AIBU to be upset about renting?

[desperatehousehunter]

I've always rented. It's not that I don't love my house (and the previous places I've rented), and there are lots of positives to renting that I really appreciate, it's just that I'm getting bummed out about the fact it's not mine.

If we want to decorate we have to seek permission or change it back before we leave. If we want a pet it's up to the landlord. The standard tenancy seems to be 6months-1year so we constantly feel like there's a chance we'd have to leave our home (not to mention each time the tenancy is renewed we have to pay a £60 admin fee and the rent usually goes up).

I know that the solution to this problem is to buy a place - but that's easier said than done! I've got a good job and it's not that I couldn't afford a mortgage (in fact after meeting with the bank I've discovered that my mortgage repayments would be about 2/3 the amount I'm spending on rent, so I'd be better off to buy somewhere) it's the deposit that's the problem. I've been saving for 4 years and so far I don't have enough for a deposit and fees. The bank suggested I borrow money from my family, but it's just me and my siblings and they're saving for a house of their own too.

Should I just suck it up and accept that renting is the new normal? Or do I have a right to be feeling down about how difficult it is to buy a house?

Any advice? WWYD?

Cunture yup you're right. Also the money I would gain in rent minus mortgage + continuing to pay my own rent would only shorten the time spent saving by a small amount. It's a really long term play and not something I'd like to do.

I looked into buying a property to do up years ago but couldn't bring myself to do it. We eventually found one that just needed modernising (not renovating) but an identical property up the road also came on the market that had been modernised to our taste so we cheated and bought that one! We eventually bought a property to do up....once married with 3 young children so not great timing at all. It's taking a huge amount of time just to make decisions on what work to have done and then external structural things are using up all our money (roof, gutters, drains, overgrown hedge) so it will take years to save enough to do internal things like new kitchen/bathroom.

Also, what are all your opinions of buying a really run down house and slowly doing it up?

I know people who did that pre-DC - took five year interest only mortgage and used spare cash to do place up that was in a real state barely liveable. Was lovely but they had the time and money. Fantastic house really worked for them and their later DC.

Other friend did that post DC - similar property got stuck in load of debt - house lovely but really impacted on everything else in their lives.

We bought a house needing updating but not too bad - cost more than we thought in the end. Windows, wiring, heating - all needed doing sooner than we thought and weren't picked up in building survey all cost more than we were initially told, had problems getting suitable people in to do work. We've done it over years - so debt hasn't been an issue really - but it has been hard disruption with DC and having to live with stuff till we can afford. If we were long term as our initial plan had been - it would definitely all be worth it as we have to move on sooner for work - it's not so clear cut as we do have to move.

Other friends have taken on similar houses needing updating and have had fewer issues.

It's an option - would be work but you'd need to be realistic about what you can handle and realistic about what you can afford to take on.

No, YANBU. Am in my forties and will never be able to buy.

I know there are, undoubtedly, advantages to renting in that, eg I've just had a new boiler put in that hasn't cost me a penny, and that if I needed to move quickly I could do so and with relative ease, but... the uncertainty, the lack of autonomy, the feeling that it's never quite your 'home' (and I've lived in my current place for over 5 years now), not even being able to paint the walls or have plants on the balcony...it gets to you after a while.

Renting was great when I was a twenty something with no responsibilities and could pack everything I owned into a couple of boxes - now with a family, kids settled in schools, roots in an area, it seems less like fun and more like being a second-class citizen.

Mrs - yes, unless you were happy committing fraud and potentially invalidating any insurances you have on the building etc

A lot of similar suggestions come up on similar threads. Really though, what the OP always wants to do is just buy a home for them and their family. Not make risky investments and whatnot.

Cunture forgive my ignorance. What happens then if one's circumstances change? What if for eg. I bought a house to live in and then got divorced or my husband died...and I couldn't afford to pay the mortgage...would I not be allowed to move in with my parents for eg and rent the property out?

I do sympathise, we're in a similar situation, two kids and have been renting for the last 6 years but slightly different in that we have a house that's too small for us in slowly reducing negative equity that we rent out, we're saving hard to buy the house we live in now as we absolutely love it and 5 moves in 6 years have left me tearing my hair out and many tears have been shed.

MrsW - you'd have to get permission from your mortgage company/tell them etc is my understanding. I imagine the terms and conditions will differ by company but there should be details in your mortgage T&Cs

Seattle but it's all in the eyes of the person living in the situation isn't it?

I rent a housing association flat...it is TINY with 2 bedrooms and FAR too small for us but haven't the luxury of being anything but grateful to have it.

Cunture but they couldn't actually refuse could they? I mean they could ask that you change your insurance and things....but it's your property isn't it...to do with as you see fit?

Mrs - your issue is really neither here nor there is it? That's not what's happening. If situation occurred I'm sure there would be ways around it, but that would be a story for a different day, in a different thread, in a different forum.

