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John Lewis moves into the housing market...

it may surprise you that JL have been a residential property landlord for years. One of my best mates has rented a flat from them (above one of their stores) for about 15 years.
 
it may surprise you that JL have been a residential property landlord for years. One of my best mates has rented a flat from them (above one of their stores) for about 15 years.

It doesn't, but this is an interesting move to reuse existing space and protect the business for the long term. For time poor, money rich people it could be very appealing.
 
It's exactly what we should be doing to house people. People want to live in places with access to towns and cities, we can't carry on turning every green space within 10 miles of any city into a housing estate. There has to be a way of making high density urban housing attractive.
 
I've seen some of their furniture leasing costs; maybe attractive to some but it wouldn't be long before you equal the retail price as far as I can see.

Never knowingly underfurnished?
 
It's exactly what we should be doing to house people. People want to live in places with access to towns and cities, we can't carry on turning every green space within 10 miles of any city into a housing estate. There has to be a way of making high density urban housing attractive.

They have some prime locations to capitalise on, and this makes sense to offset the drop in footfall in the stores, without doing a Debenhams and having an estate that isn't making money.

I suspect that the expected quality will also attract the right kind of tenant, I would imagine that the rentals won't be sky high but will ensure a very high occupancy .

I've seen some of their furniture leasing costs; maybe attractive to some but it wouldn't be long before you equal the retail price as far as I can see.

If you want long term then unfurnished is the right choice, and one of the options on the table, but for a young person this would make a lot of sense for a couple of years before moving onward...
 
Build to let. The big boys and govt love it. Smash small landlords and monopolise the market.

I let a fully furnished place, nicely done, literally down to the cutlery. Folks can turn up with a suitcase of clothes and they’re done. Thought it would be quite a high turnover but the average tenancy is about 3 years. Saves people so much hassle and cost buying and moving furniture.
 
Smash small landlords and monopolise the market.

I let a fully furnished place

The small landlord has been hammered so much these past few years they wouldn't need too much smashing.

Unusual nowadays to let fully furnished, Ponty. With holiday lets, tax reliefs (wear and tear) are reasonable but this doesn't apply to long-term letting. One of my flats goes on the market tomorrow; I've had a good run but am getting past it now (or rather, have GOT past it).
 
ha , yes hope you find someone good

i never knew all this about john lewis , very interesting . the ex boss of JL is our mayor here and very good he is too .
 
Looks like the start of a move to rent out houses as a complete unit including fixtures and fittings from them as well, I can see that very much being a thing in the not too distant future.
 
The small landlord has been hammered so much these past few years they wouldn't need too much smashing.

Unusual nowadays to let fully furnished, Ponty. With holiday lets, tax reliefs (wear and tear) are reasonable but this doesn't apply to long-term letting. One of my flats goes on the market tomorrow; I've had a good run but am getting past it now (or rather, have GOT past it).

Yeah, I know it’s unusual but see it as a differentiator. There are loads of unfurnished places to let but very few fully furnished to good standards (including plenty of JL furniture!). So far has attracted quality tenants who effectively want a long term serviced apartment at more realistic cost. I can see how the JL model would work.
 
Yeah, I know it’s unusual but see it as a differentiator. There are loads of unfurnished places to let but very few fully furnished to good standards (including plenty of JL furniture!). So far has attracted quality tenants who effectively want a long term serviced apartment at more realistic cost. I can see how the JL model would work.

I think a lot of the younger people prefer turn-key products that they just rent, whether that is cars, phones, appliances, even clothes now and obviously homes. They don't want the hassle that comes with owning something outright and being responsible for it's maintenance/repair.

I think we aren't far away from a generation who will own very little, everything looks like it is going to be geared up to lease it from someone no matter what it is.
 
I don’t think that Boris and Carrie will be interested when the lease on No 10 expires…..
 
I think a lot of the younger people prefer turn-key products that they just rent, whether that is cars, phones, appliances, even clothes now and obviously homes. They don't want the hassle that comes with owning something outright and being responsible for it's maintenance/repair.

I think we aren't far away from a generation who will own very little, everything looks like it is going to be geared up to lease it from someone no matter what it is.

I think you’re right. I have the hassle and maintenance of this place and at the end of the day, not a brilliant return but looking at it more long term (may well live there one day). The main problem with the rent everything for life model is retirement.
 
Maybe it would be better if the government didn't incentivise property price increases, controlled profits on sale of land, taxed land-banking and stopped subsidising property developers the youth of today would be able to afford to buy a house instead of putting money into the pockets of the rentier class. Just a thought.
 
Maybe it would be better if the government didn't incentivise property price increases, controlled profits on sale of land, taxed land-banking and stopped subsidising property developers the youth of today would be able to afford to buy a house instead of putting money into the pockets of the rentier class. Just a thought.

The government (and their mates) are the rentier class though, so that ain't ever going to happen is it.
 
The government (and their mates) are the rentier class though, so that ain't ever going to happen is it.
More complicated than that. Any government that "succeeded" in achieving less than 5% growth above inflation every year would be cast into darkness for 1000 years, because "it's me pension innit?" . People expect their house to appreciate in value, in the UK at least. I know I did when I bought this. I could have bought cheaper, but I knew that I had the money and a pile of bricks is effectively untaxed in the UK and outstrips any bank account or cash ISA. People *say* that they want cheaper housing, what they mean is that they want cheaper housing in every street other than theirs.
 


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