Buy-to-let landlords blamed for decline in DIY among under-30s

It is not the buy to let landlords that are to blame but the economic conditions that force young people to rent rather than buy property. It was the aspiring youngsters who were prepared to buy places that needed a bit of work that kept the DIY stores going from the 1980s to start of the current recession.

The other consequence is that the flat pack market (Ikea) has taken off as people furnish their rented dwellings.

I understand the logic of investing in property and have nothing against it at all - this includes those buying to let. However, there are some landlords who do not follow the rules, who treat their tenants badly and are so focused on making money that they are prepared to break the law. The good landlords will either employ the appropriate trades to repair and renovate or go the DIY route themselves.

There are also some astonishingly bad tenants around as well and one can understand the attitude of some of the landlords when you see the crap that they have to clean up after finally getting rid of tenants who have failed to pay the rent for months and trashed the place.

Peter
- I have put the soap box back in the cupboard!
 
    Peter sums it up well.
In life there will always be people who don't want to play by the rules and the property rental business, attracts some real low life from both sides of the coin.
  But let's not forget the middle man or women in most of these situations the "Letting agent" the so called professional body who are supposed to be there to protect the Landlord and also protect the Renters but in reality are just there to line their own pockets ripping off both parties simultaneously whilst lining their own pockets.
 
I am going to chip in on this as i am 33, didn't own a single tool up until 2 and half years ago (now have more Festool than common sense dictates) and have spent a long time renting before buying a flat.

I had to rent for years as banks clamped down on lending about the same time i had a job and salary that would of given me half a chance of buying a place. We finally managed to secure a a deposit and mortgage and bought our current 1 bed flat with garden in early 2014. we got lucky in a way as the previous owners were very anti landlord and to their credit actually turned down offers that would of gazumped us.  To put it in context out of 12 flats in our block i think we are 1 of 3/4 who actually own it - the rest are all rented.

I will say that despite initially being IKEA shoppers i soon wanted to customize bits. This got me started but it was not until we saw a shabby chic bookcase made of scaffold boards we both liked and i looked at it and then the price and though that's a lot of money for something that on the surface looks cheap in material and in skill level to make. fast forward 2 years and take a look at the machines in my signature and you can probably work out whats happened. But i will say now that if i had not have owned a property i would probably never have bothered.

Now looking to the future i would love to buy a house that needs work doing to it as i can now undertake some of those jobs but sadly it is these sort of houses by to let landlords are going for now as the stamp duty change seems to have slowed down the interest in buying up and renting the 1 bed places like before. we have looked at 2 probate properties and basically been told unless we have the cash sitting in the bank it is not worth our time offering as they already have several cash buy offers on the table.

in general the property market is crazy at the moment - we had planned on spending £350k - £400k on a 3 bed house with space for a workshop build in Hertford just north of London but due to the lack of available properties and the need to be a cash buyer at the moment we are being forced to look at properties at £500k  [eek] [eek]
 
JavierMoreno said:
An interesting report in The Guardian

Buy-to-let landlords blamed for decline in DIY among under-30s. Figures suggesting spending on DIY among ‘generation rent’ has fallen by third since 1996 coincide with report showing age of first-time buyers still rising
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...neration-rent-age-first-time-buyer?CMP=twt_gu
Click to expand...

We can probably take the statistics at face value.
The causal mechanisms that produce them is more complicated.
The landlords surely have some role.
 
I don't know the first thing about rental property in the UK but this article blaming landlords for not wanting amateurs to modify their property as the cause for the decline of DIY is disingenuous to anyone with an inkling of intelligence.  Landlords provide affordable housing to those who either cannot afford to purchase their own or do not wish to own real estate.  The article would be just as 'accurate' if they used the ever popular - blame the parents.

