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10:20 AM, 1st December 2023, About 5 months ago 30
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News this week that the rent cap in Scotland has led to higher rents will be a story ignored by the likes of Shelter, Generation Rent and Acorn.
But my first thought was, who’d have thunk it?
Capping rents at a time when landlords are seeing their overheads increase and profits fall was always going to end this way.
Rent caps have never worked, anywhere. But we still have loons who don’t understand how the private rented sector works.
And the story on Property118 has the man responsible, Patrick Harvie, STILL insisting that this is the best route – and he is looking at long term rent controls.
He wants a new law to control rents in Scotland to help with ‘rent affordability’. This is baffling – there’s no connection with rising rents and the current rent cap. Madness.
While tenants will see a rent rise being capped at 3% – or 6% in special circumstances – in an existing tenancy, the real issue is that tenants in Scotland face a huge leap in rent when moving.
That was always expected by landlords who will react to the reality of having a tenant who won’t have to face a rent increase that matches an increase in their costs.
But once the landlord has an empty property, they will have to calculate the market rate (which is going up because every other landlord is in the same boat) and pay for their rising costs.
The other downside is that landlords are selling up which brings its own issues for tenants.
Fewer homes to rent means higher rents because of intense tenant competition.
I keep saying the same thing: It’s all about supply and demand.
The ONLY way to reduce rents in Scotland is to boost the number of homes available.
I see too that Scotland will allow for the council tax on second homes to be doubled from next April, affecting 24,000 properties.
This was always going to happen, and the councils will want to push homes back into the PRS – if the owners sell to landlords.
It is still a case of people in government deciding what they can do with someone else’s property.
Though I am staggered at the official figures from the statistics chief in Scotland for the higher rents – these are official figures so there’s no accusation of making them up.
Two-bedroom homes saw a rent increase of 14.3% in the year to the end of September.
That is simply astonishing for the most common type of rented property in Scotland – especially since wages haven’t increased by that much.
And then there’s an incredible 15.1% rise for one-bedroom homes. Astonishing when a rent cap is in play.
We need the likes of Generation Rent, Shelter, Acorn and the Labour Party to take a step back and look at this situation in Scotland.
There’s a lesson to be learned and it is this: Punishing landlords is not the way to resolve the shortage of homes to rent in Scotland, or in England and Wales.
Ignoring the facts of the situation doesn’t make rent caps right.
So, here’s a message to the tenant activist group: Stop making random statements that landlords are raking it in, that tenants are being exploited and a rent cap will solve everything.
It really won’t.
We also need politicians to be honest about the impact of rent caps on the private rented sector.
And we need politicians to have some intelligence to appreciate what happens when tenants aren’t protected when fed-up landlords sell up and leave.
Because protecting tenants is the last thing you do – unless you buy out the landlords who want to sell.
But I’m guessing that wanting intelligent politicians is a request too far.
To all those landlords in Scotland being lambasted for putting up rents, you have my sympathy.
To landlords in England and Wales, be prepared for more calls this winter to help tenants in a so-called ‘cost of living’ crisis.
Not for landlords, you understand. Just tenants.
Even the headline-grabbing loon Sadiq Khan has got in early this year.
He wants the Renters (Reform) Bill to be passed ‘immediately’ – ignoring the Parliamentary process, obvs.
And he calls again for a two-year rent freeze – just who does he think he is?
In recent weeks he has moaned about the homelessness problem in London and here he is putting the skids under landlords.
In a democracy, we really do get the leaders we deserve.
But what did we as landlords do to get this current shower?
Until next time,
The Landlord Crusader
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Lomondhomes
12:39 PM, 1st December 2023, About 5 months ago
Scotland? Its the SNP you are talking about, say no more. Leaders and party proven corrupt. The council owned houses are constantly coming under criticism especially with dampness.
UK. Government? Yes please get the invovled! Grenfell tower? Bristol flats deemed unsafe hundreds left homeless? Council ownerd and backed What fine people to get involved. Illegal immigrants that they are aiding bringing into the country, housing feeding ,keeping? Yes woe betide the landlort ithat is fiund with an unsuspecting illegal. Inflation high, taxes highest ever.......and these are those experts who want to run our private businesses but take no responsibility themselves. Then they want to tax us on their failures. Ive come to the conclusion investing abroard or even ISAs etc are better value and a lot less hassle. But please dont involve incompetent governments in our businesses when they cannt even run their own
Michael Booth
12:47 PM, 1st December 2023, About 5 months ago
Only mad people try the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome. Plain and simple rent caps cause increased in rent ask labour they tried it and that's what happened.
john thompson
13:26 PM, 1st December 2023, About 5 months ago
Reply to the comment left by NewYorkie at 01/12/2023 - 12:28Its so sad, your decision to keep rents low no boubt came with good intentions.
In my job I get to talk to many a good landlord and I'm constantly amazed by just how low they keep their rents for so long.
Most of these have kept the same tennans for years and look after them well, but also their mortgages are low from older mortgages rates, and low ltv. That will all change rapidly now.
The good will to new tennants is fast dispersing, and those like yourself who have been badly let down by the system, and the priority at all costs to tennants is devistateing the sector.
I hope you can get your finances back on track soon and mabey find a much more fruitful and less dangerous investment strategy.
