To ask who chooses to pay rent rather than buy?

[fluffiphlox]

I am laid up at the moment and resorting to watching Homes under the Hammer etc. My query is who the dickens is choosing to pay £500 plus per month (some rentals are £1200+). Isn't this more than a mortgage? I'd be interested to know who renters are and why? Most of the properties are family homes rather than student lets etc so why would a 'grown up' choose to give their money to a landlord rather than service a mortgage?

I was an accidental landlord last year. I susidised my tenant to the tune of 150 quid/ month on the mortgage. I also paid the service charge for the building 1400 / year and would have covered any repair bills (fortunately nothing broke).

The rental yields on 2 bed flats in this city are ridiculously low. The only landlords who make money are the ones who owned the properties pre 2001. Consequently lots of people rent as they can't afford to buy the flat that they very comfortably afford to rent.

My youngest sibling is locked out of the property market here yet has a professional job and my parents are prepared to give her the same help they gave me and my brother. However the housing market has moved on a huge amount in 5 years and she is totally priced out.

I grew up here and I have friends (with good jobs) who live in areas that as teenagers we would never have considered. Some of that admittedly is due to areas coming up, but a lot of it is due to dumbing down of aspirations. Admittedly a lot of our parents are still living in big family houses in prime school catchment area locations and have no intentions of moving so they aren't exactly helping the situation!

I'm not a researcher but an injured woman, with too much time on her hands, staggered by the rents asked for modest houses. I know very few young people so wasn't aware at first hand of the 40% deposits.
I do watch the news, but it's informative to know how the high level stuff translates to real people's daily lives. There are four or five estate agents where I live and have been for years. I don't notice them going out of business. So the contradictions seem baffling to me. And yes, I know people who have had their house on the market for a long time and I assume that they've got it on for too much. Anything is only worth what someone is willing to pay, after all.

Just thinking aloud really, didn't expect the sarcasm from me or two posters.
I'm not sure what responce you were expecting from people who rent and cannot get on the property ladder, or want to for various reasons when you ask a judgy and quite offensive question like why would a 'grown up' choose to give their money to a landlord rather than service a mortgage? and appear to be implying that if they were a proper adult with a job (not a student) they wouldn't need to rent.

A bit of sarcasm is IMO alot better than the tirade that threatened to come out of my mouth. which most likely would have broken MN rules

I wish I still rented. I bought a lovely family home with great neighbours. I now have a heroin addict at one side and the loudest, shoutiest family in the world at the other. If I was a tenant I would be out of here so damn quick.

Unfortunately I'll have to put up with it as I won't be able to get another mortgage on a temp contract, assuming I was even able to sell the bloody place. A

@fluffiplox estate agents now charge people who are renting (and their landlords) v large fees. We paid £400 in London for ours. And they do sweet f a work. Just print out some forms and chase money.

YABU to ask, isn't it obvious?

We rent because we have no choice. Both our credit ratings are shot to shit so even if we could get a mortgage, we'd have to put down a big percentage as a deposit and funnily enough, haven't got tens of thousands of pounds just lying around. We live hand to mouth so it simply isn't an option.

I don't mind renting though. Because we're living hand to mouth, it's perfect for us. Complete peace of mind that if anything goes wrong with or in the property, it's not our responsibility to sort it out. We're not tied down either and could move relatively easily.

But have you looked at the rental yield.... I paid in excess of 2K/ month last year in London to rent a flat.

The yield was still v. low and less than most landlords mortgage interest rates. Capital growth is also poor at the moment.

The housing market is very depressed in areas of the country I have friend with nice well priced houses who are waiting a very long time for buyers.

I wish posters were allowed to just ask questions, and get them answered nicely.
No one knows everything about everything.

Because we enjoy the flexibility of renting. We live in NYC and renting is much more commonplace across all income levels. I love the idea that we can move to another apartment/city on a whim.

We owned an apartment a couple of years ago and it took over a year to sell during the initial financial crisis. For now, we have zero interest in buying another place.

Seriously? There are loads of reasons for renting. Some through choice and some imposed upon you.

Want flexibility of where you live.
Don't want to buy just yet with current partner.
Don't want to have the hassle of buying somewhere and maintaining.
Can't find anything you actually want to buy.
Already own a house elsewhere you can't sell.
Can't save a deposit big enough.
Can't get a mortgage big enough.

I rent out a house I own up north and am living in london.
DP and I are renting a flat which is much nicer and in a much more central area than we could afford to buy. There is no way we'd get a half a million mortgage ( one bed flat!) but we can afford the rent just fine.

