How long should you plan to own a house if you buy it?

Buying and selling is an absolute nightmare of epic proportions. I'm currently selling my first house after 8 years of ownership, and if we attend up getting my next house never ever ever moving again.

First house I had for 3 years
Second house (moved to a more desired village location) I sold after only 2 years as I met my husband and we wanted to start a family so we moved into his bigger house and I paid off his mortgage. We've been here for 20 years and are definitely never moving now. NB I did make a good profit on the sales despite the short time but that was more luck in the market!

How long is a piece of string? We moved from our first owned flat, horrible situation (violent drunk upstairs neighbour who played music so loud it was distorted, 7pm-7am every night) to a silent, fabulous little house but only stayed there a year. Made a killing, still in the house we moved to, over 20 years later, looking to move in 2 years, hoping it’s our last move. We might have stayed longer in the little house if prices hadn’t shot up.

It’s also very dependent on area and trends, plus obviously interest rates.

Had my first house for 3-years before selling.
Bought as a (single) FTB and it was definitely a doer-upper. Honed my decorating skills with help from my Ddad and thanks to the house being in a far better condition and (of course) a rising market I made a nice tidy profit when I sold.
This helped buy my second house which I only ever planned to stay in for another 3-years but life got in the way and I stayed for 31-years.

I’d say 3 years might be a bit tight, but 4-5 and you should be good but depends on area and relative market growth. One thing to consider is mortgage penalty period - ie. How much would it cost you to pay off early if you wanted to totally cut and run. If you’re thinking you’d buy another property then you could port the mortgage and it wouldn’t be an issue.

I'd say minimum 5 years if it's a starter home where you're not planning to invest much money (eg renovations, fitted wardrobes, landscaping the garden etc). We're hoping to move after 5 years and we've put a lot of money into this house, which we regret.

If it's a home that could suit you for a long time, you're stretching your budget for and that you want to do a lot of upgrades to, I'd say minimum 10-15 years.

Buying as opposed to renting or as opposed to selling and buying another one soon after?

If you are only concerned about 'financially sensible', there is no minimum period. As you know, people do 'flip' houses if they got it for a good price especially in a hot market.

It is just crunching numbers and your view of the market in your area and the price you are getting for the house in that condition. How long is a piece of string?

Can you explain what you would like to achieve, then people can give more targeted advice.

Up to you... I moved 7 times in 10 years when I was younger as my work took me to lots of places and I liked to own the house I was living in (plus work paid my moving and legal expenses). Then my last house I stayed in for 15 years as I had my dd and liked the area for schools etc, then moved to what I hope will be my forever home and been here 3 years. That said we may decide to downsize or buy a bungalow after we retire.

It's really up to you and what suits you or you and your family.

I'm not voting. I've always bought thinking I'm happy to stay there forever and it's only when circumstances have changed that I've moved.

Up to you! Buying and selling are expensive and stressful things to do. If you have a small deposit / high LTV and house prices fall you may find yourself in negative equity if you’ve not been there long

First house - 8 years
Second house - 19 years and counting.

moving costs are such a waste of money if you don’t need to pay them.