The Association of Residential Letting Agents hold out the begging bowl while betraying a complete absence of logic:
The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) conducted the poll to assess the state of the Private Rented Sector (PRS). More than half (58%) of respondents at the 2010 ARLA annual conference highlighted the issue of insufficient supply of rental stock as the biggest issue facing the sector. (1)
Ian Potter, operations manager at ARLA, said: “This is a very serious issue. At the end of last year we highlighted that a lack of properties will be a defining factor in the housing market in 2010 (2) and our member agents across the country have confirmed this opinion as fact. (3)
“The UK is in dire need of good quality rental accommodation to counter the lack of broader housing supply(4) across the country and the PRS needs tangible Government support to help achieve this.(5) This should be in the shape of incentives for improvements on older properties,(6) assistance for landlords in gaining mortgage finance,(7) and regulation to drive unethical letting agents out of the industry.(8)
1) Well they would say that, wouldn't they?
2) Well let's allow more homes to be built, eh?
3) Nope. The survey confirmed that this opinion is, rather unsurprisingly given the target audience, widely held. That doth not make it a 'fact'.
4) Given a fixed number of houses, whether they are owner-occupied or rented makes little difference, although to be fair, the rental market tends to lead to a more efficient use of housing. I'm sure few people would pay rent all year round for a second home or holiday bungalow which they only use a few weeks a year (although they are happy to take on mortgages to buy them, go figure).
5) No, it needs 'less government interference to garner the NIMBY vote', see (2).
6) Giving taxpayers' money to landowners who don't maintain their properties? Excellent plan, not.
7) Yup, let's keep blowing that house price bubble.
8) ... and let's round off the day by calling for barriers to entry, job done.
Friday 9 April 2010
Please sir, may we have some more?
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5 comments:
4) capital appreciation.
CU, you call it 'capital appreciation', I call it 'rent seeking'.
Judging by their blurb, ARLA members consider themselves as God's gift to letting. When I had to go overseas temporarily for 18 months some time ago, I left my flat in the hands of the local ARLA agent. They collected the rent ok and deducted their monthly 15% before passing the balance to my bank account. When I returned to reclaim my property it cost me over 3 times what I had been paid in rental to put the flat back in habitable order. The oik responsible for looking after my property was sacked on the spot after I created a hell of a scene in their office on a busy Saturday afternoon. No doubt others have had similar experience of ARLA members.
Seems a little odd to me. How can there be a shortage of rental stock? If the market is working properly (and presumably those nice ARLA agents are doing their best to make it so) then the price mechanism should ensure supply = demand. If there isn't enough supply then those nice ARLA people are asking rents that are too low.
AC, indeed. Between you and me, apart from the distortions caused by Housing Benefit, the private rental market functions far better than any other part of the housing market.
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