Pricey, exhausting, miserable: My search to rent a one-bed flat

[bearishonhouses]

5 hours ago, AppleBob said:

My mate used to work at the BBC as a cameraman around 2008. They all used to buy permits and sleep in vans on particular streets around broadcasting house, then go home on the weekends. He told me that after the 1997 election, when the corridors were littered with champagne bottles all the middle managers were even more heavily involved in purchasing BTL, with their taxpayer funded bloated salaries, just the same as the politicians were, who had ensured there was no CGT to pay on second and third properties, whilst flipping houses, using our money, for personal profit, in a secret hidden expenses system. 

True story; During a lull in an interview in 2008, he cheekily asked the guest, Mr Lehman, what he should invest in! 😆

'Buy tins of beans and a shotgun' was Mr Lehmans reply.......

I knew a couple who used to (maybe still do) worked in broadcasting. She was a fairly senior producer in tv - salary about 30k in the early 90's. He was a freelance sound recordist - working on dramas, documentaries etc. The amount of overtime payments, and per diems etc brought his earnings to more than 100k in the early 90's - for what is a fairly straightforward technician's job. And they subsequently bought a bunch of flats -  though I suspect with cash outright rather than IO mortgages.  I do not know current rates of pay, but I'll wager it's comparable in real terms. (100k in 1993 is equivalent to 200k in 2022 based on prices.  

[captainb]

4 hours ago, MARTINX9 said:

 

Couldn't of course be anything to do with the number of people needing housing in London? Who are all these people competing against this young woman to rent properties? What is causing that?

London could well be heading the way of Dublin and much of Ireland - where there is literally nothing and nowhere to rent irrespective of earnings.  It literally is destroying the social fabric - young workers who cannot afford to buy or don't want to be tied down long term literally cannot find anywhere to live.

There are literally only just over 500 properties available to rent in Dublin today - wider county Dublin not just the city. Birmingham - which has roughly the same population - has over 5,000. Ireland's second city Cork has only 30 homes for rent - yes 30! Its third largest city Limerick - has a grand total of 7. No wonder the Irish equivalent of rightmove is called daft.ie!

Crazy. Although Ireland has specific boom and bust problems. Partly historic, whenever there is a bust like 2008 there is mass emigration causing collapses In property values. 2009 to 2015 there as net emigration from Ireland. Then you get the booms and mad cap reverse with lack of supply being built in the bust years.

Only viable solution (in my view) is for the state to mass build homes for rent... Could call It social housing.. or such... To suck out some of the damand in boom times but not totally collapse if there's a bust.

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by captainb

[Up the spout]

11 hours ago, captainb said:

Between 35k and 45k iirc. They aren't that highly paid. Although not sure if London weighting on top 

I had a look online - not a very thorough search but anyway - and it looks as though she's more involved with insta snaps than investigating, so the title 'BBC Journalist' is open to question

 

[crash-and-burn]

Until the beginning of the 20th century, 90% of homes were rented from private landlords, and most houses were at least 8 times the average salary... History likes to repeat itself.

[Johnno1167]

9 hours ago, satsuma said:

More like people people these days expect someone else to take responsibility for their lives.  Why are these people not forming a party to address the issues?

That’s very lame -on that basis, we’d have thousands of political parties just focusing on one issue. Governance is a tiny bit more complex than single spot issues . We have already a mainstream party that is calling for rental controls . And that’s the issue , no rental controls . A free for all race to the bottom .

What the article is exposing is people are simple expecting that for laying out vast sums of money for renting somewhere, in return you get something that is clean, safe and not a shithole .  I don’t think any fair minded person could argue that’s unreasonable . 

I’d you read the article fully, at no point does it infer that they expect  someone else to take responsibility for their lives  .  It is highlighting failure of policy which is blighting the lives of many of the young people starting out. 

[Johnno1167]

7 hours ago, bearishonhouses said:

I knew a couple who used to (maybe still do) worked in broadcasting. She was a fairly senior producer in tv - salary about 30k in the early 90's. He was a freelance sound recordist - working on dramas, documentaries etc. The amount of overtime payments, and per diems etc brought his earnings to more than 100k in the early 90's - for what is a fairly straightforward technician's job. And they subsequently bought a bunch of flats -  though I suspect with cash outright rather than IO mortgages.  I do not know current rates of pay, but I'll wager it's comparable in real terms. (100k in 1993 is equivalent to 200k in 2022 based on prices.  