Having let my house to renters over 30 years ago, I will echo Peters comments and for me - I will NEVER, EVER, RENT MY HOUSE TO ANYONE AGAIN.  I had tenants rebuild their motorcycle engines on my living room carpet, rip toilet seats off, not pay rent, had to pay to get them evicted, go through the wage garnishment process and essentially leave what was a nice house totally trashed.
 
Steve Rowe said:
I don't know the first thing about rental property in the UK but this article blaming landlords for not wanting amateurs to modify their property as the cause for the decline of DIY is disingenuous to anyone with an inkling of intelligence.  Landlords provide affordable housing to those who either cannot afford to purchase their own or do not wish to own real estate.  The article would be just as 'accurate' if they used the ever popular - blame the parents.

Having let my house to renters over 30 years ago, I will echo Peters comments and for me - I will NEVER, EVER, RENT MY HOUSE TO ANYONE AGAIN.  I had tenants rebuild their motorcycle engines on my living room carpet, rip toilet seats off, not pay rent, had to pay to get them evicted, go through the wage garnishment process and essentially leave what was a nice house totally trashed.
Click to expand...

I think the point was landlords are gobbling up the cheap properties. So there are less DIY ones available.
 
Causality aside, less DIY in the world for a while is ok. It had been trending. Cool off period is good in big picture.
 
Steve Rowe said:
I don't know the first thing about rental property in the UK but this article blaming landlords for not wanting amateurs to modify their property as the cause for the decline of DIY is disingenuous to anyone with an inkling of intelligence.  Landlords provide affordable housing to those who either cannot afford to purchase their own or do not wish to own real estate.  The article would be just as 'accurate' if they used the ever popular - blame the parents.

Having let my house to renters over 30 years ago, I will echo Peters comments and for me - I will NEVER, EVER, RENT MY HOUSE TO ANYONE AGAIN.  I had tenants rebuild their motorcycle engines on my living room carpet, rip toilet seats off, not pay rent, had to pay to get them evicted, go through the wage garnishment process and essentially leave what was a nice house totally trashed.
Click to expand...

Landlords provide housing to people who can't afford to buy their own property or who don't wish to own or maintain property.  This doesn't mean the landlords actually provide rental properties that are affordable or properly maintained. Years ago when I was looking for an affordable apartment, most that I saw were almost certainly not up to code. The apartments that did seem to br up to code were either tiny, like 200 sq ft or less, or were way too expensive. You could have bought a house in a number of areas of the city for what a year or two of rent would have been.

Of the properties that did appear to be up to code, one was run by a major property management company that probably deals with a thousand apartments. The electrical and fire codes seem to have been followed, but there were stillissues like crappy paint jobs that included issues like painting the tile in the bathroom.

There was another appartment that had been nicely done but the owner didn't want any modification including painting to be done. That appartment was also probably also less than 200 sq ft.

There was a house someone I knew rented that had been nicely redone, but about half a dozen people had to go in together to rent that one.

Most of the other apartments I saw reslly needed work done, but the landlords had no intention of doing the work. If you wanted to fix or improve anything you had to do it discreetly and hope the landlord didn't notice and complain.
 
the slum lord I rent from doesn't do improvements on her rentals. She says she will not replace anything that can be repaired and usually uses handy men for the repairs rather then trained craftsmen.

I rented the house cuz its close to the base and the kids school.

When I first rented it I was going to update somethings , I drywalled the ceiling in the garage added spur shelving, and added electrical outlets for my shop.

I built additional storage such as a pantry and some under cabinet  storage.

But soon learned that the land lord don't really care other then get the rent, (remember the fire I had last year she never had the commercial unit inspected) and not to mention the boiler went out the year prior in the middle of winter and took her a while to replace it after she went through a few guys trying to repair it.) Even then she didn't have the radiators flushed or even added and new control/ timer . It wasn't broke so she didn't want to pay for the PM.
The plumbing problems we've been having water leaking from the shower and we see the water sports on living room ceiling .

So with Land owners IMO they are out for the quid and quid only.  So no reason to DIY repair anything. The are responsible for the maintenance of the buildings.