Not everyone is ready to move to the burbs in zone three and settle down in nappy valley!

Thanks to all. Most useful. Signing off for today. Hobbling off to kitchen for lunch.

Oh, and I wouldn't want to buy our flat as a one bed wouldn't be suitable long term. But I'm absolutely loving liviing in it at the moment ( and loving the lack of hassle of renting). Dishwasher broke, not out financial problem. New heating system installed? Aside from the inconvenience not our problem!

i wish posters were allowed to just ask questions, and get them answered nicely. I agree, but in asking in phrasing the question in a way that can be construed as offensive, (like inplying adults who rent are not grown-up for example) doesn't tend to be followed by "nice" answers.

know people who have had their house on the market for a long time and I assume that they've got it on for too much. Anything is only worth what someone is willing to pay, after all

Yes but it?s not always greed.

We need to cover the mortgage we took out but also the deposit for the next place or at least most of it.

House prices have dropped massively and we will make a massive loss on this property and the money we've done on upkeep won't reflect in the price- and I'm prepared for that though it hard to think that you've paid a repayment mortgage for over five years and may well come out with less for the next deposit than we started with.

For us as we pay rent and travel for DH to work away it may well be worth it but for the couple down the road trying to buy same number of bed roomed house but with more downstairs space for their DC then it's not and they might as well keep waiting to see if anyone comes along with an offer they can accept.

Basically there comes a point you can't sell beneath and you just have to hang on. If you can?t then that is very different.

I'd have happily rented long term - we'd done it for ten years but we have had to move at short notice and have never been able to get longer contract than 6 months. Once DC hit school age we wanted stability for them not having to move every 6 months or 12 which was our prior experience.

Is this serious?

A lot of the time, there's no choice involved!

I think you've had your answers - it's simply out of some people's reach.

We are currently in the process of exchanging on our first home, we've managed to get a 95% mortgage but it worked out cheaper to buy our own place this time around. We need a better garden and a bigger kitchen and around here that meant we would have had a jump of around 20% on our current rent. Without my GP's help though, it just wouldn't have been an option for us and we've had to cash in a few bits and pieces to cover all the fees and surveys.

It may or may not be a smart move but in our family, it's not the 'done thing' to not own your own home and in all honesty, in the absence of a pension at the moment I don't know what else we can do to secure something for the future.

"I'd like to see a complete change in attitude about renting and suspect we are moving towards it."

i agree, but for that to happen, renting needs to be more secure for tenants and not as risky for LLs as it currently is.

2/3 of my wages go straight to my landlord. I'd have trouble saving enough deposit for a tent, let alone a house.

We had to sell our house nearly 3 years ago - took a bit of a hit with the selling price, but needed to pump money into our business after one of the Directors took out loans and then did a runner!

We were not prepared to lose the business, so sold the house to cover the debts.

Now we are stuck renting - its really expensive in our area. We pay £1100 per month, which is about the same as our mortgage was.

I do not see a way out in the near future - I hate renting.

"We need to cover the mortgage we took out but also the deposit for the next place or at least most of it."

That is a bit greedy actually. You obviously feel that SOMEONE else needs to cough up for your lifestyle choices by buying your overpriced house. It's quite entitled if you ask me.

We rent out our flat in the past to.

a) People testing out a new relationship and not wanting the commitment of a mortage.

b) Divorees getting their life back together before buying a new property.

c) Immigrants who have a temporary visa.

d) People on tempoary contracts

Aside from all the reasons already mentioned some people just have no desire to 'own' a property. I really don't get spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a tiny bit land with a brick building on it. If someone gave me £200,000 tomorrow i wouldn't want to throw it all at bricks and mortar, i'd rather carry on renting and be able to afford nice holidays/trips/experiences for the next 20 years.
Property is no longer considered a 'safe' investment. I know many people who are stuck with massive mortgages on houses that have depreciated greatly in value.
The positives of renting outweigh the negatives for me. In the last year i've had a new boiler, new fire and a new washing machine at no extra cost to myself. I am soon getting new windows too, none of which i could afford if i owned the property.
Oh and i'm a 'grown up' with a business and everything.

Our next door neighbours rent. Both have been through acrimonious divorces. They rent because "if you don't own it, no one can take it away".

Gotta say that given the choice I would never rent again. I had a great landlord in my old city, but since moving to London renting's been a real pain (endless unannounced visits, keeping of deposits, landlord's mates kipping on your sofa without asking permission ...). So I'm with you, OP, if your question is more "Why would you rent IF you had any choice?"