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

Bit hard of thinking aren't you.

Not everyone has the same sense of job security that you seem to have enjoyed, and not everyone can halve their monthly payments by buying.

Also, you don't mention how much of your income was spent on nursery fees. There are people spending the equivalent of a down payment on childcare.

A couple I know, both mid 40's have rented the whole time they've been together, and have told me they will continue to private rent until they get to retirement age and then the government can take over paying for everything for them........

If you’re only talking about decades ago, why do you use the present tense in your thread title?

Are you thinking about a particular person? Because it seems odd to start a thread about 60 year olds who rent places to live. I say 60 because I know some people eg 30 years ago who didn’t manage to save enough for a house deposit then despite being sensible, or one person who just about managed, was about to buy when house fell through, but was pregnant and then couldn’t manage to get a mortgage during expensive childcare years (despite it being cheaper than their rent). If you didn’t buy before kids, then suddenly it was a lot less affordable.

I think it’s similar to why people get a lease car instead of buying outright. With a lease car you can have a top of the range car, brand new, no servicing or MOT costs. But ultimately it doesn’t belong to you and you’re paying every month for something that you don’t own. But buying a car outright means you have to save up, get a second or third hand car that isn’t top of the range and have to pay for its upkeep. It makes financial sense in the long term to buy but not everyone wants (or can do) that.

1 It's quite hard to do it on one wage, even for those with well-paid jobs, and it stopped being a given that you could expect to find a partner ready to settle down at 20 odd decades ago.
2 Some people like the fact the landlord will sort out any property issues, rather than struggling to find money/a tradesperson to fix issues at short notice.
3 Many people don't want to work all their lives just to have the government take their house when they need care in their old age.

My brother could afford to buy from early on in his career, but chose not to- he was very mobile and lived abroad, which I am sure informed this decision.
Finally aged about 55 he decided to buy- if you don't like the hassle of homeownership, and like to move often it might be for you. I am sure given the opportunity about 95% of people would prefer to buy though- retirement is very difficult if you continue to have a large outgoing like rent.

Now, I have not seen much council houses stock abroad....unless I am wrong. The UK is highly specific case

This is just to illustrate to you why some people are happy with renting a council house - it is a house for life. Not about morals or what else

No they're not necessarily shit holes. you know this is where people live, thrive, send their kids to school and have family dont you?

People live there and buy houses and work.

How arrogant do you sound to write off whole areas of the country as a shit hole.

Where I live in fact, the leafy south east coast, I could get a one bed flat for 100k.

Move north and you can get plenty.

I live on one of these mixed streets where half the houses are private, half council. One family near by are so happy finally received the keys. They unpacked, and she sat down without fear of the future for the first time. She said they rented privately on and on moving like mad from flat to flat on his salary, not being able to afford much else. He invented some disability and left work and said to the job centre he cannot find work anymore and they are homeless. Do I begrudge them? Well, no. They got the stability they needed. Not moral but hey

Lots of us have been on the property ladder and fallen off it due to unforeseen relationship breakdown etc..... and saving for a deposit in the current climate is really hard.

I've been lucky and recently managed to buy a property again, but it wasn't easy.....

A lot of people who buy are gifted a deposit, not all of course - and many people have families who just can't afford, or do not choose, to do that.

I feel incredibly privileged to have been able to buy my own place. Not even the smallest part of me judges those who can't.

And sometimes it's just more practical to rent for a while + trying out a new area for a while, need the flexibility, whatever ....

It's not impossible to imagine that others' lives and choices might be different from our own.

Also agree about buying flats. Never. I never would .. I know plenty of people do though, so it works out OK for some.

100% this! ^ More trouble than it's worth sometimes. Unless you are a fairly high earner, your mortgage is less than a fifth of your income, and you have 10s of 1000s of pounds squirrelled away for a rainy day/for repairs, then it can really take its toll and leave people in debt.

Totally agree with you @Charliede1182 It's always better to stretch to a house than buy a flat. With a leasehold flat (like most of them are) you never own the property, even if you pay off your mortgage. And flats usually don't appreciate in value as much as houses, proportionately.

But if you didn't have the deposit, then how much cheaper it was overall is irrelevant. It is like you're being obtuse on purpose.

Multibuys are cheaper, but if you literally don't have the money to buy the larger quantity, you're not buying it regardless of the savings. It is expensive being poor.

People have lived paycheck to paycheck, choosing which bill to pay for decades. It's not a new thing.

It's not now though is it?!!!

How old are you?
When did you buy?
How much did your house cost and what was your income at the time?

We are 55 and just bought our first property in December. I can assure you, a mortgage is twice the price of renting and we have gone from detached with a large garden to semi detached with a smaller garden. Surely you can work out for yourself people have different lives to you?

I would never buy another flat because there are too many problems with neighbours, communal areas, repairs etc. Don't even get me started on the cladding issues and service charges that go up quicker than the price of gas, often for questionable expenses, all of which have 20% VAT. These can end up higher than your mortgage and you just dread the envelopes appearing, which you were told would only be quarterly. People are absolute prisoners, stuck, broke and miserable.

I own my house, but if I couldn't afford an individual house I would much rather rent a flat than buy one. I have urged my children not to buy flats because of all these pitfalls, and to just rent unless and until they can buy an house, with no service charges or leaseholds etc.

Yes, banks lent money to people who couldn’t really afford it, and then they ended up losing their homes during the 2008 financial crash. Are you really that ignorant?

You're right, but some of those areas in those regions where the houses are dirt cheap are shit holes. Also, deposits of under £10k are usually restricted to those people in their 20s and 30s.

People in the UK are weird about owning a house I wonder what the obsession is about it. It's not all that OP.