After posting a quick comment on the Talk London site, I felt that I should elaborate a bit more here. My comment was in response to the following statement:
"The single biggest housing challenge facing London
is increasing the supply of new homes."
Sorry, but I have to disagree. Building more now will just mean more properties are purchased / owned by companies or buy-to-let landlords who already own, and do very well by, multiple properties. Especially when 'Help to Buy' is extended beyond first time buyers, and not limited to numbers of properties. More houses brought into the lettings market will not mean that rents will magically decrease. More likely the new properties will be brought in at the "current rate" and will increase upwards from there.
My experience of Letting Agents are that they specifically advise/convince their landlords on what the "going rate" is for a property, and even after that figure has been plucked from the relative air, they still play psychological tricks on potential renters, counting on the lack of open information and experience that many renters have:
- Constant mentioning of needing to "move quickly" — even on dejected properties.
- Rushing multiple parties around viewings together — instilling greater feel for demand.
- Showing only bad/old stock way before showing that which matches the renters criteria.
- Attempting to rent properties that really should be classed as illegal or a health hazard.
- Showing expensive properties, stating none exist for your target range.
- Magically producing suitably priced properties when mentioning interests with other agents.
- "Other parties have yet to place a deposit.." — start a real or imagined bidding war.
- Delaying tactics when a renter needs to move quickly — forcing last minute decisions.
- Not having a preview of the actual contract (what stipulations?) to hand at the viewing.
On top of the above, when you finally choose to go for a particular property — on the most likely small smattering of information you've been given — you then have to jump through a ridiculous number of hoops to prove that you aren't a criminal and that your finances are acceptable... Yet nothing of the same is expected of the Landlord, who could quite easily become insolvent or unhinged later on — more often than not, I have not even met the landlord in person.
So in my mind the single biggest challenge is how do we bring in a fairer, more open system that isn't just there to make a profit.
- How do we get back to a place where shelter isn't treated as a for profit business?
- How can we prevent runaway prices?
- Why should the cost of a property increase with demand?
- How can we escape the tricks of estate agents?
Some solutions?
- Accreditation for Landlords, Estate Agents, Properties, and Renters.
- Public agents that are not paid on commission.
- Public body that renters/landlords can report bad practice, properties or renters to.
- More open information about properties.
