Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Almost no-one escapes unscathed from London’s private renting market in north London, survey finds
"I have so many bad rental stories. In one case, an agency told us their £300 fees would include 'everything'. Then, the landlord decided to slap on another charge for drawing up the contract - one copied and pasted from the Internet. There was nothing we could do without giving up the flat at short notice and becoming homeless." This is the experience of Ronald Stewart, Green Party candidate in the recent by-election in St. Ann’s.
Ronald Stewart, Anne Clark and Jarelle Francis (right to left), Haringey Green Party prospective candidates for 2018 Council elections
Nine out of ten renters had experienced four or more serious problems during their time renting in London.
Another one of them is Anne Clark, one of a team Haringey Green Party members getting ready to contest the local elections in 2018:
"As a private renter in London, I've lived in houses that have literally been falling apart, where the landlord has invested nothing in maintenance, but still tried to put the rent up every year. On one occasion, the boiler broke in the middle of winter, and there was no hot water or heating in the house for nearly three weeks, but we were offered no help or compensation.
“London needs a housing policy that puts renters first and holds dodgy landlords and letting agencies to account."
London Assembly Member Sian Berry has launched a report “What are London renters thinking?” based on the results of her recent Big Renters Survey of London’s private tenants.[i]
The report lays bare the scale of dissatisfaction among London’s renters, over a range of areas including rocketing rent costs, incomplete repairs, lost deposits and fear of losing their homes at the end of each annual contract. It also reveals the appetite for an independent renter’s organisation to investigate bad landlords, provide a voice for renters and campaign for better standards.
Across the north London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield, Hackney, Camden, Islington and Waltham Forest, renters spent on average 44 per cent of their entire take-home pay on covering their rent. Fifty-three per cent of Enfield and Haringey renters reported that they had problems with landlords coming into their homes without permission. This was the highest percentage in London, compared with a London-wide average of 43 per cent.
Significantly, nearly six out of ten renters said they would be prepared to pay a small fee to join a London-wide organisation that helped them in these ways.
Sian said:
“As a renter in London for nearly 20 years, it’s important to me that I keep bringing the voices of London’s 2.3 million private renters into City Hall. In this report I’m recommending that the Mayor stands up for London’s private renters and support them in standing up for themselves.
“The willingness of renters to pay a small fee to join a renters’ organisation is very significant, as it means such a group could become self-sustaining once it has been set up. The Mayor should look seriously at providing practical help such as office space and seed funding to help found an independent London-wide organisation to represent renters in our city.”
Among other recommendations, Sian’s report suggests more support at the London-wide level for renters, including a central information source with links to existing renter’s groups and council schemes. In addition to this, Sian calls for continued pressure from the Mayor to push the government to devolve more powers over housing to London.[ii]
Sixty-eight per cent of the 1,530 renters who filled in the survey also wrote in additional information, telling Sian about their experiences in London.[iii]
A copy of the report is available here: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/sian_berry_renter_sur...
An interactive map of results by GLA constituency area is here: http://www.sianberry.london/big-renters-survey/results/
[i] Sian launched the Big Renters Survey in July: https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/assembly/sian-berry/launch...
[ii] The full recommendations of the report are:
1. Better engagement with renters
Including seed funding a London-wide organisation to carry out research and investigations and provide a voice for renters in dealings with City Hall and councils
2. More help and information for renters
Provided by the GLA, with a central information source and links to existing groups and council schemes.
3. Better regulation and support for landlords
With support at the London level to ensure consistent council enforcement, training and licensing
4. Enhanced regulation of the sector nationally
With continued pressure from the Mayor, Assembly and London’s borough councils for powers to be devolved to London
[iii] Sixteen case studies are quoted in the report.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Charlotte A on
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What DO the rich teach their kids about money that the rest of society don't? I'd like to know. Is it how to hide it abroad and in trusts so that it's not taxed? Your flat will only bring your future generations wealth if it's tied up in some kind of inheritance tax-avoiding trust along with the rest of your assets.
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Sorry, I was responding directly to Ian, who had said that he owned his flat because he wanted to create wealth for his family and future generations and had referenced abook called Rich Dad Poor Dad that's about what rich people teach their kids about being rich. I was also pointing out that if you own your own property plus another, the two together, in London, are likely to push you over the £325,000 inheritance tax threshold. If you're married you can combine the two, so your inheritors get £650k tax-free, but two properties in London plus all other assets and chattels could easily exceed that. Or, you can put it into Trust or create a company that owns property that has you and your children as the directors of course. But how many people with one extra property bother with that?
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Permalink Reply by Ian on
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As far as I am concerned this is an open conversation so anyone can jump in and contribute at any time. I own more than 2 properties but less than 10 but I don't consider myself financially rich. Rich dad poor dad is a good read for novices interested in financial independence as well as experienced people interested in the same. It can affirm and encourage what you may already be doing or give you inspiration and additional knowledge. The point is not to focus on one liners "what the rich teach their kids that the poor don't" If you were an entrepreneur etc you would get it and respect it. Don't discount anything just because it is not perfect in all areas. Analyse before you criticise, it is so easy and common to criticise first. The proof is in the pudding.
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see attached for a quick comparison of mindset difference from rich dad poor dad. FYI the authors history is that his friends father was not highly academically educated but was very financially literate. His own father on the other hand was highly academically educated and was head of faculty at a university. He was given advice by both men as he grew up but later gravitated to his friends fathers advice.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Robert Kiyosaki is a fraud. He is a Trump supporter. His "Rich Dad" was made up. He is anti education.
A good piece on him is here (there are lots of others).
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And like Trump left millions of debts unpaid declaring himself bankrupt. Great for him, not so great for the people he owed the money to. After all their futures and that of their families aren't important....right?
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Mr Kiyosaki's modus operandi seems to be
1). If you take a financial risk it needs to be really big, with other's money and ruins large numbers of people when it goes wrong
2). If you're going to take a dump on people it needs to be a whopper and from the maximum possible height. -
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I am not a follower or fan boy of Kiyosaki but a lot of his messages are valid. This is not a technical how to book and you can take from it what you will. Failure is part of success and sometimes multiple failures at that. If you don't follow rivers, how will you ever find the sea. The link you provided to a piece on him has nothing but comments from individuals stating in a similar manner what I am saying. And again it is not an equal sum game and some will fail in their attempts to become financially independent but his analysis is correct in terms of most employees will never become financially independent. You look down on the book but here I am, someone that read the book and took onboard some of the thinking and am not an employee any more as well. Its does not matter if a minister tells you not to steal but he is stealing from the church fund, what matters is that you do not steal yourself as the words are valid regardless of the conduct of the minister. I do not follow personalities, so if any part of the story telling was false, it matters little. Remember he is successful and does not need to rent his home from a B to L landlord.
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I'm not looking at anyone, at no point have I ever said I have a problem with buy to let landlords. I have said that if everyone were one then it would create even more problems for people who want to buy their own home. And then I pointed out that if you own a lot of property, if you don't tie it up somehow then your beneficiaries will be hit with a huge tax bill when you die. So if a couple owned properties (including their home) worth £1m in their own names rather than in trust or in a private company (perhaps in the BVI like all the celebs), when they died their kids would be hit with a tax bill of £140k up front. How many people have that much cash in the bank? Really rich people stay really rich because they know what to do with their assets to keep hold of as much of them as possible (or they pay someone who does).
Nor have I criticised that book, I just asked a question. I hope the author's dad took the criticism of his life on the chin.
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The "dad" in question was entirely mythical....
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You mean it's not a true life story?
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