Stella
13:33 PM, 1st December 2023, About 5 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Lomondhomes at 01/12/2023 - 12:39
We have voted for these incompetent fools.
Mr Gove says no matter what the circumstances the PRS are responsible for tenants mould even if they never open a window have a washing line in the lounge and dries clothes on the radiators and makes no efford to clean or heat the property.
My experience of ex local authority property is that it takes LA months to deal with minor problems and they have cost me thousands ro rectify penetrating damp because it took them six months to deal with a leaking downpipe.
Yet they keep turning the screw on the PRS and ignoring the facts of the situation.
john thompson
14:08 PM, 1st December 2023, About 5 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Stella at 01/12/2023 - 13:33
The mold issue is another case of minsters either ignoring the facts, or being totally ignorant.
I had a tennant in a damp free house who never opened windows and was drying clothes indoors, soon damp started appearing, luckily he left and I fixed the problem. New tennants, widows always open, no damp!
We have a two party system, one woke and totally incompetent, the other, marixist, woke and utterly useless.
So there's not much to vote for.
Personly I'm protest voting from now on, might as well. Its a wasted vote that will help let in either of the utterly moroinc duo, but they are almost the same, so a lest I didn't vote either of the treacherous scum in.
This time around I will vote Reform...sensible policys, for business, and anit-imgaration.
So if the system gose haywire, some complete utter miracle happens and Reform get in, we will seen if they are just all hot air like every government before them!..they surely can't be worse than the two utter clowns we are stuck with...the destructive ones that I will NEVER VOTE FOR AGAIN!
Dennis Leverett
15:01 PM, 1st December 2023, About 5 months ago
Reply to the comment left by john thompson at 01/12/2023 - 14:08
I agree, protest vote Reform, third party in most polls now. Lets put a cat amongst the pigeons and see what happens. You never know might have the balance of power.
NewYorkie
16:08 PM, 1st December 2023, About 5 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Dennis Leverett at 01/12/2023 - 15:01I've voted Conservative for 51 years, and Leave the EU, but the Conservative Party is simply hopeless now; a busted flush. They are floundering, arguing, and coming out with pointless policies, even though they know they are likely to lose the next Election. Why aren't they making some big splashes, knowing they have nothing left to lose e.g. Stop the Boats... ? Why are they taking us for fools, when they say they've just given us the biggest ever tax cut, when we all know they are raking it in at the highest level ever; stealth taxes; fiscal drag, fuel, VAT, Death, SDLT...? Yes, they'll make a big splurge on tax cuts in the Spring; we all know it's what they been saving up for, but that's too late.
Voting Conservative next time will be a wasted vote, and I won't vote for that bunch of fools in Labour, but I will vote Reform because they are saying what we need to hear, and are now making inroads at local elections. Their share of the most recent by-election was 10%, which was more than Labour's winning margin. Shame we don't [yet] have PR.
Zen
16:49 PM, 1st December 2023, About 5 months ago
I find it difficult because the community on here are good honest thoroughly decent people who have worked hard to try to earn a living.
I'm losing money hand over fist on my last rental property and I'm so poor I don't put my heating on, it's 9.5⁰c in my house today. I can only put rent up once a year, not 14 times in 14 months, like interest rates.
I'm just too soft and looked after good tenants, keeping rents low because I could afford it. But my ex-husband saw me coming as they say. He took as much as could get away with, financially and emotionally. That's legal theft!
But it's government theft that'll be the final nail in my coffin. Paying tax on a loss. I could have weathered the government caused storm if I hadn't been love bombed and got married an abuser.
I'm still keeping my head above water, just. But it could all fall down if I can't find a buyer for my house soon. I'm paying 2 mortgages and bills, my home and the previously rented house that I'm going to move into, as well as losing money on my last rental. I feel so stuck at the moment.
Over 20yrs of hard graft to pay for mine and my daughters future gone, stolen by an abusive man and an even more abusive government.
As a single parent I should have done an Angela Rayner. I wouldn't have been a target for a deceitful partner or deceitful government. I'd be warm and dry in my council house on benefits. But I worked hard in my career, saved and invested, all to give away.
Luckily I'm not a money orientated person so if I end up destitute it won't dull my nature, I'm a survivor and will always lead a happy life, no matter what's thrown at me. I'll stay a good person, I believe that if you're good to others it will come back to you. But it shows that hard work doesn't always pay, it makes you a target for leaches.
Dennis Leverett
16:53 PM, 1st December 2023, About 5 months ago
Reply to the comment left by NewYorkie at 01/12/2023 - 16:08
Absolutely correct. Whatever Tories/Labour put in their election manifesto will as usual never happen. Manifesto's should be legally binding with big fines for any party elected that doesn't produce. Anyone in a government position should be held legally responsible and lose their perks, pensions etc. for failure, not given the ridiculous handouts they get for nothing even when dismissed. This Covid enquiry really highlights what a bunch idiots we have in power. That's my cringe for today, feel better now, roll on gin-o'clock.
Stella
16:55 PM, 1st December 2023, About 5 months ago
Reply to the comment left by john thompson at 01/12/2023 - 14:08
I would certainly vote for Reform if I could but unfortunately I live in an area where the conservatives have a massive majority and even at election time they do not need to canvass.
I expect that their majority will be much smaller next time.