Desperate who made you thread police? I can ask what I want when it's in relation to advice given here. It's not "my situation" anyway...it was an imaginary one I put forward in order that I could better understand the rules.

It is her thread though...

Anyway OP, hope you get things sorted. It would be nice to think that the next govt will give a toss about renters and at least make things more secure for us but, I'm not holding my breath...

So what!? Threads meander...and I sympathised with her situation....it's not as though I was attacking her ffs.

I used to own a house with my ex DP which we sold when we split up. Since then I have been living in rented properties for the past 10 years. And you know what? Renting is so much better.

For one thing, it works out a lot cheaper per month, if anything breaks the landlord comes round and fixes it and if I get bored and want to move I can without too much hassle.

I don't think I would ever go back to owning my own home.

to whichever one of the anti-landlord brigade it was: it is generally noticeable that when someone mentions landlord trouble, the landlords on here are disgusted with the behaviour of the landlord concerned and offer sympathetic solutions and information on tenant rights. The anti-landlord lot immediately start circling with 'all landlords are bastards' and 'tenants have no rights' (not true although why spoil the fun?) at any excuse. So I think the term 'harpies' is quite justified, although I can be rude if you like.

yes, I own a property that I rent out. Sorry. I did work to buy it. Sorry. Should give it away, I know, according to some on here who disapprove of making money out of property - but are silent on bankers who make money from mortgages. (which isn't a crime either)

to someone else: renting is not always more expensive than a mortgage, although it may be at the moment with interest rates so low. I had tenants paying about half in rent what it would have cost for the mortgage on the place - that was the market rent for the place at the time. When rates go up this may change.

I think I'll start calling landlords on MN "The Anti Tenant Lot" or the "Leeching Vampires" or something....might as well tar them all with the same brush eh Special

special I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. Although I think you'll notice that no one in this particular thread is bashing LLs in any way. I think you'll also find that no one in this particular thread feels negatively towards you having brought and let out a property.

"Cunture: but they couldn't actually refuse (to give Consent To Let) could they? I mean they could ask that you change your insurance and things....but it's your property isn't it...to do with as you see fit?"

Lenders can and do decline to give Consent To Let. Some insist that you pay them an annual fee or raise the interest-rate. It's not "your property" until you'd paid off the mortgage in full. Until then, it's theirs pretty much.

The principal is that the borrower requested the loan in order to live in the property, that's why it's called a "residential mortgage". Residential mortgage-lenders don't release funds for the borrower to use it as funds for a business. Which is what letting the property would be, a business.

Not requesting Consent-to-Let is breaking the agreement with the lender and anyone who does this risks being foreclosed on. Not a risk I'd be taking.

Lenders and HMRC are looking very closely at borrowers who don't live in the properties they have raised a residential mortgage on these days. It would be pretty hard to let "under the radar" for long without it being discovered.

Still, that's not the discussion the OP is interested in having. In their place I would rent a studio-flat and stash the difference away for a deposit. It might take a couple of years, but a "few hundred" a month would translate into several thousands in that time. A sacrifice definitely worth making, in my opinion.

Well that's enlightening thank you Bitter I agree about the renting a studio too.

Lenders and HMRC are looking very closely at borrowers who don't live in the properties they have raised a residential mortgage on these days. It would be pretty hard to let "under the radar" for long without it being discovered.

How do they find out? I know of a 3 couples who are doing this. They seem to think the odds of being found out are low.

Op - if you and your siblings are all saving for a deposit, could you perhaps pool your savings to get one of you a deposit. They can then use their reduced mortgage to pay back much faster than they would have saved (at a higher level of interest than in a bank) and the money used for the next sibling and so on.

Obviously it depends on the relationship with your siblings!

We brits have a fascination for house buying

its over rated.

I own and rent,

I own a place in one city I cannot sell (even with a 30% off the purchase price 10 years later) and I rent in another city - perfect job came up when I was unemployed!

I wish I had never bought.

I never will again

Glasgow it's not overrated. The problem is the renters have no security here...in other parts of the world you can rent one property for pretty much most of your life if you want to.

I would be happy to rent all my life if it meant that I was guaranteed the right to stop there as long as I paid the rent and looked after the property.

Heck...give me a long enough tenancy and I'll undertake ALL repair costs and maintenance. I don't think owning is a right or anything...and I don't think landlords should supply everything...I just want to know my home is secure.

special, what are you on about? No one on this thread has said anything remotely anti-landlord. In fact most of us have pointed out the benefits of renting.

Ironically, in between my last post and this, the agency which manages the flat I live in rang to tell me that the LL has decided to increase the rent from August onwards. I did not 'shriek' about it, far from it. It's a lot of money but it's still a reasonable deal given the market and I'm thankful that he'd rather have a reliable long term tenant at a lower rent than take his chances with higher rents and new tenants. That doesn't mean I have to like renting per se, though.

Oh, and FYI. I work for everything I own, too. Your point is?