Here we go again. Some humans keep forgetting what we have already learned. Crushing the private rented sector will damage labour mobility. Some people don't need/ don't want to be tied with house purchase. It can be painfully slow and tortuous to sell up and move elsewhere. The private rented sector has a valued place in the economy. Why is it so different to renting a van or a tool? The previous failed Labour government demonised private landlords for its own narrow political purposes and does what it does best: meddling in things it knows nothing of and spawning needless expensive legislation and bureacracy. It also presided over the lowest housebuilding levels since the second World War.
Ultimately, as with any other product, price is determined by supply and demand; but that did not stop the Labour government contriving uncontrolled immigration to boost its own vote - and to hell with our own people seeking housing.

A staged removal of tax advantages of BTL and the introduction of a Renters saving scheme that transfers a proportion of income tax received from landlords into a fund for the renter to use for a house or pension purchase would calm the housing market and aid renters, while ensuring tax compliance by the majority of landlords.

Lets get this right.

Way back, we had a culture where only strictly middle class had mortghages or owned their own home.
The remainder, lived in Council Houses, on Council Estates, whilst most were respectable people, there was a minority who, veiwing that the house would never be theirs, gave little or no care about it, indeed the Council replaced Kitchens, painted the windows etc,
Margret Thatcher changed that, Home Ownership became a new goal...... I know, I was one of them.... people saved hard for about 25% of the purchase price and deposited each and every month to prove that they were reliable people who could and would continue to put the money each month into the Building Society, though the savings each mont was replaced by a Mortgage.
I know I did that too.
Council Estates were mostly eradicated, people bought ( Off the Council) at a greatly subsidised cost their rental hose and became proud Owners, they Changed the front door, Sectors of the Economy also gained by this, Home Improvements, (Whoever had heard of a B&Q or Homebase prior to Thatcher.........
Councils saved by not carrying ourt repairs to their properties.
I am a private Landlord but got to where i am by doing what the whingers are complaining about now....... Saving the 25% deposit and proving to the Lender that you are good for the money........
When i started work for the fist time in the late 1970s, I remeber complaining about the Older Guys, who appeared to work less hard than me, for more pay. The Office manager took me to one side and gave me some advice that has stuck with me ever since.
" Dont try to get his pay down, try top get your pay up"........... Well, why not adopt that principle to the people who are knocking the Private landlord....... Sorry about the Life History lesson Folks........ :)

@Graham, Thomas et al : No-one's accusing you of being bad people. No-one's saying you broke the rules. As Leander said we need a private rental sector, no question. The rules were there to encourage it and you simply spotted and used the opportunity.

But you're missing the point, which is that the present rules have been too successful in promoting BTL to the detriment of FTBs. And now they need to be adjusted. Nothing wrong in advocating that either - that's what Governments are supposed to be for, that's what the execrable Brown & co should have done instead of sleeping at every wheel they ever sat behind.

I read your life stories on last week's thread. Sure you worked hard, millions did. But the hard part was on the oil terminals or wherever. BTL ain't hard, it's money for old rope really. Lots of people know it is, and lots of people have piled in, and some get greedy. One report on the previous thread was of a man who'd accumulated 23 ex-council houses in London. The bloke who owns the house next door to me has a large portfolio of overcrowded, under-maintained student lets and lives abroad on the proceeds. Some Premiership footballers are filling their boots even before they hang them up. There were (are) the couple of ex-maths teachers who had a portfolio running I think to hundreds of millions of pounds, there was talk of them becoming the first BTL billionaires.

All of this MUST be having a dire impact on the FTB market. Graham, I don't know how greedy (sorry, entrepreneurial) you are, but under current rules there's every inducement for you to remortgage your current properties, use the funds as deposits on some more and turn your £1.4 million portfolio into a £4-5 million one almost overnight. Colin's proposed rule change would remove some of this inducement and help stop you becoming a bigger problem to FTBs in your area than you already are.

That's my theory anyway, all I need now are some facts to back it up.

Hi,

Well, I think the exact problem with the housing market is not BTL but the shortage of mortgage funds and the need of high percentage deposit. The product fees and other costs attached to these mortgages are also very high too sustained. However it is wrong to responsible buy to let landlords as mortgages for any purchase to value making it not easy to enter the market.

Buy to let advice@Plazaestates