HMO - good or bad?

[sarahbell]

https://www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/news/22564299.shaw-bank-sale-rightmove-turned-hmo-bar/

5 beds above a bar.

Bound to be miserable.

[Frank Hovis]

It is the future for those on benefits, low wages or just state pensions.

This is not a good thing but when successive governments have conspired to let in twenty or thirty million immigrants to our small country then that is what you end up with.

Living in a box and sharing a bog.

[macca]

Return to the slums.. low wage poverty economy.. 

Back to Lords of Land.

Winner takes all.. 

Will need those "bring out the dead" carts come Christmas .

[haroldshand]

Like I posted last year this was one contract I decided they can stuff it and told them to find someone else, I had dozens and dozens of HMO properties and BTL in the  Cambridge area and it was just to hard on my soul and seeing people live this way that made me fob off 90% of my BTL customers for good.

A lot of these people are using a good wage to return to sad lonely room every night, it might work for constant movers and a few, but it's not for most

[Wight Flight]

12 minutes ago, haroldshand said:

Like I posted last year this was one contract I decided they can stuff it and told them to find someone else, I had dozens and dozens of HMO properties and BTL in the  Cambridge area and it was just to hard on my soul and seeing people live this way that made me fob off 90% of my BTL customers for good.

A lot of these people are using a good wage to return to sad lonely room every night, it might work for constant movers and a few, but it's not for most

In my youth it was known as a house share and it made some sense for the young. The difference is you went round to see the place, had a few bevvies and decided if you can all live together.

Nowadays the landlord just bungs a bunch of random strangers together. It is inhumane.

Regulations are part of this. Again in the old days, if three of you got together* and wanted to rent a house, you just could if the landlord was agreeable. Now you need a proper BTL landlord, and all the regulations, to allow it to happen.

*Four guys I knew, all young pilots, rented a massive house in St George's Hill with a pool and all the trimmings for less than each of them renting a flat.  

[King Penda]

2 hours ago, haroldshand said:

Like I posted last year this was one contract I decided they can stuff it and told them to find someone else, I had dozens and dozens of HMO properties and BTL in the  Cambridge area and it was just to hard on my soul and seeing people live this way that made me fob off 90% of my BTL customers for good.

A lot of these people are using a good wage to return to sad lonely room every night, it might work for constant movers and a few, but it's not for most

I’m in my eliment leading a sad lonely life alone in my little terrace.

[With a crooked smile]

9 hours ago, sarahbell said:

https://www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/news/22564299.shaw-bank-sale-rightmove-turned-hmo-bar/

5 beds above a bar.

Bound to be miserable.

Probably great if your an alcoholic.

But yes miserable. 

[Calcutta]

It's a shot way of life. But I'm alright with it for now. It depends a lot on who else is in the house. I'm lucky in that I'm old and angry looking so generally nobody bothers me. 

The maths right now means renting a flat would cost me an extra 20% of my wages, and that'd mean renting for longer before I could afford to buy. So I can deal with the inconvenience for a while. Especially while the kids are still small enough to share a double bed when they're with me. 

For a young lad who wants to enjoy his wages and build a life for himself it's a shit option tho. I tell them to either suck it up and stay with their parents till they've got enough money to piss off travelling or they find a fat girl to impregnate and then get on the bennies. 

A lot of the English you find in these houses are older guys who've been chucked out of the family home, kids are grown up, that's quite a sad state of affairs as they seem to spend their whole lives working, drinking alone and waiting for one of their kids/grandkids to invite them out for a bit. 

[gibbon]

19 hours ago, haroldshand said:

Like I posted last year this was one contract I decided they can stuff it and told them to find someone else, I had dozens and dozens of HMO properties and BTL in the  Cambridge area and it was just to hard on my soul and seeing people live this way that made me fob off 90% of my BTL customers for good.

A lot of these people are using a good wage to return to sad lonely room every night, it might work for constant movers and a few, but it's not for most

I bet the slumlords were nasty cunts as well?

[haroldshand]

17 minutes ago, gibbon said:

I bet the slumlords were nasty cunts as well?

Most of them yes.

And most of them to be fair were good payers but then again I suppose they cannot afford to piss off too many people and all on the whole were friendly with me, too matey and I despised most of them. There was this one ex lawyer who was practically one step away from blowing me off half the time and way to friendly, she lived in Great Chesterford one of the nicest Villages going. She was forever telling me about her soup kitchen charity work which she must of shared with me dozens of times as well as everyone else. It was only a few afternoon per month and I suppose she thought it made he look more decent and not such a parasite.

Her life was pure luxury in a way too bigger house and where she was taking a huge chunk of her tenants wages for shoeboxes houses, many of her tenants were Polish and working and of course the Science park in Cambridge gave her tenants. She would forever tell you that she helped them so much when they were in trouble but the truth of it she would have them out at the slightest headache they gave her.

I understand we all make money from the system we have to live in, but there is a line and that shitty horrible business model was my line

[onlyme]

On 24/09/2022 at 10:44, haroldshand said:

Most of them yes.

And most of them to be fair were good payers but then again I suppose they cannot afford to piss off too many people and all on the whole were friendly with me, too matey and I despised most of them. There was this one ex lawyer who was practically one step away from blowing me off half the time and way to friendly, she lived in Great Chesterford one of the nicest Villages going. She was forever telling me about her soup kitchen charity work which she must of shared with me dozens of times as well as everyone else. It was only a few afternoon per month and I suppose she thought it made he look more decent and not such a parasite.

Her life was pure luxury in a way too bigger house and where she was taking a huge chunk of her tenants wages for shoeboxes houses, many of her tenants were Polish and working and of course the Science park in Cambridge gave her tenants. She would forever tell you that she helped them so much when they were in trouble but the truth of it she would have them out at the slightest headache they gave her.

I understand we all make money from the system we have to live in, but there is a line and that shitty horrible business model was my line

You are not alone, there must be a large proportion of trades who stick to the homeowner / commercial sectors and steer well clear of the slumlords, small second property owners are generally OK, but once they go down the multi home sweep they are a pleasure to avoid in every way.

[MrPin]

HMOs and bedsits were certainly familiar in younger days. Probably not very regulated back then.

Last time I rented one was mid 90s when I ended up working up working in London. It was OK really. I only needed a bed to sleep in.

The landlords were pretty OK and obviously not amateur. Some of the tenants were a bit "unfortunate", and one person somehow overflowed a bath and caused a bit of a flood.