Seems to be a lot of negative speculation by people who admittedly "don't understand Lease Options & Rent to Buy" - done properly by knowledgeable professionals it is no worse than BTL management.
All of the risks to Tenant Buyers & Landlord Sellers can be mitigated within the documentation - if people enter into these serious financial transactions in an informed way, with independent legal advice, they are very beneficial.
Yes, there are con-men & people with criminal intent in every walk of life, talk of "disasters waiting to happen" in my opinion is one person's attempt to be sensational to get an appearance in the major press - well done David, it worked well & I bet you got a lot of hits on your website & sold a few more copies of your book (I really mean well done because that's the name of the game online - get noticed!).
As you will see from other posts I am not 'anti-regulation' (I got my first CCL back in the early 1980's) but regulation has never stopped wrong doing. Also the point about "asking for & giving financial advice" can be slightly misleading - If you are going to rent out your BTL property you will routinely request financial information to ensure they can afford the rent, you then make a decision as to affordability and decide on offering them a 6 or 12 month financial commitment (I know there are regulated firms that offer this service but you get the point).
My thought is that we, the active industry, should start to put together a 'code of [best] practice' before it is imposed - I have already started and I am happy to work with anyone who's interested.
From my world wide research 'Rent to Buy' & 'Rent to Sell' is set to grow in the UK and become another major option in acquiring & disposing of property for the public at large (not just traders doing LO deals) - it's coming folks! so what are we going to do about it?
With best wishes to all,
Carl Henry
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