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?

Degust us too! DH is Aussie and we will also have support and somewhere to live at low cost. We want to build too! What part of Oz are you going to? We're off to SA.

Totally agree on the powerless thing as well, It's not knowing how long you can stay for, owning pets, having kids, worried about wear and tear and what's "reasonable", not being able to hang pictures unless you use copious amounts of command hooks, not being able to put up shelves, being at the mercy of the LA and LL when things go wrong (as in, if they decide not to fix it for a week you're fucked), etc.

Hi, MrsWinnibago

I'm Australian, DH is British - we'll be moving to Victoria as my parents' farm is near the Grampians (hopefully we'll build in Ballarat, so if I have to, I can commute to Melbourne) You'll love SA, though like most parts of Oz the summers can be brutal! (which the beach more than makes up for

When you worry about how much of your deposit the landlord will keep when you leave the tenancy, imagine how much money you would need to pay every year to maintain an owned property, and then how much you might have to shell out if something went really wrong. Plus the huge cost of selling and buying if you need to relocate, with all the stress, plus the cost of renting during the year or two it might take you to sell your house. Plus how much money you will lose if property prices in your area go down, or they build a supermarket next door, or your area becomes a new flood zone.
We've had huge problems with owning property. In comparison, renting gives you a wonderful sense of freedom and a knowledge that nothing really bad can happen.

Degust I lived out there with DH when we first had DD1....so newborn baby and summer in SA was a bit of a shock! they are a bit much but I feel relieved that we've come to the decision now. Are you excited to go home again? I know DH is after so long in England.

Hedgehogsrule

Yes but the property is yours, and when (if!) you retire, you won't have to find the money to pay the rent. I shudder to think of the problems many countries are going to be facing with homelessness in years to come...

Definitely, MrsWinnibago

I've been so homesick, especially since having children - I do love it here, but I now have a far greater understanding of why my ancestors left (though to be fair one didn't have a choice in the matter

hedgehog But you own the property. That's a risk you take for renting it out, however renters don't have a choice but to rent and have all sorts of rules and regulations forced on them.

Pixie - I'm not saying that there are no problems with renting - of course there are. I'm saying that having owned properties (and lived in them, not rented them out) I've has some hellish experiences, and I much prefer the freedom of renting.

Landlords been
Was perfectly pleasant. Asked if we were happy to stay. Is happy for us to decorate in neutral colours.
Yet after he had gone I had a good cry from relief.

We've owned before so can compare. I would much rather own again.

Just saw the place I've moved out of advertised for rent, online. A lick of paint & they've jacked the rent up by one third... Greedy bastards! New owners, investment company. Landlord didn't set foot in the door in the 3 years we were there. Went past today & had a gander. Looks all shiny, but place needs more than a fancy new sofa. Serious damp etc... Looks like we got out just in time.

I feel the same about renting holiday cottages. I would much rather own a holiday home somewhere and be able to visit whenever I want. Not sure when or if we. Will be able to afford it. I would want to be mortgage free on our main home first though. Hang On in there, save as much as you cam for a deposit.

am one of the "baby boomers" - we had just as much trouble getting together a deposit.

We are mortgage free now, but at the start of our buying, we had to buy a run down grotty flat above a chip shop to get on the ladder because we didn't earn much, and a 10% deposit was required - our other option was buying and sharing with friends (which we didn't fancy, but many others did). The no need for deposit stuff was after we baby boomer generation had bought.

trouble is people get used to renting a "home" for their family. We bought a roof over our heads - not a home - with the view to upgrading ASAP.

It was unrealistic to think you could buy a 2-3 bed as a first buy then- it is still unrealistic now.

Please don't let this descend into another "boomers vs. Gen Y" debate...
There are too many younger people, that no matter how hard they save, how many iPads they eschew, they'll never even get close to a deposit. They may also likely have enormous student loan debt.

Just because it might have been hard for previous generations, doesn't make the current situation right

I've also enjoyed living in difference places and types of houses through renting. If you've ever been stuck somewhere you desperately need to leave, due to the housing market or a problem with your house, you'll understand the joy of knowing that all you need to do if you need to relocate is give one month's notice. And why would you want to own a holiday home, with all the hassle of maintaining it, when you can go somewhere different every year and let the owner deal with maintenance.

Although baby boomers needed a 10% deposit there were a few differences;

1. House prices were 3 x the husband's salary only but a lot of couples would have had 2 salaries to save with until children came along
2. Rents were significantly cheaper than mortgages and very affordable - much easier to save. My Dad mentions 10 a month when bringing home hundreds per month.
3. More likely to stay at home until you got married. Wedding lists set you up in your new home.

It has never been easy but at the moment, a 10% deposit is a huge amount of money. It's not a case of just going without holidays for a couple of years. Once you've paid rent, even on a small flat there isn't much leftover. The cost of living here is so astronomical that just paying for food and bills can take up the rest of your income.

wasn't implying that in the above post - just that people rent a home that is of the size they actually want to live in, then when they look at the possibility of buying they say "we can't afford to".

they often can, in most areas but not of the same size that they are used to as a home.

not London or parts of the south east or pockets of other areas, I KNOW

Ouch. The very mention of owning holiday homes is painful to someone who lives in Cornwall. The damage that has been wrought on seaside communities by people from upcountry buying holiday homes, thus pushing property prices up to levels that few locals can afford, then leaving them empty for 11 months of the year, is immense. Why not rent holiday cottages - you get to go somewhere different whenever you want- or even get a naice caravan? Pretty please!

It also means you won't be getting phone calls about storm damage at 3am on a February morning when you're tucked up in bed 300 miles away and the train lines are down .

But what I came on the thread to say was.....I'm having some issues about DS's future primary school at the moment. I was chatting to a couple of friends about it the other day, and said "Oh well, if the worst comes to the worst we'll just move villages". "Move"? they said. "Just like that"? . Well, yes. I rent, you see. And they don't. So they'd have to put their house on the market, wonder if it would sell, etc.etc....I'd just have to give a month's notice. It's not all bad .