I can’t be bothered to increase the rent !!!

I rented unfurnished as a student as it was the rule there. I also rented furnished in places in Dublin where the furniture was very poor. Plenty of our renters added their own furniture. The ability of renters to request landlords to empty a property would just be another headache for landlords who have a furnished property and I don't really know how it would work. I would not be encouraged to rent to anyone who asked me to empty the place.
As for the age of the furniture, landlords can only deduct their cost over 8 years. And as long as landlords are forced to rent under the market price and the demand largely exceed supply, there's zero incentive to even the most agreeable landlords to improve furnishings.
 
Very interesting discussion and topic.

I'm somewhat looking at this from the outside. My nephew (who has a family with one child) and niece are both renting so I hear a little about costs etc, and I hear the news about landlords leaving the market, housing crisis, etc

My understanding, rents are at all-time highs and so is homelessness. Why would any landlord want to put up the rent? The initial rent was sufficient to become/stay as a landlord, why increase it now when things are so bad for so many?

If landlords are leaving the market in droves (im not sure about this, i think I heard it on radio), why are property prices continuing to increase at such high levels? With landlords leaving, that's less competition for a property and should help subdue any price increases?

I may be missing something obvious so forgive me.
 
Thanks DannyBoyD, but I dont understand.

House prices are continuing to increase well above rates of inflation and wages increases. And if rents are at all time highs, as I understand it, how can they be well below market levels?
 
Sister Sara said:
I dont understand
Click to expand...
Consider 2 identical one bedroom apartments in the same apartment block in a rpz.
Apt 1 is rented at €1000 per month
Apt 2 is rented at €2000 per month
Considering both rents cannot be raised beyond the rpz limits and one beds are not generally appealing to owner occupiers, which apartment do you think is more valuable to a prospective investor and achieve a higher price for the seller?
 
Micks'r said:
Apt 1 is rented at €1000 per month
Apt 2 is rented at €2000 per month
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I have real life experience of this.
Before I sold, my rent was €1085, an intuitional investor bought identical property and is renting it for €2250 pm.

@Sister Sara
It's both true and false to say rents are at an all-time high. In my example above, how could anyone call my rent high? It's less than half what the corporate landlord is charging and was a far nicer property to live in.

Edit...This is not because I am an 'amateur'. I know what I am doing, and how to run a profitable business. The problem for me and many like me that have been landlords—before rent controls were introduced — is we are legally prohibited from increasing rents above a certain level.

I find it difficult to understand how you come to post about something if you do not understand this constraint.

All the sky high rents are from new entrants, mostly corporate investors. These professional investors are now realising what I, and loads of others like me could have told them years ago— rent caps are a significant speed bump to long term profitable and sustainable letting in Ireland. These institutional investors have now all but stopped investing in Ireland and are lobbying for the rent caps to be removed.
 
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Micks'r said:
Consider 2 identical one bedroom apartments in the same apartment block in a rpz.
Click to expand...

Thank you Micks'r, I appreciate the reply and the hypothecial scenario provided does explain a lot.

Realisitically, 50% rent differentials in the same apartment block are non-existent, or where they do exist, then the landlord in question is either an amateur, or, has personal reasons for offering such a discount such as a family relative being a tenant.

The flipside of your scenario is that with only a 50% rent intake of the market rent of €2,000, any prospective investor would expect a significant discount on the purchase price relative to the higher rental apartment.

In other words, it makes no sense without knowing the market price for each apartment.
 
Luternau said:
It's both true and false to say rents are at an all-time high. In my example above, how could anyone call my rent high? It's less than half what the corporate landlord is charging and was a far nicer property to live in.
Click to expand...

Thanks Luternau,

I have no idea if your rent was high, or if the alternate rent was simply extortionate.

I'm speaking in the round, the general consensus as I understand. I'm not talking about specific rents for specific properties, there will always be exceptions that buck the trend.
 
Sister Sara said:
50% rent differentials in the same apartment block are non-existent,
Click to expand...
So in your mind the previous poster just invented that story?
Sister Sara said:
or where they do exist, then the landlord in question is either an amateur,
Click to expand...
Do make your mind up - its either true or it isn't.

And no, below market rents are the net effect of RPZ / rent controls, not an aspersion on property owners.

I renovated a property, left it untenanted for 2 years; and then relet it for more than double the previous rent. Thats how bonkers rent controls are.
 
