To ok with being a renter

[Alicepigeons]

So I’m getting a bit tired of peoples attitudes towards my housing situation. I’m a single mum, 40. 1dc.

I live in a fairly pricey part of the Uk. It’s my hometown and my life is here. I rent a small 2 bed house and have always rented! I’ve accepted that I’m unlikely to get on the property ladder unless I have a windfall!

i’m ok with this, however people sometimes treat me as though I’ve failed in some way!!

is anyone else renting and feeling ok with it?

I feel fine renting.

I have a council house and I LOVE it.

A lot of people seem to believe that I should be on the bones of my arse, living on benefits, and certainly unable to afford to redecorate once in a while.

With so many things in life, it’s other people’s attitudes that are the problem.

The UK is very biased towards home ownership being a life goal. It is not the same in other countries. If you are happy, shrug and move on.

I felt okay with renting. Landlady was great and I would never be able to afford to live in the area if I had to buy. However I became increasingly concerned with what would happen in the future if I had to continue to pay rising rent + living costs when I was old. I also calculated how much money I had spent on rent in the past 10 years and it was utterly staggering. I doubled down on saving for a deposit and moved to a cheap area to afford a flat. No regrets.

I think we’re in quite an unusual position with regards to renting.
When my dh and I first got together 20 years ago moved in together pretty quick because my dh needed to find a new place and it made sense for me to move in with him. The plan was to rent then buy, but I fell pregnant and we couldn’t afford to buy in the area we wanted to live in.
After that, we got stuck in this loop of not being. able to save a deposit and rent at the same time. Then we had some debt issues- all sorted now.
Now, we’re quite a high earning family, but that’s been a reasonably recent development due to my dh’s really good promotions. So now, we could afford it, but we’re too old!!
We now rent a large house in a desirable area and we as secure as we can be renting. I’ve accepted we won’t ever own, and it has its advantages.

We've rented for the last 17 years. We're the only one of our friends who rent. This used to really bother me and I used to desperately want to save to buy our own house. It's just not been possible financially and I've now come to terms with it. We've lived in 2 different rental properties during this time. Both landlords have been great and both charged very reasonable rents so that has definitely helped. The house we live in now we have spent a lot of time decorating and choosing furniture to do we can to make it feel like ours. We also live in a nice area where house prices are high and would be impossible for us to buy here so knowing that helps. Also not being liable for any costs of repairs/ not having to worry about falling house prices/ mortgage rates and other unplanned for costs that can come with owning a property. Also for the future, renting is quicker and easier to move if we ever need to. One of our friends brought a house last year and although it sold quickly it was 8 months before they could actually move in because of various issues in the chain. All that stress and waiting would do my head in!!

No. I am terribly worried about renting.

I was a home owner. Ex sold the house - I really wasn't keen to sell but he insisted we had to - and has spaffed all the money away.

I'm worried what happens when I get old and don't work anymore.