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Some good points there, for sure. However the rental market is going through considerable upheaval with many private sector landlords leaving the sector due to numerous legislative changes, thus the stock of available houses is dwindling. It's fine for the person who inherits a flat and sticks it on AirBnB, collects the cash and lives a happy life. Not so good when the proper landlord has to get through registration, electrical and gas safety, fire and smoke alarms, ISITEE, legionella risk assessment and of course there isn't the same mortgage relief as previously and there is the extra stamp duty too. etc. Many do, of course, but these hurdles are seen as burdensome and expensive for many rogues, so they just don't bother.Echoing what others have said about this being a two-way street, years ago I had the contract on several postcode areas for a large lettings agent to do all their serviced work. The number of times I’d get called out for the simplest of things that were well within the capabilities and responsibilities of the tenants to resolve was unreal - replacing PP3’s in smoke alarms was such a common thing I kept bulk stock of them in the van. So the LL ends up with a £100 bill for the 30secs to change a £2 battery that requires no skills whatsoever!! The attitude of the tenant was literally ‘screw them, don’t care’.
However, this country has a major problem with housing stock and that has to be realised - it used to be the case that you finished studies/training, got a job, saved up and bought a house. But the gap between income, mortgage ratios and house prices just makes that impossible for so many. Basic maths says a couple each earning £30k gives a combined income of £60, for a four times mortgage (if they can get one….) makes £240k. Which is significantly short of a majority of house prices in a lot of areas. So instead they’re forced to rent a place for £1k+ on which the LL has mortgage repayments of £500 - it’s an ever decreasing circle for the tenant. That’s simplistic, I know, but neatly sums up the problem.
It's a huge debate, but I'm just going to --- that AirBnB and their like have skewed and screwed the rental market not just in the UK but in other countries too, and I can't see things getting any better.