Sister Sara said:
I'm speaking in the round, the general consensus as I understand
Click to expand...
That's fair enough but you come across as not understanding it at all. I think your earlier post is very poorly informed. I added some addional comments to it regarding your reference to 'amateur' for some balance.

There are loads of tenants on Ireland right now paying a fair rent from the property they are in. There are also many landlords that are not making a profit on the rent they are charging, or if they are, a very small one.
 
DannyBoyD said:
So in your mind the previous poster just invented that story?
Click to expand...

Thanks DannyBoyD, im not saying they invented the 50% rental differential for a 1 bed apt in the same block, im saying I would consider that an extreme example to use to try answer my questions.
Im sure such rent differentials exist, perhaps even worse, but they would be on the extreme margins of the actual nationwide rental market.

Thats just my opinion, from an observor of the market and the information Im aware of.
 
Sister Sara said:
sure such rent differentials exist, perhaps even worse, but they would be on the extreme margins of the actual nationwide rental market.
Click to expand...
In Dublin, the differential exists for anyone renting a property for more than 10 years and who has followed the legislation (the initial rent freeze followed by the rpz in 2016). I charge €800 less than the cheapest property advertised in my town (same number of rooms), so a 70 per cent differential. The neighboring apartment in my block is also priced at this level. Nothing to do with being an amateur or renting to family.
 
Thanks Luternau, its the 'many landlords that that are not making a profit on the rent they are charging, or if they are, a very small one', that i dont understand.

My understanding is that if making a profit was the goal, then investing in property that provided poor rental returns would deter prospective investors? Ergo, they would not invest.

The only investors buying into the market do so on the belief, at the time of purchase, of the potential to make gains?
 

When I moved back to Dublin I found it bizarre that almost everywhere was furnished, and usually with an mis match of old furniture. There seems to be certain furniture that is very common. Black fake leather kitchen chairs that are bulky... While I am not sure about how I feel about all white good not included I would much prefer to furnish an apartment myself. I think the current situation is a throwback to rentals only for student and recent grads.
 
Hi Premos, many thanks for that response.

It provides some insight into the matters I may not be understanding. Could you elaborate a bit on the detail please?

You charge €800 less (pw? pm? pa?) less than cheapest property in the town?

Is there a noticeable difference in quality of rental? e.g - parking spaces, furnishings, energy consumption, location to local amenities etc ?
 
€800 per month with the same type of property. Ber on offer slightly less good than mine, same area, build around the same time I would think. My property and furniture would look more up to date on the pictures... I also looked at other towns around and the lowest rent currently advertised is €650 more expensive. That is just the way it is. Each year the differential increases a bit more.
Clearly the situation is rarely spoken about in the media or when it is, the landlords are often depicted as having an amateur approach to rent setting.
 
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Thanks Premos, much appreciated.

And I understand the frustration, particularly if having to explain it to an observer like me. Im a bit of a newshound and this topic is prevalent for a number of years that I would like to try understand it in more depth.

You say you are charging €800pm less than the cheapest property advertised in your town and thats a 70 percent differential.

Can you say what the actual €€ rental per month you charge is?
 
DannyBoyD said:
I renovated a property, left it untenanted for 2 years; and then relet it for more than double the previous rent. Thats how bonkers rent controls
Click to expand...
I am also contemplating doing the same. I too will be able to almost double the rent. It will take me a while to get back the rent foregone but I will get it all back and then be better off than if I do not do this Thanks to rent caps, a good house in a sought after area will be off the market.
 
We have a 3/4 bed house in Dublin 6W, we are currently stuck in RPZ and associated rent-cap; the house has been long term rented to a large family (who in fairness give us no hassle); we are getting just under 2k per month; there are new one bed apartments down the road currently up on Daft for €2,300 per month. My neighbour 4 doors down has his similar house rented for 3k per month, its smaller than ours as its not extended.
If my current tenants move out we will either sell or leave it vacant for 2 years - that is how daft the current rental market is in Dublin.
No way we'd rent it again for the current rent.
 
Back in 2005/2006 when we were renting out a house in North Dublin tenants might ask to e.g. switch a double for 2 single beds etc; we would always facilitate as it was difficult enough to get (good) tenants; we used to also replace the mattresses between most tenancies.
Now I wouldn't entertain it. The contract for the house has an inventory and I just tell the tenants the house needs to be returned as is; if they want to e.g. move/change a couch they need to replace and return as is.
Agree, most of the furniture is shoddy but as we are now stuck in RPZ and there is huge demand for accommodation I wouldn't be doing much about the kit-out.
 
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