Do you want to own your own home?

[Itsgoingtobeokay]

Saw a thread about becoming a landlord and someone had said to leave houses for people who want to buy them, someone else said some people dont want to buy and it got me thinking

Do most people want to own their own home?

3 of my siblings do. Its somthing that is really important to them. I've been renting since I was 21, have lived in several different areas in several houses and I love it. I love being able to move whenever i want, get a change of scenery, change of household layout ect,

Been in this house for 2 years and I'm so bored of the kitchen and the front room. I cant wait to move again 😂

My parents all own their own homes and love it.

It's just not somthing I'd want to do, being stuck, the cost, the insurance ect.

What about you? Are you happy renting forever or do you want to own your own property one day?

we own outright. even if you own you really can move when you feel bored...just takes a little longer with selling and buying.

You can move if you own a house, extend, change etc I could rip out my kitchen tomorrow if I wished (I don’t, it’s very nice) but owning my house doesn’t stop me doing things to it.

There's less of a compulsion to be a homeowner in places like Germany or Switzerland where people have secure long-term tenancies, but there's no feeling of security renting in the UK.

Can't afford to buy and all I want to have is my own home. Nothing grand just a modest home that nobody can ask me to leave and I had some more security in retirement.

Atm it looks as if we will be renting for the whole of our lives and goodness knows what will happen to us when we need to retire. We probably won't ever be able to retire.
I would do anything I could to help my children buy their own home and if that means they live with me paying no rent while they save then so be it.

We rented for a decade and then bought our first home, a 1-bed garden flat in London, facilitated by an inheritance from DH's lovely granny.

Knowing the rental market well, we could immediately see that our mortgage payments were less than half what the rental cost would be of a comparable property - plus we were building up equity in our home each month. Double win!

Then DH's mum downsized and DH got a lump sum from that transaction. We bought a 3-bed house with bigger garden in the middle of nowhere where we now live, and rented out the London flat.

This year at the flat the boiler died (£2K to replace) we upgraded 2 large radiators (£900) and a few other minor costs came up which we had to cover as LLs.

But the tenants are paying us £1800 per month, so those costs are easily covered.

Our fixed term mortgage deals will come to an end in the next 2 years so we will make a decision then as to whether we sell the flat (if the post-Trussonomics rates are still sky high) or keep renting it out.

But for us there's no doubt that the luck we've had, to be able to buy thanks to inheritances and the bank of DH's mum, has benefitted us to the tune of maybe £100,000 over the past decade - in the savings of mortgage payments compared to renting, the rental income, and the increase in equity.

Even if I was earning the kind of salary that made that huge gain negligible (and I'm not) I STILL would prefer the feeling of security I get from ownership; no can ask me to leave/decide to sell/arbitrarily raise my rent. It's a lovely feeling.

But each to their own!

We’re first time home owners in Scotland as of earlier this year. Prior to that, we rented three houses and we were extremely lucky to have good landlords on every occasion.
I’ll be totally honest: we would never have been able to buy without being gifted money from parents. All of our cash was quickly slurped up by the “offers over” bidding system, and we now have a mortgage for the next 15ish years, depending on the payments we make.
Not going to lie, I’m worried about any repair costs, especially as it’s a listed house, but I feel very lucky we had the opportunity to buy.

I've never rented so can't comment. It was just expected that I would own a house. Bought my first at 20, moved twice after that then the fourth move 5yrs ago saw me mortgage free at 46.

I've absolutely no idea how I would cope financially now if I had to pay rent or a mortgage. I'm glad I have the equity in my property to pay for nursing home fees (if I'm lucky enough to live that long!) or to leave to my DC. My DC, 24 and 23, are also home owners, not renters. No help or inheritance (nor did I get any), just hard work and saving for the deposit.

The state will pay Housing Benefit - it is exactly what it does now.

If you think the state will not be able to do that then we would no longer have a civil society. In that event good luck to any landlords because you may no longer own the property and land you hold now unless you are capable of operating a fiefdom in a society like some African countries, Latin America and Russia.

We do on one hand. But only for the security factor, which we don’t have to worry about too much because we are lucky enough to rent through a housing association

We have a HA rental now (small terraced newbuild). If we were to buy the equivalent we’d lose £700 which is almost all of our disposable income per month making up the difference between our cheap rent as it is now and the mortgage repayments (very high cos of interest rates).

Maybe buying it would leave us better off in retirement but it would leave us thoroughly skint and fed up, with pretty much zero disposable income at a time in our lives when we will be soon dealing with reduced income through maternity leave and paying out for expensive childcare.

