More than a quarter of Tory MPs are private landlords – and have no interest in helping first-time buyers.
The allegation has been made by PricedOut, a campaign for affordable house prices, which is also calling for all letting agent fees to be declared unlawful.
The campaign says that out of 305 Tory MPs, 83 are landlords. This compares with 12.5% of Labour MPs and 15% of Lib Dems. It said the numbers were ‘totally unrepresentative of the public at large’.
On Twitter, it picks out James Clappison, Tory MP for Hertsmere. It claims he owns 26 houses in East Yorkshire.
Katy John, a spokeswoman for PricedOut, said: “Not only do MPs enjoy their taxpayer-funded second homes, many of them also have a portfolio of rented houses too.
“First-time buyers desperately need house prices to fall to more affordable levels, but landlord MPs at the very top of the property ladder have a vested interest to not let this happen.”
PricedOut is calling for tougher tax treatment for buy-to-let landlords and wants an end to the tax breaks by which private landlords can offset the cost of interest on the mortgage used to buy a rental property against the monthly rent.
PricedOut is also calling for all letting agent fees to be declared unlawful, saying that agents should only be able to charge for rent and refundable deposits.
The campaign wants the whole of the rest of the UK to follow Scotland’s lead.
It is telling tenants to say no to admin fees, reference and credit check fees and inventory fees. It has set up an e-petition on the HM Government website on which it says: “Letting agents should earn their income from landlords. Sign the petition to prevent the future exploitation of millions.”
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Comments
All the hungover Baby Boomers?
"....More NHS money is spent treating alcohol-related illness in baby boomers than young people, a study says.
The Alcohol Concern report found the cost of hospital admissions linked to heavy drinking 55 to 74-year-olds in 2010-11 was more than £825m.
That was 10 times the figure for 16 to 24-year-olds."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19913431
you obviously missed the Nick Hwer show where they pitched youngsters against some oaps..
Ill give you a guess which group didn't turn up for work or bunked off after 3 hours!
If you've not saved enough for your retirement Ray, why don't you go back out and earn some more money? You've obviously got the time and the age retirement limits have gone. Instead, you seem to expect younger people will do the hard work for you and buy your property off you at a vastly inflated price. I don't want to personalise this further, but too many of your generation have this attitude in my opinion. They then have the cheek to say young people should just pull their socks up...
@ rantnrave on 2012-10-11 15:17:11
".....Please demonstrate where in my post you identify the following about me:....." It is not about YOU!
If you read it, I was referring to those at PricedOut. I am neither for or against, I give my take on the attitude of certain sections of society
"Rant" as much as you like, I certainly have no intention of answering your impertinent personal questions,
The End
Somebody's cross-referencing comments on different threads...?
The point here is that a regular poster who wants high house prices as a top up to their pension is banging on about those who want something for nothing. They're unwilling to acknowledge however that they are seeking exactly that - something for nothing by selling their house on for a far greater salary multiple than they bought it for. This poster is quite content to suggest that younger people work harder in order to buy a house at today's prices, whilst keeping quiet (or possibly not understanding) that older people in their position will be the main beneficiaries of that extra labour.
Re the inheritance issue - I'll address that on the other thread when you've answered the question I've set you.
You are the one who can't explain why it is OK for you Nan to have unearned equity that can be passed on when she dies without it ever being considered as un earned equity. yet is she sell as a profit she would be no better than the rest of us greedy sods with the luxury of an increased value in our properties.
Come on rant do us a favour nip over to HPC and copy and paste one of the informed posters opinions on this subject
Go on then Ray. Please demonstrate where in my post you identify the following about me:
"everything for nothing"
"entitled to everything"
"no responsibilty for anything"
You however have clearly stated that you are against these things. In response, I have asked the reasonable question of what you are therefore planning to do with any equity in your property that you have not earned.
If you aren't willing to answer this question, can I politely suggest you stop criticising such behaviour before examining whether it applies to yourself.
I'm all for informed debate. A regurgitation of generational stereotypes as can be found on the pages of certain tabloid newspapers hardly qualifies as informed debate though, does it?
@rantnrave on 2012-10-11 13:58:17
If you read your own post and digest it you will see that you make my point for me.
BTW you know nothing about me so please keep your inaccurate personal insults to yourself.
"Some of these people would seem to be the product of the "everything for nothing", "entitled to everything" and "no responsibilty for anything" culture."
Which charity will you be donating the unearned equity in your property to then Ray? Seems to be that many Boomers have binged on mortgage equity withdrawal over the last decade and would quite like someone else to pay off their debts for them. Before the oldies start pointing fingers at which generation is after something for nothing, the Boomers should look into the mirror themselves.
Once again, the ignorance in the comments astounds me.
Thanks to a load of market manipulation, property in this country remains at a far higher multiple of salaries than the 1989 peak. Which part of that do you folk here not understand?
As for the entitled to everything rubbish, presumably your parents got by without washing machines or fridge freezers when they grew up. They didn't need them it seems, so I assume you've never bought or relied upon these items either?
These people would be well advised to study the history of the PRS in this country, to see the historical effects of government interference, before they start spouting the standard "its ours, we're entitled to it because we were born" mantra.
Is anyone really shocked or surprised that lots of MP's (from all parties) are extremely wealthy??
I read a thesis years ago on social finance management, or how we all handle our financial affairs.
It explained how, If all the money in the country was pooled and shared out equally to everyone of working age, within 10 years the majority of the money would be back in the original hands, because the poor who did work would now stop working, while the former rich would work harder to get it back.
can someone who can be bothered nip over to HPC and see how this story is being covered over there?
I can't work out what angers me more, the greed, the selfishness or the arrogance to think society owes them the right to own a home at a price their failure to achieve can afford.
hands up here anyone who has been gifted their home, their business, their lifestyle.
Katy John, your parents should be ashamed that they nutured such a spoilt and socially ignorant child.
The only thing surprising about this story is that LAT bothered to publish such a pointless press release. News must have been thin on the ground today.
Some of these people would seem to be the product of the "everything for nothing", "entitled to everything" and "no responsibilty for anything" culture.
83 tory MPs renting out property is not likely to be a major factor in the affordability or shortage of FTB properties.They represent about 0.002% of the PRS.
If they all owned 26 properties that is 0.06% of the market.
Renting out property is a business and one that is taxed just like any other business. As established by shelter's latest figures just this week 98% of tenants in private rented accommodation can find nothing wrong with the homes being rented to them.
I think like the HPC crowd that post on here Katy John needs to be very clear whether Priced out are more concerned about their own exclusion from buying property than the interests of the 3.62million tenancies that are currently being housed by Private landlord.
It may have change now but the biggest BTL landlord in the country was a maths teacher who had over 600 rented properties. I am actually surprised that the headline portfolo is only 26 properties.
why not publish the full list, lets see how many Mr Blair and Mr Brown have? it was their reckless manipluation of the economy and collusion with the banks that actually created this crisis so let's hope none of the cabinet ministers for the 11 years that led up to the crash have a single rented property.
And if fees from tenants are ended then they will be passed on to the landlord who will then ask for - and get - a higher rent from the tenant.
It's only ever the same amount of money going round and round...
Durrrrrrrrrrrr