Why do people prefer to rent rather than buying a house?

Exactly @SparrowFeet It's farcical that the OP is going on about an experience from 25+ years ago, when houses were much cheaper, and wages were higher, and the cost of living was lower. It's an utterly ludicrous thread.

Your own experience decades ago. Fine. And you can't think of a situation where someone couldn't put away a little money each month to save up for a deposit? 5k may feel small to you but lots of people struggle to save that amount and did 'back in the day' too.
What about stamp duty? Before 2010 first time buyers still had to pay it so if you are thinking of 'back in the day' it wasn't just a "small amount" for a deposit.

But I'll bite.. some people may like renting for the convenience of being able to move when they want, to not have the massive debt over their heads, and aren't as obsessed about having an asset. I remember worrying when I first bought my house and did miss just being able to call my landlord when the heating broke (he was a great landlord). There may be a small number of people that feel like this too.

Yeah, it's the Norman Tebbit fan club. They are the ones saying that if someone can't afford to buy a property where they are living now, they should just up sticks to a place where the properties are cheaper... the North East, or a bog standard part of the South East (Jaywick anyone?) You'll be 100s of miles away from your family and friends and your whole support network and your memories and your roots, but who cares, as long as you BUY a property, and don't carry on RENTING?!!!

They're the same type who think anyone who can't get a job in their town, should get on their bike and cycle 50+ miles away to get work in a more prosperous town. And if their job doesn't pay well, they can JUST GET A BETTER JOB ...

Yep, just buy a house why dontcha? Tis soooooo easy. Just need a £5,000 deposit, and you too can stop being a GASP! RENTER! 😱

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Everyone feels differently. I’ve always rented, SH, but I’ve never had anything paid by any benefits.

As I’ve got older, as have my friends, they now seem to worry a lot about maybe losing their asset/house for care costs eventually. 🤷‍♀️

This springs to mind

Its just utter snobbery and comes up all the time on these types of threads, people cant help themselves to describe somewhere where cheaper property is as 'shit holes' even though there are entire communities and happy populations, its incredibly denigrating to people. Usually about the north and midlands I notice. Our area is cheap, thats why we can afford to live here, and is probably looked down on by naice middle class mumsnetters as a 'shit hole', but there is thriving businesses, schools, youth, beautiful scenary.

No where is without its problems and difficulties.

Because it’s a millstone. Because if you added up all the interest and improvements and repairs, I think the finances would be less favourable than people think they are. Because it’s all just ‘stuff’ - and I’m not interested in kitchens and bathrooms and all that Sunday DIY ‘forever home’ bollocks. Because we like to stay light on our feet, having moved across the world a few times. Because generally, we can rent and live in far nicer areas / properties than we could ever afford to buy. Because repairs and upgrades are someone else’s problem.

Disclaimer that we live and rent in Europe, where we are pretty protected as tenants, and it’s culturally quite normal. Also we do own a couple of small rental properties in the UK, though no mortgages on these.

These new neighbours who were strangers to you, TOLD you that they 'invented a disability,' so that they could acquire social housing? And the job centre, and the council/social housing landlord fell for the story of a fake disability? No evidence from doctors or consultants to back up their application or anything? Just 'made up' a disability and got a house?

I think they've told you a bit of a fairy story there. All of this sounds highly unlikely. Or did someone else tell you this story?

.

Also, some people say” move where it’s cheaper” yeah with no job or no family or friends just so you can have a house. Seems odd to me.

Home ownership is much higher in a lot of European countries than here and a bit higher in some European countries than here, has been for a while, we are higher than a few still but only just.

However renting is much more secure in those countries also

This. And the 'I scrimped and saved and worked soooo hard to get £5K for a deposit on a house' line is just ludicrous. NO-ONE is buying a house with a £5K deposit in 2026. NO-ONE.

Strange that you don’t have perspective on a different situation to yours. You know not everyone has money? . I live in Australia, it’s so expensive. No chance for me.

I own my house (well the bank & I do 😂)

you are being unbearably smug & goady.

Flexibility, mostly.

Good income now, might not continue and it’s much easier to downsize if needed from rent. Feels risky to take on a big mortgage.

Conversely, expectation of a windfall or substantial salary increase in the not too distant future would allow to afford a house without so much risk or afford something much better. Waiting for the forever home rather than wanting to buy something that will only be suitable for a short while (it’s peculiarly British to prioritize early home ownership so much).

Career and income maximization require moving around, or at least benefit from being able to. Especially relevant before kids but even after it’s not always easy to commit for long enough that buying is worth it.

Also career focus means that home maintenance is an undesirable drain on time and energy. Easier to know it’s all someone else’s problem.

There are other ways to invest savings than in a house deposit, some with higher expected returns and almost all more liquid. Often when people say it’s cheaper to pay a mortgage than rent they’re not including the opportunity cost of tying up the deposit (or the additional maintenance and insurance costs).

Honestly the main downside to renting imo is that many rental properties are not decorated nicely and it’s more difficult to make it match your own taste or preferences. And that it’s yet another way of continually funneling money from workers to those who already have capital. Although mortgage interest has the same effect anyway.

Having just shelled out for a new roof, I am firmly in my Wish I Was Bloody Renting phase. It won't last though.

Not everyone can afford to buy a house - that’s the most glaringly obvious reason!!!

I’ve done both, owning and renting and have decided to go back to renting.

I’ll explain our thinking with the rough numbers.

I’m in a high cost of living area - Bayside Melbourne, Australia. A house costs $3-4m but rent is $4-5,000 per month. Rental yields are very low for investors.

Prior to having children we bought a 4 bedroom townhouse with a small land size for $1.6m with a $1m mortgage, that mortgage costs approximately $6,000 per month.

