“Arrw the poor babies played the game of capitalism and got burned. Good.

If you back the wrong horse then don't expect to be able go to the bookies and demand compensation”

“Pete, If someones pension depends on them overcharging for rent, I hope they lose the lot, and when the house gets repo'd, the tenant buys it for a song. Houses are for living in, not tools for extorting money out of young families.”

“Richard tigerland. No one gets a pension for free. People with a pension pot that they had worked and saved for had a choice.

Put their pension pot into housing rather than spend the money and get hand outs, or put in a bank paying %1 interest or in shares that have nose dived.

Do not be critical of some one saving and investing for their pension of the future”

“Thats exactly what i was getting at John, these people's greed is only matched my their stupidity in thinking they could get a pension for free.”

“Richard's crack on in my opinion. These buy-to-let vultures, along with estate agents and mortgage companies, are those who've been pushing up the house prices for the past however many years. Although some people have ended up with a lot of equity, they still need to buy a house of the same value when they sell, so its only actually relevant when they come to sell up.

All that has happened is that rents and mortgage costs have increased dramatically in this time, so people like myself now have to pay double what we would five years ago... and who is it getting this money? Landlords, mortgage companies, estate agents.

I went away to uni, and upon finishing rents have gone up so much that the extra income I've got from being able to get a better job doesn't even cover the increases in rent.

They can crash and burn in my opinion. Just greedy people looking to make a quick buck, based on the premise that people need to live somewhere and are forced to pay the going rate.

I'll sit back patiently paying my rent, watch these vultures go bankrupt, then happily get myself a reasonably priced house when it all settles down.

They'll get no sympathy from me :D”

“Fair comment Richard, but your original posting made out as if these people who bought these properties and became landlords were doing something wrong or underhands (that's how it reads). Most people did it as a pension plan and, fair comment, most are struggling -oversupply, lower rents etc etc but people have been landlords since the year dot and there will always be some sort of demand for rental properties be them privately owned or state owned.”

“Funny is'nt it when the market is bouyant and investors are making a fortune on their buy to lets it's all smiles. When the S*** hits the fan they blame someone else. No one forces you to buy a property. Greed gets the better of people and a house of cards always falls !!!!!!! If you are going to invest in property do your research, it is not for amatures.
No sympathy.”

“When house prices went sky high, a lot of people used the recently acquired equity in their own house to fund the deposit on another. They were hoping to put people in them who didn't have the deposit to buy one, and charge the same as the mortgage was costing them (or more) in rent. Now the housing narket is in freefall they are getting their fingers burnt. Thats what I'm talking about.”

“Richard... these people you state who can't afford to save up a deposit still have to live somewhere, and if they weren't paying rent to a buy to let landlord they would be paying it to a housing association or the council so what are you talking about?”

“I agree with Mark, it's greed that motivated these people and they were taken in by a con artist. To be taken for a ride to the tune of £6million takes some doing it has to be said!!”