This house won’t be big enough for a growing family unless we stick at one child and even then it’ll be a squeeze, so we’ll have to see really. I like the peace of mind that comes along with, if the sink is blocked or the drain pipe falls off then someone will come and fix it and I won’t pay another penny. It’s swings and roundabouts really.

The people I know who don't want to own are the ones that can't. They know they will never own their own home and so pretend they hate the idea.

@Ladyoftheknight Yes exactly. I think if you asked people if they want to own their own home, without all of the barriers that are put in the way, a lot more people would say yes.

It's only the way society is that prevents people even aspiring to it. I think most people wouldn't want someone else to own their home, if we lived in a society where it was feasible for people to have enough money/ resources to pay their own way.

I own my home jointly with my fiancé and couldn’t imagine not to be honest. Renting doesn’t appeal to me at all - the security side of it of a landlord just deciding they want to sell and uprooting your life or putting your rent up and having to find somewhere else and it all being totally out of your control.

Where I live in East of England there’s a massive shortage of suitable rental properties and prices are extortionate.

I'm about to complete on my house purchase and I feel quite sick about it. The buck stops with me now if something breaks. However, renting has become untenable. Where I am now I pay enough but if I had to move I wouldn't be able to afford rent at all.
I wouldn't mind if I had a HA property. I'd be quite well off not paying inflated rent.

We rented for years and it never bothered me, like you say the ability to move quickly is good. But I am happy now we own, it feels like at least some of our monthly payment is chipping away at the mortgage. And I like DIY and gardening so better for that!

I know people say it’s positive that if renting the HA or landlord will fix leaks etc. but that feels almost childlike to me. I want to be responsible for my own home, choose who fixes things and what quality boiler to have. I don’t want these things decided for me, like I’m not a grown adult.

Depends doesn’t it. We don’t hear from the HA ever. We can just contact them if we need something and they’ll send someone, then I don’t have to pay.

Maybe it’s childlike but I’m saving money and not going to have to pay anything unexpected out

If you don't own your home, how will you pay rent in your 60s/70s/80s?

This is a genuine question, I'd love if someone could answer

I've rented my whole life up until this year, I'm glad in the current market I now own as others who are renting are reporting that evictions are happening quickly, without reason and there are very few properties to move into. I'm not in London but even in this small town people are bidding to rent and having to pay several hundreds of pounds a month over asking to secure it. If you need UC to top up your rent forget it, you can't live in this town.

My home is an ex rental and the landlords had done no work on it in the 10+ years they'd owned and leased it out, this isn't uncommon and is certainly my experience of being a tenant. It's meant I've had to sink a significant amount of money into the property to make it habitable. It also means 2 properties are now out of the rental market - the one I own and the one I left as my old landlord has sold up too.

It's horrible for owners and tenants at the moment but I'd far rather have the security of ownership over renting.

I won’t retire until I’m 70 anyway probably.

We are planning to own at some point but if we didn’t we’d make it work. Government could introduce anything by then. We might move countries, DH might get promoted, we might win the lottery, or inherit, or not be around ourselves at that age. There’s no way of knowing is there and if buying means my best adult years are spent scrimping and worrying about being skint and how I’ll pay the next bill, I’d rather not! None of it matters in the end :)

I was thinking about this earlier today.

I own my house and guess I want to BUT it really is a pita and I much more enjoyed where I lived when I rented. I bought because I felt it was the right thing to do: a bit more security, particularly after I retire. The rental market now seems crazy and I know I will appreciate the chance to downsize when I get older, release some equity and live rent and mortgage free. I understand I have to do this now to get that ben0feit later.

But it's no fun. It's a newish house in good condition but something always needs doing and paying for and it constantly feels like an anchor holding me in position (down).

So I understand why people may prefer to rent - especially in secure rentals such as HA.

Most people I know would like to buy but for many it is not possible. Those who private rent feel more inclined to buy, whilst those with long term social rents less so.
The major barrier is saving for the deposit with no help, especially those who become single later in life.
I think this will become more of an issue as the population ages, along with funding elderly care.

How are you going to pay your rent when in old age?
My sister has rented since her 20’s. It seemed a good idea then, now at 50 she is starting to fret about paying her rent in old age.
I used to work in an office and the cleaner was 80. She had many health issues but told me she had to work to pay her rent. That’s so sad, the poor lady was permanently exhausted.

Our friends had that attitude and spent all their savings on a world trip. They are now late 60’s in poor health and financially struggling.
Older age comes to you quicker than you think. No point burying your head in the sand over it.

Yes, it offers us some financial security and it will one day form the main part of our children’s inheritance.

If you have a good pension in place, that will cover it. If you don't you either have to keep working or benefits

You just redecorate if you own your home!