200K today in a London …. Gets you an ok terrace in decent area on 6x salary if you’re lucky …

[myusernameistaken]

9 hours ago, TheResponsibleHouseBuyer said:

 

yep may be right around this ballpark. So how much was it again that BBC journalist was finding for a 1 bed flat? £1200pcm? so lets say net income £2.5-3k pm. leaves about £1800 disposal, i guess utility + ctax less £500. £1200 left over seems okay? 

Have i missed something here?

Yes, you've missed the fact that £1,200 pcm is barely enough for a room in a houseshare in London.

Her budget is £1,650.

Speaking from personal experience I can confirm that the rental market in London is a complete joke. When I was looking in October, 30+ people were present at every viewing. One landlord I had the pleasure of meeting did a big presentation in front of all viewers and said he expected the advertised rent (£1,800) plus a cash payment on top every month. He said he'd already been offered an extra £400. I did report this to HMRC afterwards, but I don't imagine they'll look into it.

In the end, after weeks of looking, me and my partner had to settle for a place listed at £1,500 that was completely unfurnished. We ended up offering £1,725, and the landlord took a while to accept.

While the flat isn't the worst place I've lived in London, it's very small, the bathroom needs gutting, boiler knackered, and no doorbell. 

The whole London rental market is a disgrace but, prior to this BBC article, it's rarely reported on. 

[NoHPCinTheUK]

2 minutes ago, myusernameistaken said:

Yes, you've missed the fact that £1,200 pcm is barely enough for a room in a houseshare in London.

Her budget is £1,650.

Speaking from personal experience I can confirm that the rental market in London is a complete joke. When I was looking in October, 30+ people were present at every viewing. One landlord I had the pleasure of meeting did a big presentation in front of all viewers and said he expected the advertised rent (£1,800) plus a cash payment on top every month. He said he'd already been offered an extra £400. I did report this to HMRC afterwards, but I don't imagine they'll look into it.

In the end, after weeks of looking, me and my partner had to settle for a place listed at £1,500 that was completely unfurnished. We ended up offering £1,725, and the landlord took a while to accept.

While the flat isn't the worst place I've lived in London, it's very small, the bathroom needs gutting, boiler knackered, and no doorbell. 

The whole London rental market is a disgrace but, prior to this BBC article, it's rarely reported on. 

Postcodes? £1600 is more than enough for a nice 2 bed in London 

[myusernameistaken]

7 minutes ago, NoHPCinTheUK said:

Postcodes? £1600 is more than enough for a nice 2 bed in London 

N5. Please let me know where, I don't believe you.

Rental prices on Rightmove don't count as they are never really on the market. Please use OpenRent, and search by 'listed today'

[NoHPCinTheUK]

Cmon, just had a look at Zoopla. There’ are paces you can rent for your budget within 1 1 1/2 mile from Alexandra Palace. 

[NoHPCinTheUK]

There’s a 2 bed house on the market for £1700 pm in Rosebery Mews. I’m afraid I don’t know how to copy a link form the phone app. 

[iamnumerate]

5 hours ago, captainb said:

Crazy. Although Ireland has specific boom and bust problems. Partly historic, whenever there is a bust like 2008 there is mass emigration causing collapses In property values. 2009 to 2015 there as net emigration from Ireland. Then you get the booms and mad cap reverse with lack of supply being built in the bust years.

Only viable solution (in my view) is for the state to mass build homes for rent... Could call It social housing.. or such... To suck out some of the damand in boom times but not totally collapse if there's a bust.

 

 

The problem is where? Whether private/state rent or buy - there is not masses of space unless we build upwards which is an idea.

[myusernameistaken]

20 minutes ago, NoHPCinTheUK said:

There’s a 2 bed house on the market for £1700 pm in Rosebery Mews. I’m afraid I don’t know how to copy a link form the phone app. 

But I thought you said:

"£1600 is more than enough for a nice 2 bed in London "

Also, just because it's listed for that doesn't mean it will go for that. It will likely to snapped up for £2k+ after multiple offers.

I think you're basing your views on prices from 2010.

 

[NoHPCinTheUK]

Nope. The house I saw saw a drop in asking price just yesterday. Maybe worth calling the agent. Tbh I am not extremely familiar with the area, maybe it's a dump. 

[myusernameistaken]

1 hour ago, NoHPCinTheUK said:

Nope. The house I saw saw a drop in asking price just yesterday. Maybe worth calling the agent. Tbh I am not extremely familiar with the area, maybe it's a dump. 

It will be! I saw one-bed flats for that were unsuitable for farm animals. Could be one of those too!

[TheResponsibleHouseBuyer]

8 hours ago, myusernameistaken said:

Yes, you've missed the fact that £1,200 pcm is barely enough for a room in a houseshare in London.

