Summer Budget 2015 – Landlords Reactions

I hope more and more of the tenants plight come to the fore . I have several sad stories where their suffering is far far greater than mine . Here`s one running live as we speak

I`ve an LHA 58 year old lady who looks out for her 85 year old mother around the corner who she needs to be near. The tenant herself suffers from anxiety depression and is due for a hospital op next week The stress is having a devastating effect on her health. She has attempted suicide twice as a direct result of her housing predicament

I housed her partially out of sympathy for a friend a few years back. She has special needs and cant read or write The LHA rent was equivalent to the market rent. I was happy not to put the rent up. The LHA rate froze and markets rents have risen. Its now £75 short pcm and that will only get worse.

I need to reduce my leverage and stash some cash for Sec 24. So I sec 21 her. I am selling the property to release some cash to pay the tax and deleverage The council is though forcing me to go to court and wont re house her until the possession order is granted despite the then Housing Minister instructing they shouldn't do this. The council routinely daily simply ignore that instruction

They actively encourage the tenants to ignore the Sec 21 and stay put forcing me to fork out about £600 for a court order . It just delays the inevitable but they deliberately make me financially suffer and the tenant fear the 6 am bailiff . Its just to insidiously test my resolve and delay finding a B&B place for her as long as possible. There are no suitable B&B`s left in my area. They are shipped 10 miles out of town and isolated from their families

If Osborne had not tinkered I would have continued to house her for the next 20 years and saved the taxpayers having to house her in council accommodation. I fix the boiler when it goes not the taxpayer. I put double glazing in when it needs it, not the taxpayer

But no Osborne and the council is forcing me to sell and thereby putting a suicidal old lady in hospital with the bailiffs maybe only a month away. I will survive, I cant complain too much but Osborne is delivering the utmost cruelty onto the most weak and vulnerable members of society who have very little reserves to defend themselves adequately.

Its sickening
.

Reply to the comment left by "Jonathan Clarke" at "04/03/2017 - 10:20":

That is one of the saddest stories I have ever read on this forum Jonathan.

Is your MP aware of it?

Have you spoken to your local Radio stations and Newspapers about this?

Shelter and Crisis need to know about this too as they continue to support Section 24!
.

The sad thing is they don't care one bit all they want is money and to keep there fat cat Tory donors happy, your right it's sickening. I have a few similar stories myself just think of how many people are going to be affected it's scary and the fact those two charity's support it is mind boggling

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "04/03/2017 - 10:31":

Hi Mark. Not specifically about this recent case but I periodically highlight the cruelty of what is happening to those in authority like my MP and the Head of Housing at the council and local Councillors .

I gave evidence at the Councils Housing Allocations committee some time ago about the impending crisis. Everyone is seemingly sympathetic but all appear unable to actually influence government thinking. I have been also contacted by media outlets but I nor the tenants particularly want the associated publicity. Shelter don`t respond to me . Through Crisis I use their template to tell my MP to support the Homelessness Reduction Bill . This ladies support worker is powerless to help her.

She also says to her just stay put as well until the bailiffs come. Citizens Advice told another tenant to give up her job as she would be better off. Social workers will initially be hostile but you can win them round in time. But the underlying negativity towards LL`s is endemic in so many of the `caring` agencies - its always an uphill struggle.

The authorities struggle to get that you want to make money yes but also you can get a kick out of providing a service to the community. I just happen to do my community bit all under the same umbrella as my business so all at the same time.

Others separate this activity and make their money in say the banking sector during the week but then go and run 26 miles and raise money for a local charity at the weekend.

I now believe that the tenants are the answer. We landlords rallied together for the judicial review with the excellent tenant tax team. It was a great effort but ultimately the government has not budged. We have not enough friends who support us in government or the general public.

The tenants are unfortunately too disjointed themselves to be an effective voice. The caring agencies that purport to be their advocates leave me dismayed at their impotence and inability to be effective in highlighting their customers plight

I believe we should maybe use our muscle to rally not only us together but also alongside us, - the tenants, the disillusioned council workers, the support workers ,my gas man , the estate and letting agents etc . The knock on effects to the lives and businesses of so many affected parties is massive .

I know i am biased and maybe mix with a somewhat partisan crowd but I struggle to find anyone from any walk of life who genuinely supports the Sec 24 policy ( and that includes my tenants ) when they really see and understand the damage it is inflicting on those who are most vulnerable and have little voice.

