Badhairday

My friend, a German university lecturer who taught in the UK for a decade told me that the structures are very different. In the UK, you move up the ranks as you get more experience. In Germany, numbers are strictly limited, and the only way to move up the upper ranks is if people die....also, after about 7 years or so, you will be booted out and have to find work elsewhere. He works in media studies ... and I think he said there are 70+ media studies departments in the Uk, vs around 17 in Germany.

This is so true. My dad bought a house in 1995 for half of what the original owner had paid for it (docklands). 1995 - 2000 was indeed the bottom of the UK's biggest housing crash and it's weird how people on this site paint that period as 'normal'. IT was not.

OP here. I have lived here now, for 10 years. Not to say house prices are not crazy here too - here in Munich, they are not that far off London prices, but most of the landlords are huge companies who run their portfolios efficiently. Rent rises are capped and most companies don't even seem to rise rents in line with the caps - It's very common to find people who have been paying the same rent for decades. And of course, I love the security of tenure and the fact that pretty much all properties are unfurnished, so you can really make your place your home, instead of just a place wher

Yeah. There are companies that own tens of thousands of flats.

I have to say that Germany and it's attitude to BTL is a real eye opener. Tenants have security of tenure, even if the landlord sells the flat. They also get first dibs on the purchase of the flat. Since tenants tend to stay so long, properties are rented out unfurnished which means landlords have less maintenance. When tenants move out, with all their furniture, it is a commonplace to have the house repainted and the flooring re-done and why not, since the place is completely empty and it is easy to do. The most interesting part for me is that apparantly, one would not be able to ge

Asking for a friend. Her contract has lapsed onto a periodic tenancy. She wants to go back to Spain. She handed in her notice but the estate agency pointed her to a clause which states she cannot move out in the winter months, moreover, after she has waited 3 months to move out she will still have to pay £500 exit fees. Is any of this legal?

link?

What about commercial rent? Isn't that the biggie?

I had a list of 5 wants in my dream flat. My current flat ticks 4 of the boxes. Alas, it does not have a lift! As I recall, the other 'wants' were a large balcony, 2 bathrooms, in my preferred area, close to the underground.

I've been contacted by my Barclays credit card (which i never ever use), but not a peep regarding my regular Barclays account, and no communications from Lloyds either!

Landlords are normally so over leveraged, I doubt that they have much tax to pay, after mortgage, voids, repairs, losses from a previous bad tenancy, paying the estate agent his cut etc. If they have any profits, all they have to do is remortgage to reduce taxable profit. The equity released is probably another incentive for them to buy another property...

I'm no expert on the property market but my understanding is: 1) the 89 - 95 crash was the only time UK house prices have fallen by a nominal amount. So, odds are another crash is more likely to be real than nominal. 2) In the aformentioned crash apparantly there were no good properties for sale. Sellers chose to hold on until they were no longer in negative equity or at least, realised it's full 'value'. So, I guess the thing is: where will you park your cash whilst you wait for the crash? What if interest rates go up in the meantime.... I've been on this site for a long long t

Thanks. Literally LoL'd!

Oh ok! Thank you for clarifying.