Now if she was smart and worked with me she'd have a completely remodel kitchen or at least updated hardware.

But she don't so I don't.

My woodworking projects have all been small crafts type projects, some which I have posted here.
 
I think it is a much larger picture type issue.
There are many people who aren't learning HOW to do repairs on houses, appliances or cars.
Disposable culture for some.
The housing issue is troubling because having a disportionate amount of renters versus homeowners changes what several generations always thought they'd have a chance at, owning their own starter home instead of always paying rent.
For many of the younger people in my family, I can't leave my tools to them if I kick the bucket because they have no idea how to use them , what the tools do..etc.
I have TRIED to offer schooling of sorts, not had any takers... [sad]
 
Nigel said:
  Isn't the real problem the crazy price of property in the UK.
Click to expand...
. Crazy prices in many countries , too many lower paying temporary jobs or Gigs as some people have taken to calling a gig economy.
With no long term assured employment that isn't going to be yanked out from underneath you, I can see how high housing costs only add to the instability of it all.  [crying]
 
leakyroof said:
Nigel said:
  Isn't the real problem the crazy price of property in the UK.
Click to expand...
. Crazy prices in many countries , too many lower paying temporary jobs or Gigs as some people have taken to calling a gig economy.
With no long term assured employment that isn't going to be yanked out from underneath you, I can see how high housing costs only add to the instability of it all.  [crying]
Click to expand...
  Funny you should say that because at the moment in France they are trying to get rid of secure jobs by introducing a law against the will of the people. Apparently all countries must now adhere to the Anglo Saxon ultra liberal model.
 
Nigel said:
leakyroof said:
Nigel said:
  Isn't the real problem the crazy price of property in the UK.
Click to expand...
. Crazy prices in many countries , too many lower paying temporary jobs or Gigs as some people have taken to calling a gig economy.
With no long term assured employment that isn't going to be yanked out from underneath you, I can see how high housing costs only add to the instability of it all.  [crying]
Click to expand...
  Funny you should say that because at the moment in France they are trying to get rid of secure jobs by introducing a law against the will of the people. Apparently all countries must now adhere to the Anglo Saxon ultra liberal model.
Click to expand...
. Really, what law is that?  I wasn't aware ... The upcoming British Referendum later this month on EU membership is totally on my mind though... [scared]
 
leakyroof said:
Nigel said:
leakyroof said:
Nigel said:
  Isn't the real problem the crazy price of property in the UK.
Click to expand...
. Crazy prices in many countries , too many lower paying temporary jobs or Gigs as some people have taken to calling a gig economy.
With no long term assured employment that isn't going to be yanked out from underneath you, I can see how high housing costs only add to the instability of it all.  [crying]
Click to expand...
  Funny you should say that because at the moment in France they are trying to get rid of secure jobs by introducing a law against the will of the people. Apparently all countries must now adhere to the Anglo Saxon ultra liberal model.
Click to expand...
. Really, what law is that?  I wasn't aware ... The upcoming British Referendum later this month on EU membership is totally on my mind though... [scared]
Click to expand...
  It's called 'la loi du travail' or 'la loi El Khomri' or in English ''the work law''. Basically it gives employers the the right to sack at will which is not the case at present as workers are very well protected at the moment. Surprised you haven't heard of it as the whole country is on strike about it. Opinion seems to indicate that it is a law imposed by Brussels. Something to think about for the Brexit vote?
 
As a UK citizen and business owner I genually do not know anybody that is voting to remain in the EU.

I also own three properties that I rent out, all of which were derelict and converted and rebuilt by me in my spare time. I own a construction company and in the the last decade we used to undertake a lot of private developments, mainly buying commercial properties and converting them into residential. At this time the property market boomed because the banks were just giving money away, 100% to 125% percent mortgages. We had one property which was a 2bed flat, we needed to get 80k for this to cover costs and make profit ect. Because anyone could get a mortgage and buy a property people were basically competing against each other as new properties became available. The agent told us we could easily get 100k for the flat, we listed it at 105k and then three couple competed against each other to buy it and we eventually sold it for 137k.
East money fuelled the property boom, prices have dropped slightly but the prices now are still double what they were in 2000 and now that it's harder to get a mortgage it means people can't buy anymore.
 