How to go about rallying the tenants and others in the most effective manner though is for others better placed than me to advise

Proposals have been made by Yorkshire Building Society to Chancellor that, "Stamp Duty" should be Seller Tax not Buyers Tax. Details in link:

http://www.selectproperty.com/2017/03/uk-budget-2017-expect-property-investment/

Reply to the comment left by "Simon Hall" at "04/03/2017 - 18:02":

Hands up anyone who thinks that won't raise prices!

Thant is pretty obvious, isn't it? We have already paid a stamp duty on our properties. If we are to pay again, we will need to increase the selling price accordingly...
Where is the famous 'level playing field'?

The idiocy of this government is beyond any words. Nobody would make that up.

Reply to the comment left by "Whiteskifreak Surrey" at "06/03/2017 - 12:22":

...Parasites and Hosts..???? In fact most private landlords begin by using their own money..ie a salary to provide the initial finance deposit and costs of a rental....whether buying it originally as a rental or moving to another home..and keeping their first home as a rental... So theyve already paid tax on that money..ie salary.( tax on salary)...they then pay higher stamp duty...2nd lot of ( inflated tax).... then once a landlord.,.they pay tax on the rental profit 3rd lot of tax.....finally when later sold off...yep they pay tax for a fourth time ..capital gains. Those are facts. Next time someone tells you....that you are parasitic landlord.....point out that>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..you could have just .. gone on a fancy holiday......providing no home for anyone and paying tax just once !!
SO>>>from an initial saving from salary or wages /income ( or whatever)...the landlord has in fact paid tax FOUR times over..in the course of being and becoming and later selling as a landlord!...so on any logical view we aint the parasite..if anything having paid tax FOUR times over...all on earnings originating from one source....we are if anything the host...upon which the rest of our society sustains itself. Pretty much kills the "leveling the playing field ".... argument... so often and so completely wrongly... trotted out by the government and its ignorant MPs.....The FOUR times taxed fact is not easy to dismiss if put with clarity and repeated..because these are facts not opinions. Added to that is the fact that clause 24 is really quite seperate and adds a FIFTH tax....that no one else pays..because it is absolutely a TAX UPON A BUSINESS COST....and very clearly and very strangely so.
One might ask those who seek to denegrate us and our investment and involvement in housing.."How would you like to be taxed four times over on earnings which all originated from one source..oh.. and then also have another major so called "income tax" added..making a fifth..tax..which in that final case is not in any way applied to any real profit...you MAY have...and is in fact and instead totally based upon a cost you already pay !...and which no one else is subjected to. Four taxes through existing longer history of taxing landlords and a fifth which isnt even a tax on income at all....but in fact a tax upon a major cost...quite bizarre.

In addition to the taxes Michael lists, the bank/building society who lend the mortgage are already taxed on the interest we pay, and of course this cost in the final analysis comes from their customers, ie the borrowers, just as landlords' tax payments come from their tenants. Unfortunately those who seek to denigrate us have a skewed viewpoint epitomized by the article in today's Guardian which accuses landlords of some dreadful treatment of tenants and also lists some totally unrealistic expectations of what tenants should be able to do to rental properties. One of the commentators complains about her landlord wanting to know about every new boyfriend she moves in to share the property. If she had to face the prospect of five years jail for housing someone not permitted under the Right to Rent legislation she might be a little more sympathetic to her landlord. If others who are demanding landlords provide lawnmowers and other gardening equipment realised the landlord could then be prosecuted for any injury sustained by the tenants' use of the tools, (over which the landlord cannot have any supervision) perhaps they'd be a bit more understanding. Sorry I don't know how to provide links, but the headline of the article is about generation rent not being allowed to keep a goldfish!

Reply to the comment left by "Old Mrs Landlord" at "06/03/2017 - 16:10":

Here is a link:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/06/generation-rent-miss-list-off-white-hell-no-pets-home-owning-thrills-denied-tenants
Loads of tosh! Our tenant are allowed cats and even a big cage with rats.
It reminds me about some posts on Shelter website where one teanat demanded a brand new modern kitchen every time she changes the rented accommodation. Of course not prepared to pay a premium for a premium modern flat.

What worries me is the attitude. On this thread and on others as well I often commented on the idea of getting tenants on our side. I think I saw something on that a few days ago too. But with that type of press we are never going to do that.
I wonder what the other think.