of the family of the landlord or licensor occupied as his only or principal home premises of which the whole or part of the shared accommodation formed part; and (c)immediately before the tenancy or licence was granted and also at the time it comes to an end, the landlord or licensor occupied as his only or principal home premises in the same building as the shared accommodation and that building is not a purpose-built block of flats.

From: James Smith 23 September 2020 16:50 PM

James Smith
Staggering ignorance. Whilst I may agree with you that people should pay for what they use, and it infuriates me that housing benefit doesn't just get paid directly, I can't condone moronic comments like this. However the vitriolic prejudice against people from the north is entirely unnecessary. I'm from Manchester, I lived in London, and I moved back pretty swiftly for several reasons. One being that most of the people in London were as insufferably arrogant and rude as yourself. Another being the dreadful work/life balance, paying exorbitant rents for substandard accommodation, often managed by clueless agents, most of whom speak barely a word of English, and the same can be said for many of the landlords. In my couple of years in London, I realised very quickly what a disastrous place it is. Its basically a foreign city, where a wealthy middle class minority manage to scrape together a standard of living which most people in the north would see as miserable at best, and all this is supported by a low income immigrant population who have turned parts of London into destitute, crime ridden hovels. Its a disgusting place and full of guardian readers and for any of them to try and lecture anyone outside of London is nothing short of hypocritical idiocy. I took a roughly 35% paycut moving back to Manchester, but I live in a much bigger house, drive my car to my office, which takes me 10 minutes as opposed to an hour, and I don't have to fight through crowds of people everyday. I have more disposable income at the end of every month. Even the air is noticeably cleaner up here. We definitely don't want swathes of Londoners being brought up here to ruin our cities as well. Wise up, and try not being so prepared to show your limited intelligence.

From: James Smith 19 July 2020 17:55 PM

James Smith
Admittedly, this is a reasonable compromise for both parties, but as already stated there is a contract and the contract is not dependent on whether the universities are open or not. I've argued for years that student lets should be handled differently than the normal PRS, because they have always been informally handled differently. What might be more fair is if the universities close halfway through, that they provide compensation to the students for any loss they have suffered. This is better for two reasons; 1. the universities will get government financing a lot more easily than private landlords and can write off the costs and 2. Any money that comes out of the universities rather than being invested in what are increasingly becoming socialist brainwashing camps is good news. I graduated two years ago, and if I ever hear another word about Marcuse, Foucault, Benjamin, Horkheimer or Adorno, I will lose my mind.

From: James Smith 22 June 2020 11:25 AM

James Smith
Glad to see these industry experts are providing insightful market analysis. Less supply means price will increase. Where would we be without this prescient market forecasting.

From: James Smith 06 January 2020 10:16 AM

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