Her budget is £1,650.

Speaking from personal experience I can confirm that the rental market in London is a complete joke. When I was looking in October, 30+ people were present at every viewing. One landlord I had the pleasure of meeting did a big presentation in front of all viewers and said he expected the advertised rent (£1,800) plus a cash payment on top every month. He said he'd already been offered an extra £400. I did report this to HMRC afterwards, but I don't imagine they'll look into it.

In the end, after weeks of looking, me and my partner had to settle for a place listed at £1,500 that was completely unfurnished. We ended up offering £1,725, and the landlord took a while to accept.

While the flat isn't the worst place I've lived in London, it's very small, the bathroom needs gutting, boiler knackered, and no doorbell. 

The whole London rental market is a disgrace but, prior to this BBC article, it's rarely reported on. 

Wait what? £1200 pcm isnt enough for a bedsit? Thats not great - explains the strikes going on i suppose.

[Wampus Cat]

On 2/17/2023 at 4:30 AM, Up the spout said:

I had a look online - not a very thorough search but anyway - and it looks as though she's more involved with insta snaps than investigating, so the title 'BBC Journalist' is open to question

 

Christ! 

[Wampus Cat]

On 2/16/2023 at 11:35 PM, MARTINX9 said:

 

Couldn't of course be anything to do with the number of people needing housing in London? Who are all these people competing against this young woman to rent properties? What is causing that?

London could well be heading the way of Dublin and much of Ireland - where there is literally nothing and nowhere to rent irrespective of earnings.  It literally is destroying the social fabric - young workers who cannot afford to buy or don't want to be tied down long term literally cannot find anywhere to live.

There are literally only just over 500 properties available to rent in Dublin today - wider county Dublin not just the city. Birmingham - which has roughly the same population - has over 5,000. Ireland's second city Cork has only 30 homes for rent - yes 30! Its third largest city Limerick - has a grand total of 7. No wonder the Irish equivalent of rightmove is called daft.ie!

Were regularly told that rent controls will mean the supply of rentals drying up - has something like this happened in Ireland??

 

Otherwise seems crazy given demand and the recent building boom...

[captainb]

3 hours ago, Wampus Cat said:

Were regularly told that rent controls will mean the supply of rentals drying up - has something like this happened in Ireland??

 

Otherwise seems crazy given demand and the recent building boom...

Yes and no. Controls are on increases.

So person A rents for 1000 pcm.

Can increase rent to max of 1050pcm

Sells as doesn't work to person B.

Person B can reset and charge whatever they want but are then limited on uplift 

Leads to institutional Investors only who can borrow over fixed rate for 30 years this factor in uplift controls. But they charge a premium start point 

 

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/report-claims-rent-controls-have-backfired-and-worsened-crisis-1.4881856

[Wampus Cat]

1 hour ago, captainb said:

Yes and no. Controls are on increases.

So person A rents for 1000 pcm.

Can increase rent to max of 1050pcm

Sells as doesn't work to person B.

Person B can reset and charge whatever they want but are then limited on uplift 

Leads to institutional Investors only who can borrow over fixed rate for 30 years this factor in uplift controls. But they charge a premium start point 

 

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/report-claims-rent-controls-have-backfired-and-worsened-crisis-1.4881856

Ta, - that makes sense as to why the supply has dried up. It's always the danger with rent controls that it becomes non viable to operate a rental. In this case those landlords with more reasonable rents will find it hardest.

[clarkey]

London is crazy, it’s not even worth try big to live there. I live over an hour from London and you can rent a whole house ok 3 bed terrace for 1200 a month

[winkie]

Nobody should pay the high rents, only those with the money can, let them pay it if can't think of better things to do with it.

Better options out there, or ask for a pay rise, your employer needs you that much they should pay your living expenses that enables you to work for them......ask any politician, they know the score.

[regprentice]

1 hour ago, winkie said:

Nobody should pay the high rents, only those with the money can, let them pay it if can't think of better things to do with it.

Better options out there, or ask for a pay rise, your employer needs you that much they should pay your living expenses that enables you to work for them......ask any politician, they know the score.

i'm sure you meant that as a tongue in cheek comment but i've often thought that employers should have to produce a "cover sheet" for any job they advertise to go along with the job description.

The coversheet would detail the wage, the pension and any other benefits. It would also give an illustrative example of the kind of house, residential area, holidays and car that job will allow you to afford in that area. it should give an illustration for a single person, and also for a family of 4 supported solely by the employee.

i cant imagine another way to force employers to confront how disjointed from reality their pay packages are.