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'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.
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).
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.
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.
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.The government (and their mates) are the rentier class though, so that ain't ever going to happen is it.