Are rent controls making things better or worse for renters?

mrslancaster wrote: »

Fol20, it seems to me that long term or lifetime renting is a bad idea.

From posts on boards it looks like rents will keep going up at least by 4% per annum. That might be ok as long as tenants have the means to pay whether they have a job or with government support. That can change.

Not sure if it's a good position to find yourself in at retirement age or if you get sick & can't work. Paying rent with annual increases until you die is mad - not for the owners who by all accounts will soon be only "professional landlords"

Imo people should really try to own their home. before anyone attacks me over the fiasco due to the crash, i think it still makes sense to buy if at all possible

Repaying a mortgage is probably about the same as monthly rent but the repayments go down every year and eventually they stop. Getting deposits together is a major headache but there's no worry about getting a notice to leave because the 'LL wants to sell etc

The only ones who will benefit from lifetime rentals are big business and it looks like that model is being pushed and promoted in ireland. I wonder who are the major shareholders of all these investment funds who are trying to secure long term profits on the back of tenants?

Imo government should help people to buy instead of putting huge amounts of money into rents that have no end date. nice for big landlords

The image of pensioners being evicted for whatever reason is not good but it looks like that could happen if more people choose long term renting over buying. Stories of evictions from our past history seem to be long gone.

Some very valid points here to think about.

Ireland still has a very high ownership rate(for better or worse) compared to several other countries western countries. This i suspect will see a gradual culture change to long term renting.

Right now rents will continue to rise at the max of 4pc per year. What people fail to realise is that it will not always be like this. I still remember a time when rents where i have my portfolio were half what they are now and this was only 3-5 years ago. There will be a change at some point where supply comes on board or another recession and rents drop.

Yes, right now paying a mortgage may or may not be cheaper - This is only the short term though and this will change again. The main difference though is if you loose your job, have to move etc, a boiler breaks down, being a renter gives you so much more flexibility to adjust while if you own your home, you need to keep up mortgage payments or you risk loosing your home. if you have a damaged roof like one of my places currently have, it might cost over 10k to repair. These are some very big things you need to be careful of with house buying.

Yes long term, owning your own home is better as in 30 years, you will own it outright however not everyone will ever be able to afford this. Eve after the fiasco in 08, if you never intend on selling your house and keep chipping away at the principle it is still better than renting.

There are proposals for shared kitchens etc. Personally, i think this would be a great proposition for the elderly as they have their own private space that would be affordable yet at the same time have company.

Personally, people that can afford to buy should buy when they are ready. People that cant need a system that promotes long term rentals instead of positioning them as a temporary measure. All properties should be unfurnished like the germans and french and let people paint the walls whatever they want. If a ll and tenant sign a contract of say 5,10 or 20 years, they are BOTH obligated to fulfil this unless dually compensated.

Fol20 wrote: »

Some very valid points here to think about.

Ireland still has a very high ownership rate(for better or worse) compared to several other countries western countries. This i suspect will see a gradual culture change to long term renting.

Right now rents will continue to rise at the max of 4pc per year. What people fail to realise is that it will not always be like this. I still remember a time when rents where i have my portfolio were half what they are now and this was only 3-5 years ago. There will be a change at some point where supply comes on board or another recession and rents drop.

Yes, right now paying a mortgage may or may not be cheaper - This is only the short term though and this will change again. The main difference though is if you loose your job, have to move etc, a boiler breaks down, being a renter gives you so much more flexibility to adjust while if you own your home, you need to keep up mortgage payments or you risk loosing your home. if you have a damaged roof like one of my places currently have, it might cost over 10k to repair. These are some very big things you need to be careful of with house buying.

Yes long term, owning your own home is better as in 30 years, you will own it outright however not everyone will ever be able to afford this. Eve after the fiasco in 08, if you never intend on selling your house and keep chipping away at the principle it is still better than renting.

There are proposals for shared kitchens etc. Personally, i think this would be a great proposition for the elderly as they have their own private space that would be affordable yet at the same time have company.

Personally, people that can afford to buy should buy when they are ready. People that cant need a system that promotes long term rentals instead of positioning them as a temporary measure. All properties should be unfurnished like the germans and french and let people paint the walls whatever they want. If a ll and tenant sign a contract of say 5,10 or 20 years, they are BOTH obligated to fulfil this unless dually compensated.

Thats great, will you do that? a lot of people wont and for good reason.
Have you ever dealt with taking care of the elderly, you dont think people want privacy? even with people of any age, different people have different standards, Im thinking particularily of hygiene and whats acceptable, and thats when they are coherent.
Id be all for smaller units for single people with certain shared facilities, but there would need to be certain secure private facilities and that includes food storage.
If you think its such a great idea, maybe go live in a youth hostel for a month and then come back and let us know what you think, now add the dimension of age to that, I forsee problems, the likes of the people proposing this will not be the ones living in those conditions.
Sharing in a small group of people in a house is no comparison to sharing with a very large group of people.