Weekend reading: Are buy-to-let landlords terrible people?

What caught my eye this week.

One reason I found it pretty easy to rent for so long is that I’ve always done very well for landlords.

My last landlord in particular was a star. He sensibly recognized that his initially fully refurbished property was kept in good shape for the many years we rented it. By the end we mostly chatted over email rather than going through the agents. The rent, which was high-ish when I first moved in, was only raised once in a decade.

He was also flexible in moving me to a one-month rolling contract when I started looking for somewhere to buy after my housemate bought a property and moved on.

And when I completed rather out of the blue and moved, he just let me pay to the end of that month instead of asking me to pay the next month as he was entitled to given the lack of notice, which saved me (and cost him) £1,750.

I was therefore pretty sympathetic to the post at My Deliberate Life defending amateur landlords against some nasty accusations in The Guardian.

The author, a landlord, writes:

I’m not trying to make out like I’m some kind of saint. Obviously I’m in it for the money and it does give a good return. And a lot of these services I’m legally required to provide and rightly so.

But don’t paint me as some kind of demon, or parasite, or ‘feudal incubi’ (whatever that is). I am not any of those things.

The very long post is well worth a read for a pretty balanced recap of the state of the UK housing market.

Personally I think the scales were tipped in favour of buy-to-let landlords for far too long, and that combined with very low interest rates this has taken a generational wealth gap to dangerous levels. The recent tax changes seem to be addressing this.

But in my experience the average buy-to-let landlord is no more a social parasite than an investor in an index tracker funds.

Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

From Monevator

Lyxor ETFs: Very low cost, but be aware of some wrinkles – Monevator

From the archive-ator: How to enjoy life like a billionaire – Monevator

News

Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view these enable you to click through to read the piece without being a paid subscriber.¹

UK economy stagnating according to 0.1% GDP growth figure – BBC

Interest rate rise in May is no longer odds-on – ThisIsMoney

Use inheritance tax to tackle inequality of wealth, says OECD [and me] – Guardian

Is it time to reform inheritance tax? [Search result] – FT

Prince left no will. As a result his estate is a mess – The Washington Post

What happens when the NIMBYs battle the YIMBYs? – ThisIsMoney

Stamp duty cut helps nearly 70,000 first time buyers [Search result] – FT

Beware of scammers posing as HMRC demanding cash – ThisIsMoney

Bear Grylls puts survival skills of the wealthy to the test [Search result] – FT

Most US investors are now in lower fee funds.

And the trend is accelerating…

We need to update our rhetoric… in the US at least, the argument for cheap funds appears to have been won – Morningstar

Products and services

The US entrepreneur who wants to launch a Long-term Stock Exchange [Q&A] – NewCo

Leeds Building Society launches new cash ISA link to Bank of England base rate – ThisIsMoney

SSE/Npower merger could reduce competition and increase bills, says watchdog – ThisIsMoney

Refusing a smart meter could cost you £111 a year due to poor deals – ThisIsMoney

We’re on our knees, says TSB boss as IT crisis drags on – Guardian

Why a 1% chance that Bitcoin could hit $700,000 is worth betting on… – Fortune

…although Bitcoin could equally be the biggest pump-and-dump scheme in history – Recode

I am getting healthier by tracking my regular blood tests via Thriva and its online dashboard. (Really!) Get 50% off your first test via my affiliate link² – Thriva

Homes for sale in former chapels, in pictures – Guardian

Comment and opinion

The limits of retirement simulation – The Retirement Café

The myth that markets get prices right won’t die – Bloomberg

Investing: Past, present, and future – CFA Institute

Can we help consumers avoid running out of money in retirement?³ [Report] – IFoA

ThisIsMoney podcast debates the Bank of Mum and Dad [Podcast] – ThisIsMoney

Investment trusts for the grandchildren – DIY Investor

Safe withdrawal rates: An inconvenient truth – YoungFIGuy

Will you move during retirement? – Vanguard blog

Merryn S-W: Fund managers and the struggle to be average [Search result] – FT

Do you even know what’s going on in your pension? – The Escape Artist

When your emergence fund cash call comes – SexHealthMoneyDeath

Morrison’s recovery is underway, but is it in the share price? – UK Value Investor

Beware the rise of the loss-making IPO – The Value Perspective

A deep dive into Amazon’s valuation – Musings on Markets

Yes, we’re in a tech bubble. So what? – Research Affiliates

Kindle book bargains

Side Hustle: Build a Side Business and Make Extra Money – Without Quitting Your Day Job by Chris Guillebeau – £0.99 on Kindle

McMafia: Seriously Organized Crime by Misha Glenny – £0.99 on Kindle

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley Ph.D.– £0.99 on Kindle

ReWork: Change the Way You Work Forever by David Fried – £0.99 on Kindle

Off our beat

How bacteria are changing your mood – BBC

Extroverted, conscientious, and disagreeable forty-somethings earn more – HBR

Open, closed, and privacy – Stratechery

Nassim Taleb: Beware the big errors of Big Data – Wired

The real reason you want an iPhone X – Hackernoon

The BBC has made a 16,000-strong sound library freely accessible. Have fun! – BBC

And finally…

“There was a balance. It wasn’t because humans lived in balance with nature. Humans died in balance with nature.”
– Hans Rosling, Factfulness: 10 Reasons We’re Wrong About The World

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1. Note some articles can only be accessed through the search results if you’re using PC/desktop view (from mobile/tablet view they bring up the firewall/subscription page). To circumvent, switch your mobile browser to use the desktop view. On Chrome for Android: press the menu button followed by “Request Desktop Site”.
2. I believe the discount shows up at checkout, but check carefully as there’s no special landing page!
3. Thanks Snowman!

from Monevator http://monevator.com/weekend-reading-are-buy-to-let-landlords-terrible-people/