Nigel said:
leakyroof said:
Nigel said:
leakyroof said:
Nigel said:
  Isn't the real problem the crazy price of property in the UK.
Click to expand...
. Crazy prices in many countries , too many lower paying temporary jobs or Gigs as some people have taken to calling a gig economy.
With no long term assured employment that isn't going to be yanked out from underneath you, I can see how high housing costs only add to the instability of it all.  [crying]
Click to expand...
  Funny you should say that because at the moment in France they are trying to get rid of secure jobs by introducing a law against the will of the people. Apparently all countries must now adhere to the Anglo Saxon ultra liberal model.
Click to expand...
. Really, what law is that?  I wasn't aware ... The upcoming British Referendum later this month on EU membership is totally on my mind though... [scared]
Click to expand...
  It's called 'la loi du travail' or 'la loi El Khomri' or in English ''the work law''. Basically it gives employers the the right to sack at will which is not the case at present as workers are very well protected at the moment. Surprised you haven't heard of it as the whole country is on strike about it. Opinion seems to indicate that it is a law imposed by Brussels. Something to think about for the Brexit vote?
Click to expand...
The key to a successful business is assembling the best possible team of people. In order to make the business work. A company needs to be able to hire the right people for the job. Protecting jobs can't be accomplished by protecting an individual's job because that means keeping the wrong people employed. If the company is not free to choose employees, then how can it become successful and grow?  When a company grows, it hires more people.  So if you want jobs, you need growth, if you want growth, you need success, if you want success, you need freedom to hire and fire people based on performance and skills.
 
Hurricane Whisperer said:
Nigel said:
leakyroof said:
Nigel said:
leakyroof said:
Nigel said:
  Isn't the real problem the crazy price of property in the UK.
Click to expand...
. Crazy prices in many countries , too many lower paying temporary jobs or Gigs as some people have taken to calling a gig economy.
With no long term assured employment that isn't going to be yanked out from underneath you, I can see how high housing costs only add to the instability of it all.  [crying]
Click to expand...
  Funny you should say that because at the moment in France they are trying to get rid of secure jobs by introducing a law against the will of the people. Apparently all countries must now adhere to the Anglo Saxon ultra liberal model.
Click to expand...
. Really, what law is that?  I wasn't aware ... The upcoming British Referendum later this month on EU membership is totally on my mind though... [scared]
Click to expand...
  It's called 'la loi du travail' or 'la loi El Khomri' or in English ''the work law''. Basically it gives employers the the right to sack at will which is not the case at present as workers are very well protected at the moment. Surprised you haven't heard of it as the whole country is on strike about it. Opinion seems to indicate that it is a law imposed by Brussels. Something to think about for the Brexit vote?
Click to expand...
The key to a successful business is assembling the best possible team of people. In order to make the business work. A company needs to be able to hire the right people for the job. Protecting jobs can't be accomplished by protecting an individual's job because that means keeping the wrong people employed. If the company is not free to choose employees, then how can it become successful and grow?  When a company grows, it hires more people.  So if you want jobs, you need growth, if you want growth, you need success, if you want success, you need freedom to hire and fire people based on performance and skills.
Click to expand...
It's all very well talking about freedom but what about democracy? If 60 or 70 % of French people are against this law what then? You either believe in democracy or you don't and the corollary of that is that you believe in a dictatorship .This law is being forced on the french against their will.
 
Democracy, and socialist-democracies are democratic.
Dictatorships are not the only undemocratic form of government.

At some point the elephant in the room needs to be addressed. If there are not enough properties for the people, then there are two avenues for solutions.(LTR)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top