Humza Yousaf confirms plans for rent controls in Scotland

[Saving For a Space Ship]

Humza Yousaf confirms plans for rent controls in Scotland  

https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/scotland-rent-controls-humza-yousaf-plan-reaction/

[Huggy]

Initially, this sounds like a good idea (from the left, it is a rare thing indeed).

But likewise, again this seems to be the thing of the left, it's all about more control and more rules and more rulemakers and then those who police the rules. No wonder "We wuv EU" whose entire existence seems to be meddling where none is needed, and doing feck all where it is*.

What about getting rid of some rules? Restrictive planning maybe? Allowing someone to build a house rather than rely on (useless) others to do it for them. No need for rent controls (and more rules, and more rulemakers, and police for the rules ) when you have a functioning market for housing.

*My job, before I lost it due to Brexit**, used to deal with EU law. They theoretically have a vague notion of what someone five years ago thought someone might have liked (nice to have not must have) before they got moved to a different job at the Commission for 'reasons', but couldn't join the dots between the inconsistent, contradictory and unclear requirements, and then came up with what can only be described as a rulekakke to be sprayed at the faces of unsuspecting businesses.

** I can feel everyones' concern, but it was absolutely fine. I immediately got a job in the same company at the same desk dealing with UK law that was 99.95% the same as it was before, but with 10 to 15 years of implementing reduced numbers of rules in the future if I decide to keep doing it.

[Locke]

35 minutes ago, Huggy said:

What about getting rid of some rules? Restrictive planning maybe? Allowing someone to build a house rather than rely on (useless) others to do it for them. No need for rent controls (and more rules, and more rulemakers, and police for the rules ) when you have a functioning market for housing.

Ze rack only goes vun vay, Kamarade.

[Stewy]

This is my big worry about getting into BLT.

[PeanutButter]

3 minutes ago, Stewy said:

This is my big worry about getting into BLT.

Put the bacon on first, when warm from the pan, so the bread soaks up some oil, then the lettuce and tomato.

[zugzwang]

43 minutes ago, Huggy said:

What about getting rid of some rules? Restrictive planning maybe? Allowing someone to build a house rather than rely on (useless) others to do it for them. No need for rent controls (and more rules, and more rulemakers, and police for the rules ) when you have a functioning market for housing.

Planning permission already exists for two million new houses but **nothing** will be built for profit unless affordability is restored to the housing market. Affordability requires a fall in land prices and interest rates. Neither of which will happen without a functioning credit market i.e. an end to govt subsidies for the banking criminals and property developers and a decline in consumer inflation. Until then the burden of this generational iniquity will be borne by young people obliged by circumstances to rent in the private rental sector when they might otherwise prefer to buy. Rent controls address this unfairness explicitly.

[reddog]

I thought Shelter (the charity) adviced against doing this.  Will probably mean an influx of people to Northumbria.

[regprentice]

1 hour ago, reddog said:

I thought Shelter (the charity) adviced against doing this.  Will probably mean an influx of people to Northumbria.

They wrote a paper trying to interpret Jeremy Corbyn's approach to rent controls. 

They basically said dont do anything that will scare landlords out of the market because tenants will suffer ....but to be honest higher interest rates and lower prices are doing that already. 

https://blog.shelter.org.uk/2017/09/old-fashioned-rent-control-what-is-it-good-for-2/

But this is where the risk comes in for low earners. They can’t afford to buy and increasingly rely on the private rented sector. As landlords sell up, they would be left with fewer places to live.

In the absence of a much larger supply of council and social housing, that risks pushing people into homelessness.

This is probably not a gamble worth taking.

[Sour Mash]

9 hours ago, Huggy said:

Initially, this sounds like a good idea (from the left, it is a rare thing indeed).

But likewise, again this seems to be the thing of the left, it's all about more control and more rules and more rulemakers and then those who police the rules. No wonder "We wuv EU" whose entire existence seems to be meddling where none is needed, and doing feck all where it is*.

What about getting rid of some rules? Restrictive planning maybe? Allowing someone to build a house rather than rely on (useless) others to do it for them. No need for rent controls (and more rules, and more rulemakers, and police for the rules ) when you have a functioning market for housing.

*My job, before I lost it due to Brexit**, used to deal with EU law. They theoretically have a vague notion of what someone five years ago thought someone might have liked (nice to have not must have) before they got moved to a different job at the Commission for 'reasons', but couldn't join the dots between the inconsistent, contradictory and unclear requirements, and then came up with what can only be described as a rulekakke to be sprayed at the faces of unsuspecting businesses.

** I can feel everyones' concern, but it was absolutely fine. I immediately got a job in the same company at the same desk dealing with UK law that was 99.95% the same as it was before, but with 10 to 15 years of implementing reduced numbers of rules in the future if I decide to keep doing it.

Look up the history of price controls generally.

They always sound like a great idea.

If the authorities want to influence rental prices and help people who can't afford high rents, they should build more public housing stock.

[bushblairandbrown]

13 hours ago, Saving For a Space Ship said:

Humza Yousaf confirms plans for rent controls in Scotland  

https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/scotland-rent-controls-humza-yousaf-plan-reaction/

In this situation it is justified until the housing market adjusts its prices to the higher interest rates

[Mandalorian]

Rent controls?

🤣

Cos that's never failed every time and every place it's been used before...

[Insane]

15 minutes ago, Mandalorian said:

Cos that's never failed every time and every place it's been used before...

It matches Humza Yousaf then everything he touches fails. 

[regprentice]

1 hour ago, bushblairandbrown said:

In this situation it is justified until the housing market adjusts its prices to the higher interest rates

if anything it'll fix the rents at the very peak, just as prices are falling and landlords are trying to sell while renters clamour for a place to live.

As per the shelter article linked above rent controls are usually "agree market rent on day 1 then set a fixed percentage maximum annual increase". what we really need is "what would rents be if houses were 4 x local wages, set that as the mandatory rent by law NOW".

[bushblairandbrown]

3 minutes ago, regprentice said:

if anything it'll fix the rents at the very peak, just as prices are falling and landlords are trying to sell while renters clamour for a place to live.

As per the shelter article linked above rent controls are usually "agree market rent on day 1 then set a fixed percentage maximum annual increase". what we really need is "what would rents be if houses were 4 x local wages, set that as the mandatory rent by law NOW".

You’re right it’s too late to be much use. I think it would have been good when rents started spiking and it was clear house prices were going to come down. Rents rising while house prices reduce is just a market failure as far as I’m concerned