A fairer deal for renters

The most important issue is the cost of the rent. If Londoners can’t genuinely afford the rent, they won’t be able to stay in open ended tenancies. My rent goes up by 9% every year. How is that affordable - I am supposed to be in what is officially known as ‘affordable’ - it’s a very sick joke.

WE need urgently the European model (epsecially Germany) where rent limits are set regionally/locally to ensure high rents are not charged for social housing. The UK property rental market runs in favour of the landlord and the insane levels of debt people take out to own their own house/property versus renting theri accommodation reflects that properly price controlled rentals do not largely exist.

Many rental properties in London are held by non professional landlords. Owners wi one or two properties whose income is used to provide a pension or Income for the landlords. Landlords invest very large sums in properties which they also keep safe and in good order. Tenants often don’t pay rent, trash the place or ask for and it complain about frivolous things. Ie the radiators moved so they can re arrange their rooms. The paint colours changed. A new oven because they have made the current one dirty. Insisting one of the walls had been moved whilst they were at work etc etc. Not all landlords are villains, neither are the tenants but if Landlords are not allowed to not renew some tenants contracts them why would landlords continue to invest their money in property. Better to engage the current Environmental Health Legislation that ensures rented accommodation is kept in good order. Use what is available and the professionals who are trained to deal with standards in the private rented sector. Regular inspections  would bring up any problems which can be dealt with using the appropriate legislation. Of course you cannot keep cutting Local Govt Staff, but I would imagine that the new proposals would I cursimilar if not higher costs.

Can I say that not ALL landlords are money grabbing and bad.    Some (and I count myself and others I know in this category) are extremely fair, provide good safe accommodation, fair rent, management services who solve problems quickly and effectively.

The media should feature some of the good landlords when criticising the market in a general fashion.    I think they might be extremely surprised.   (Although it wouldn't make a shocking headline and exciting news story.)

I agree will all comments, though I too think that though open-ended tenancies will be a good start, it will not solve the shortage of property or the cost of rented. We have a lot of property commercial and non-commercial that are empty in London, creating ghost borrough in the most expensive part of London.

We could place a tax on all empty properties so that investors are not sitting on an egg nest, which does not benefit communities or the economy and price people out of certain area of London. 

We could force owners to pay the council tax that they live in the property or not. if the tax is not pay, the Council can apply for a repossessing order te recover the unpaid amount, This will give council some cash to invest in comminuties and building houses. We could also force the organisations and investors to rent their properties for a 12 months periode and if the property stays empty, then the council will have the right to repossess it.

In terms of building properties, we should introduce a minimum footage per person to avoid micro flats that are only fit for a personThe size of the bedroom should have a minimum footage, as we often see properties listed as 2 bedrooms, but the second bedroom is so small that the single bed can often be as big as a cupboard. 

On the rent price, it should be calculated as a medium between the cost of the pre property boom and the current value. Rent should also take into consideration the amenities near by, as we often see in new developments the ground floors are often empty, they advertise for commercial unit, but once built the rents are too expensive for local business to florish. If this was part of the rent calculation, the developper would have an incentive to get amenities in and really create a community buzz.

I agree with all the comments made before. The Open ended tenancies will be a good start, but it will not solve the real problem, which is too many properties in London are left unoccupied by investors. In my view, we ought to force these properties to be rented. 

We could place a tax on all empty properties, and force all owners to pay for the Council tax, that they live in or not. This will bring some revenue to the local council and help fund much needed accommodations. It is sad to see tenants in hotels or in very expensive short time let, because there are no properties available. If they refuse to pay and the property stays empty for 10 months, then a repossessing order can be issue against that property.

I also believe that like in Sweden, they should designate a minimum square footage per tenant, to avoid property developers creating micro flats that are too small for two people to leave in, let alone a family of 3 or more. 

All rent should be based on square footage, but not on current inflated value. We should be able to create a base value taking into consideration, salaries, size of family, travel and amenities nearby. The base value should be a medium between the price of a square foot pre- property boom and current value.

We often see developments with ground floors commercial units empty because the rents are too expensive, so it creates a lost space and there is no incentive for developer to attract business in. If the rent they charge depends on the shops nearby it will incentivise them to get them in.

