We think very differently about housing on this side of the channel. In most of Europe, including big, successful countries like Germany, where you live is a cost, not an asset. There’s no stigma to renting, and rents and landlords are very strictly capped and controlled. You can buy if you want, but, hey, maybe life’s too short? Here, there’s pressure/pressure/pressure to buy/buy/buy and then to, effectively, rent for 25 years or more from a bank who can charge you what they like and turf you out if you don’t pay. And there’ll be a lot of that to come when the ‘payment holidays end, believe me. Thanks, Maggie. Time for a rethink, I think.
“John Lewis foray into BTR could result in losses of £57m”
I did predict a while ago that Waitrose Homes rather than Waitrose Home Deliveries could be the future. John Lewis were probably the most benign big business to decide to go into the housing rental market, a move which could swing things away from the unpredictability of the mass of private landlords who dominate the sector.
