So are Landlords finished?

Precisely biggy. I have lots more money than others and worked for it. I don't consider landlords as people who worked for it. We've a difference of opinion.

I do think I got lucky through career choice and talent for it. I don't think I'm better than those who didn't or have a right to the pounds in their pocket.

If you've made a few quid and are milking the easiest way to gain from that I'll not say you're doing the wrong thing but I'll not defend your position.

The problem is, I think, that the people who are taking the profit are very much of the same ilk as those who are paying it. So those paying it feel aggrieved. In generations gone by, it was the truly wealthy who did the BTL and no one really minded that much.

It’s tall poppy syndrome, essentially.

Harder than selecting a fund manager to manage your money and many other ways of acquiring wealth.

The old cliché of letting your money work for you.

Unless you like 70 hour weeks, of course.

I'd agree, There's far less proper working class people these days, there's a much larger middle class and then some uber wealthy people on top. We're seeing a split into 2 parts of the middle class though, those with wealth and those without. This very generally came about via house ownership. Those who bought houses got a lot of unrealised wealth through the house price increases (via migration and women working meaning 2x salary for the same number of houses). This in some cases was used to build a BTL portfolio by using the main house as collateral, or low interest rates etc. These also increased in price, meaning owners got a lot more wealth via house price increases and rent paying them off. At the same time those who didn't do BTL often could invest in shares and so on with their spare money when the house was paid off (via hard work but also often the house price increases). This creates a divide in the older generations between home owners and non-home owners.

But due to high house prices (need big deposits), stagnating wages relative to inflation and often lots of debt at the start of your working life it also impacts the younger generations too. The bank of Mum and Dad make a huge difference on your outcome. You can have a far worse paying job but get a nice house deposit from your parents, which means you can buy when say 20yo, you have a smaller loan and "waste" far less money renting. As the house is paid off sooner that means you can invest more in shares etc which increases your wealth later. If someone doesn't get a handout they need to save a lot longer for the deposit, buy a house much later (often say 10 years, so house prices rose more), used a lot more income renting and only pay off the house later in life.

The way society is means your life outcome is a lot less about how hard you work now, and far more about how much money you got from your parents. That tends to reflect if your parents bought a house young, versus were renters their whole life. It's creating 2 levels of middle class people who have the money to pay for a reasonable lifestyle often working in the same jobs beside each other, but one lot will have far more wealth over their life and pass that to their kids meaning it repeats again and again.

The irony is by allowing free markets to let people benefit from their own work it tends to mean over time that over several generations your wealth then is far less about how hard you work and more about what situation your parents/grandparents were in.

Blimey, who pissed on your cornflakes?

Section 21 will "trap" people in their rented homes.

They will have nowhere to go to as supply will have dried up because no landlord will be able remove a tenant from their property at will. And that makes being a landlord deeply unattractive - an inability to divest/liquidate properties. Unless you are a corporation who prefers a lack of tenant mobility and continuity of revenue that the absence of voids will bring.

Tenants will have a rented home. But they will be stuck in it.

The funny thing is on other PH threads we (Landlords) predicted the rises but we're told if rents could increase significantly then they would already be higher.

You would be mad not to keep them as high as possible because when rent caps do inevitability come, you could be trapped with a lower yield which compounds with each % yearly cap.

Fully agreed. I do wonder how long that two tier system can continue. I'm much older than gen alpha but I keep reading about how the levels of unfairness due to inherited wealth and those without it is getting worse and could be coming to an inflection point. If they voted in numbers it would, sadly many don't.

Never had an inheritance but I didn't need one to get ahead. I would now. I read posters on here sometimes talking about how they've saved housing deposits etc for their children and think all that money that's being wasted around the country would be better spent on business investment but that's the system. Some think they're rich buying houses off each other.

I tend to be of the opinion that come the revolution screw the landlords, I'll know where to stick my pitchfork, if they'd any sense they'd not have got so fat and greedy.

Having to do a bit of painting and decorating in between taking money from someone else won't get my sympathy.

Having a bit of fun with this post obviously but we're in a country where many can't afford housing and some would like to preserve that situation. How long can it continue?

This seems very emotive rather than factual. Who exactly wishes to preserve the situation where many can't afford housing? Not some indefinably "them", specifically who? Also who exactly is "fat & greedy"? Please show specific examples in quantities that aren't statistically insignificant.

"A bit of painting & decorating" in my last tenancy renewal meant replacing literally every door in the house & a few of their frames, repairing holes in walls & one ceiling, removing piles of junk left behind, replacing smashed lights and half the kitchen. Don't pretend it doesn't happen because it's surprisingly common.

I'll let you into a little secret biggy, I've been a landlord, I know how easy it is and I know the pain points. It's not a real job.

God knows who that last tenant was but that's not typical.

Of course it's emotive but it's also factual. The UK government wants to preserve the value of housing. Has at every opportunity decided on the policy flop not to hurt housing owners. Supports nimbyism. Maintains the legacy of a feudalistic system where landlords had rights. We might no longer have robber barons but we do have a few who'd like to be.