Rents should be set at a reasonable level to allow people on low incomes to afford to rent when they cannot get on local authorities housing lists. The idea of being able to give notice to leave is a good one, also get rid of letting agents fees my son if on a year tenancy and every year that he wants to stay he is charged over a £100 just to sign a piece of paper.

I actually feel like a chess piece on the UK map moving here and there and its always 'check mate' for the landlords when your time is up. I really feel there needs to be sufficient changes to UK housing law in terms of equality for renters. It is unfair that a landlord can just gain possession at the moment for no reason. Renting privately is very expensive and more should be done for the renters of today with so many obstacles to becoming a homeowner on a financial basis.

Im also a landlord and have always gone the extra mile to make my tenants happy.I love having happy tenants and a good relationship with them and they often renew their contracts for many years.There is a great deal of trust needed and mostly I have had good experiences,but there have been occasions when my my property has been ruined by dishonest renters subletting etc.Im well aware that it isn't easy to get a deposit together,but as a landlord I simply wouldnt want to hand over my keys if there were no deposit.Costs for compliance for landlords is high,plus ground rent,building insurance etc( and the cost to buy a property in the first place and kitting it out) its not simply a case of sit back and see the money rolling in as some might believe and the goal posts for landlords are constantly being moved.I think so many more landlords would sell up if they couldn't even decide when they would like their property back or to have to justify their decision to a third party.Im sure that no landlord wants a void period when their property is empty and if they want it back for whatever reason that should be their own decision.This in turn would mean even less property available to rent if more landlords sell up which is already an issue with the recent changes.Re the issue of deposits,Perhaps banks and insurers could look into the possibility of starting a scheme with government to help renters with a deposit loan at a very low interest rate for those that are unable to save one that goes directly to the deposit protection scheme?They've come up with help first time buyers deposits so why not do something for renters?

Every property should be inspected on the first day of the tenancy, for cleaning and condition, mine has just been done, the bloke who did it wrote a cracking good report covering all the damage and maintenance issues, I now have an independent Inventory Report, so no argument at the end of the tenancy about cleaning or damages the cost is split 50/50 with the landlord so both are covered if there is a dispute, worth every penny.

Whilst as a landlord (with just one very new property in excellent condition - ask my tenants!) I support the principle of longer tenancies, this has to be done in a way that is equitable from both the tenant's and the landlord's perspective.

The problem is that if you enforce a very one-sided open-ended tenancy, it starts to make rental much less attractive from a private landlord's perspective.

Once the current sales market stabilises (which it will do within the next couple of years - history tells us this) and if this proposal goes ahead on this timescale (which it can only do if it has government support too - I guess that would only happen if Labour was in power), then there would be a significant proportion of private landlords who would look to sell their properties - it just wouldn't be worth their while to rent them out anymore.

If that happens, there would be an even bigger shortfall of private rented properties on the market, forcing up rental rates substantially (which would already be heading upwards due to the increased cost of doing business incurred by the remaining private landlords, thanks to all the changes) - how could this be good for tenants?

Regarding rent controls, this has been clearly shown to be a disaster in most markets where it has been tried (Germany is probably an exception here, but the demographics there are very, very different to the UK).

Market forces should dictate rents, with strong regulation in relation to property suitability (condition) for rental - this side of things is frankly pathetic at the moment.

With strong rent controls, most landlords that had bought their properties in, say, the last five years would no longer be able to cover their costs and would be forced to leave the market (i.e. sell their properties) - so how exactly would this help anyone looking for somewhere to rent?

A major problem is "amateur" landlords - people with one property who may or may not want to return or sell on at a profit. These people need regulating. We had to move four time in five years when property prices began to rise - all with the excuse that the landlord wanted to sell. This should be stopped as an excuse to get rid of tenants. 

These latest proposals are rubbish and do nothing for long-term renters and families who deserve security in return for buying the landord's house/flat for him via sky-high rentals.I am paying way more than a mortgage would be on my house - but because I can't get a deposit together I am stuck.

London has become the rip-off capital of the world.