To think having a house with a mortgage is not 'owning your own home'

Almost everyone starts the journey to home ownership via a mortgage.

Exactly. Seriously- are people really this stupid??? My house land registry has MY name on it not the bank's name. Yes, my mortgage shows as a charge on the property, meaning, I cannot sell it and just choose not pay the mortgage lender back the amount I borrowed (or actually the amount still owing as a lot has already been paid off), but the property is mine. As the value of my house goes up (it has actually tripled in value since 2006) the percentage of its value that I need to repay the bank has therefore gone down very significantly. Which means it has been an amazing investment. A return of hundreds of thousands of pounds that I could never have achieved via renting.

This is no judgment on people who choose to rent at all, but anyone saying renting is more worthwhile than buying is choosing to be deliberately obtuse and ignorant.

must be all the easter eggs

Honestly this website has killed me today, what with people not owning apples, people dropping trays of doughnuts on another thread.

Please do a little research. You don’t seem to understand the basics of personal finance!

If I borrowed money from you to buy myself a loaf of bread, who owns the bread once i've bought it, you or me ? Also by your logic OP, those who buy clothes using a credit card don't own the clothes either, apparently whoever their credit card provider is would own all the clothes 🤷🏻‍♀️

I mean even paying just the interest only on a mortgage is better than renting. It’s an asset that generally doubles on average every 10 years.

It's quite worrying lol

I was just showing how the mortgage isn't always cheaper. At least not in direct monthly terms. There were various reasons buying wasn't the right thing for me at the time.

I did save a big deposit and bought and my mortgage is now what my old rent (I suspect it's gone up!) was. But I've sunk a heap of cash into the deposit for it to be that low.

This.

You're wrong OP. You are the legal owner even if you have a mortgage or not.

Show me the flat that rents for less than the mortgage interest on the same property....

The maths on it doesn't work - the landlord would be out of pocket to pay the mortgage each month, which is why its generally always more expensive to rent unless you can't get a mortgage (due to poor credit, lack of deposit, worklessness or benefit dependency, age etc).

We own our house with a mortgage. We don’t own outright. Thats the difference. Both scenarios the house is owned.

We can do what we want in the house, we don’t have to ask permission, we don’t have to leave it as we found it. It is ours.

Agree with others that the main reason I want to own is so that I can’t be kicked out at short notice.

I can buy furniture knowing it’s going to fit my space for as long as I’m there.

I can decorate how I like. Nothing more joyless than a rented white box where you can’t even hang a fucking photo on the wall.

I can make the garden nice knowing I’ll enjoy it for decades to come.

I think there seems to be a big divide in this country between private renting and mortgages. I have done both. While renting I felt it was looked down upon by certain friends. However the rent never went up and was a permanent rent due to being owned by farmers and they were unable to sell as a clause. If she is young and living her life good for her. As long as she has the money to buy when she is ready. I guess she doesn’t have to buy in central London where her work is she could commute in from the outskirts of surrounding counties. But she needs to do what works for her. It is no one else’s business. The good thing about renting is the freedom I think. However owning your own home generally provides security in the long term particularly if she has a family.

Find better friends that don't care whether she rents, buys, squats or sets up a bloody bell tent in your garden because her living arrangements are none of their business.

The key word here is REpossessed. Ie taken from its original owner!

Even in this low cost area, a standard mortgage on a 2/3 bed terraced house is much cheaper than renting it. IMO it’s a very easy decision….if you intend to remain in an area for any length of time, buying is much cheaper than renting

I'm mind blown. Truly I am!

I thought I was out the loop on mortgages etc, but Jesus. I at least knew I owned the house I was taking the mortgage out on

Repossession is pretty difficult these days. It’s always possible but it’s a last resort. The bank do not own your house just because they have a charge

I agree. People talk about how common renting is in Europe and how home ownership isn’t the priority there like it is here, but that ignores the very different contexts. I’ve rented privately, had a HA property, and now own and renting privately was far and away the worst.

Yes. You do. The bank has a charge on it; that's something else entirely.

Are there really this many people, including property investors and high value sellers, who don't undestand this?

I find it astounding that someone who has bought and sold really doesnt understand the legalities involved

Havent you had this explained properly to you?

The bank can only repossess by going to court and transferring ownership to themselves in the light of non payment. Just like if you dont pay any debt, you'll get taken to court and some of your belongings will get taken by baliffs.

The difference is its a secured loan, so the thing that gets taken back is the security, the house.

its quite worrying the amount of people who dont get this. No wonder that other poster is losing patience with you

How can it ever be "worth" renting when you're left with literally nothing at the end of it? You've contributed to paying off an asset for your landlord.

You only lose the debt you haven't paid.
If my mortgage was 50K on a 300K house, then I lose that, which does mean I lose the house - but I get 250K back in return.

Most people use the term "owning your own home" to mean with or without a mortgage. And legally I'm pretty sure you do own it even if you have a mortgage.