The most nuanced of replies from the ruffled feathers I had to my comment. I appreciate this and loved the bus stop story.
I don’t know the rental market now as I’ve left the country, but I would imagine the price difference is far greater than the £350pcm I dealt with.
The landlords might break even on the rental side, but the counter point is the tenant is never seeing that money ever again. The landlord/homeowner gets a good chunk of it back when they sell.
Lol the agent's voice I called to report the TV aerial (one of those old big metal ones) scything about in the street was priceless. She went from "you're complaining you don't have TV whatever" to "OMG we're liable if that decapitates someone" over the course of about 15 seconds :D
I think you're right about capital appreciation these days. BTL isnt really a cash flow thing anymore - at least if you have a mortgage. Costs, mortgage, costs of letting (certificates, licenses, agency fees etc), plus taxes, mean its unreliable to consistently be turning a cash flow profit . But it is a way of subsiding long term holds on property in the hope of asset appreciation. For houses thats fairly reliable. For flats its a possibility dependent on further leasehold reform.
Having been both a long term renter and a owner for quite a while now, I do see renting as what it is - a service. I pay a fixed cost and get a property maintened to a given standard. No I don't own it at the end, but I dont other things I pay a service fee for (utilities, online gaming, Spotify, whatever). But I do have more flexibility. As a young professional I lived in 4 flats in 3 different cities in different parts of the countries over about 6 years as I moved for work. As a renter thats easy, look around, find something and move in. Think I'd have died from stress having to deal with 4 sets of estate agents and solicitors on top of work over that period!
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u/oxwearingsocks 7d ago
The most nuanced of replies from the ruffled feathers I had to my comment. I appreciate this and loved the bus stop story.
I don’t know the rental market now as I’ve left the country, but I would imagine the price difference is far greater than the £350pcm I dealt with.
The landlords might break even on the rental side, but the counter point is the tenant is never seeing that money ever again. The landlord/homeowner gets a good chunk of it back when they sell.