Stirchley, Birmingham, was announced as the best place to live in the midlands, etc. etc. Thanks to articles like this, I’ve been priced out of my home.
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Since then, house prices have shot up. Both buying and renting.
I moved to Stirchley in November 2019. It seemed quiet and affordable (ish). I couldn’t afford anything near my parents who live on the other side of Birmingham. But Stirchley was close enough. Down the road is somewhere called Moseley; another “cool” place. Before Stirchley became “cool,” it was where you moved to if you couldn’t afford neighbouring Moseley. But now renters are paying 3 or 4 times more than their homeowner neighbours.
Personally, my home has not been renovated in at least 15 years. We moved in paying £700 per month. Which is still extortionate compared to a lot of mortgage repayments. Now our landlord wants to charge anywhere up to £1200. Without any home improvements being done. From £700 in 2019 to £1200 in 2024. According to Google, that’s a 71% increase. In not even five years.
My disability benefits haven’t increased by 71%.
Yes. I’m disabled. My cretin of a landlord is knowingly evicting a disabled woman. My pain specialist and his team are based at the QE hospital, a short drive from Stirchley. Due to house prices in Birmingham, I’ll be moving out of the area completely. I refuse to give up my amazing pain management team, so I’ll have to stop at friends/family’s houses to attend appointments. This means I won’t have access to some of my mobility aids. This will have a huge impact on the amount of pain I’ll be in.
I’ll be moving to an area where I have no friends or family. I’m pretty much housebound without friends/family, so adding that to my anxiety issues in social situations, I’ll feel isolated in a new area. I will also have to leave my wonderful Brownie Guide group behind. I’m not the main leader, so the group will still be able to carry on, but I will miss them so much. I tried to integrate myself into the local area, and I got evicted.
Stirchley may be cool, but I don’t take advantage of any of the bars, cafes, etc. I’m happy here because it’s quiet and friendly.
Anywhere within 40 miles of Birmingham is over £1000 per month. Families are being shattered, communities torn apart. All for the greed of landlords. The same landlord that bragged to us about his new car. The same landlord that told us he was going on a cruise around Canada and Alaska, after we’d mentioned our week in Wales.
Rent control should be in place. Landlords should not be able to charge X% more than their mortgage repayments. I’m not against profit. I’m against pricing good, reliable tenants out of their homes. I’m not smart enough to figure out what that percentage should be. But I am smart enough to understand the consequences of not implementing rent control.
If, by some stroke of fate, my landlord sees this; Shame on you. Karma is a bitch. And I hope this decision haunts you.