We decided to sell the townhouse for $2.5m, pay off the mortgage in it’s entirety and live in a house with a big garden that we prefer that better suits our growing family worth $3m if we were to buy it, but only 4.5k per month to rent.

We invested $1.5m into the sharemarket, and kept a 200k buffer. We generate about 65k passive income through dividends each year. When we had our first child my husband and I decided to have one parent at home, and the other to work part time. The passive income allows us to live on a lower salary whilst providing enormous quality of life boots for myself as a mother and to our children by having such present parents.

We can’t have both a large mortgage and a stay at home parent. We could have owned an apartment outright and had a stay at home parent. We could have had two working parents and a large mortgage. We decided on a third option - stay at home parent and investing in shares instead of property to earn a passive income to replace a second household income, whilst keeping a strong cash buffer so we can ride out any volatility in the sharemarket.

I also much prefer renting to owning with a mortgage. I enjoy the maintenance not being my responsibility, and psychologically not holding any debt and being able to see my net worth steadily rising along with the share market makes me feel safe. It’s hard to explain but I didn’t feel like my mortgaged house was truly mine, in the same way my rental doesn’t feel like my own.

Ideally we would both own a house outright and have investments in shares, but that’s not our reality and I’m well aware I’m extremely fortunate compared to most who struggle to invest in anything at all.

This path, along with likely inheritance, will enable us to buy a house outright before my husband retires but for now I’m totally content renting. I expect the vast majority of renters would much prefer to own, but don’t have the capital or income to purchase a house without significant compromise/sacrifice.

Just looked that up. UK estimates from various trade and property pundits vary widely. Google gives a fair average:

"UK homeowners should budget 1% to 3% of their property's value annually for maintenance, averaging roughly £1,500–£5,000+ per year depending on property age. Over a 30-year ownership, this can exceed £100,000, covering essentials like new roofs (£6k–£10k), boilers (£2k+), and windows.

"Period properties can cost over £700 a month in upkeep."

By contrast, my windows are replaced whenever condensation appears and I'm getting a new boiler next month. When I rang up to find out what kind of hinges I needed for the loo seat, they sent someone round to fit a new one. I never have to think about the gutters, and I don't pay buildings insurance.

I suppose one advantage is maintenance. Of course eventually you will own the property and stop paying a mortgage. But for 20 years or more (for most normal people) you are paying "rent", and that money goes and you have to maintain and pay for everything else.

Paying £700 a month and maintenance of property, drains, roof, plumbing, electronics, gas, boiler, hose insurance etc being all included is a lot different to paying £700 a month, then having to pay separately for all those things on top.

Bloody hell, 75,000 was almost the FULL PRICE of my first place in the late 90's, a Victorian terrace! Haven't lived in the UK for years, but house prices where I live are just as abysmally out of reach now.

Another former 'owner' here, who learned when shit went wrong that the owner was actually the bank and 'my home' was in fact 'my enormous debt'.

The subsequent years were very hairy, largely due to the additional debts I racked up trying to claw back the right to live in my bank's asset.

Now I am old and broke ... living in a perfectly nice retirement flat owned by a housing association, affordable rent and lifetime tenure guaranteed.

Frankly, I would've done better to rent instead of buying (sorry, I mean borrowing) and stashing all the money I spent on home improvements in a tracker fund.

Sorry OP , you seem completely daft and out of touch.

The overwhelming majority of people who could save your tiny £5k deposit “back in the day” DO own their own homes. That’s why home ownership is so high in your demographic - and why the majority of homeowners in this country own outright. That’s right: most people who own in this country have already paid off their mortgage!

The average deposit now is between £50k and £75k depending on what part of the country you live in. Which is why people rent.

Former homeowner here. Divorced at 45, house sold, proceeds drained by renting 3 bed apartment as a single mother of 3 whose ex pays laughable amount in maintenance compared to what he earns and barely any of what was agreed in separation agreement. Paying through the nose for out of school care so I can go to work and have a chance of making rent each month. Zero chance of buying in the future, I imagine. Hope that clears some things up, OP.
Just LOVE renting....

This is me.

Abusive home. Moved out at 16. I cannot save whilst renting.

I've accepted I'll never own.

Why don't the government actually do something to help people get out of expensive private rents and reward long term renters with cheaper homes.
We need a government who can make big decisions and be pro active.
A 2 bedroom house is a minimum of £200000. If you get people out of expensive rentals into affordable homes you are giving them foundations for a happier and less stressful life. It would also end the cost of living crisis for working people.

OP I can’t really understand why you’re getting vilified. I don’t think you’re being goady I just think you are not using your common sense surely you realise some ppl rent for convenience / cost?

I really don’t know many people who are in a position to buy but prefer to rent, I’d say it is unusual. The one person I do know in that position is just very happy in her apartment she’s been in for 8 years (more?), it’s modern, convenient, safe, quiet and well located (I used to live in that block too - i concur!). Her landlord is a friend and he likes having a trustworthy tenant and she appreciates he charges her under market and so she takes great care of the place.

she could afford to buy it or an identical two bedder in the development but would be paying about 18k more a year in mortgage than rent AND be suddenly responsible for the council tax (landlord / owner pays that in Australia, not tenant, although it is very low compared to UK) AND she’d be responsible for the service charge of about 3k a year (which does tend to be higher in Aus than UK as apartments tend to have communal gardens, pools and underground parking which I find are comparatively rare in UK).

she’s also single and (like me) not very handy. I cant imagine she has any appetite for maintenance.

I assume she sticks the saving of 20k ish away in stocks and shares each month.

she is one of those ppl who should (imo) buy a rental property elsewhere that has a good yield, rent that out to cover her mortgage and continue renting her friend’s place to get best of both worlds, but it’s none of my business.