This week’s Star Letter goes to ‘very deceptive’ for their comment on: Policing of buy to let will undermine entire housing market – IMLA
To state the obvious, homeowners own their own home, so cannot be evicted either on expiry of their tenancy or should the landlord wish to sell. I believe most people prefer the stability of a fixed abode especially if they have a family needing local schooling, and so forth.
Another main factor is that to be vulnerable to rent rises must be terrifying for many people, particularly the retired. Rents have risen by an average of 4-10% per annum in the last few years. This is way more than inflation or average wage increases and the situation is set to worsen over time.
Homeowners would usually have repaid a mortgage by retirement age. Not only has the average person paid less than rent over the years, but once the mortgage has finished there are no rent or mortgage payments for the rest of their lives.
