Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I only sumg homeowners say this

80 replies

99pokerface · 03/04/2015 10:40

Listening to a thing about housing last nite and the pundit Kept saying well in Europe they rent and I would much rather rent than be a home ower

Did a little googling on said pundit and he lives in very smart part of town and recently I been hearing this a lot but it's bull shit said by only people who are not currently renting I have rented now finally have my own home and I would much rather own

We can decorate how we like we not paranoid about be homeless any moment And at the whim of the coucil if we want a reapair done we ring a guy pay and it gets done not sitting with no heating for 6 weeks while we wait for the coucil to sort their shit out I hated renting and I had a fairly secure tenancy can't imagin how sit it must be renting on the open market

So I think the pundit was a nob and only wankey homeowners say things like this

OP posts:
ArtDecoGirly · 03/04/2015 10:44

Sorry, but I only opened this to see what the title meant... Grin

Original poster
99pokerface · 03/04/2015 10:47

Lol

OP posts:
JuliaDream · 03/04/2015 10:48

I think it would be a good idea if the UK had more secure long term lets.

Owning your own home is out of reach for so many people.

LittleBairn · 03/04/2015 10:49

It's a stupid thing to say, if they would rather rent then bloody rent!

Meechimoo · 03/04/2015 10:49

I agree. Many years ago we were really struggling to get on the housing ladder and a couple of friends, who were already on the ladder, came out with comments like
"renting is easier than buying, it's more convenient" and tried to encourage us to continue renting. Thank fuck we didn't listen. House prices went through the roof not long after we got our mortgage and we wouldn't be able to afford the house we currently live in. I hated renting. Hated landlords. Hated uncertainty. Why would I want to do something because they do it in Europe? They do lots of things in Europe which I wouldn't want to do!

Original poster
99pokerface · 03/04/2015 10:52

The thing is which pisses me off the renting system is Europe is very diffrent long term rents renters have very definite rights and your allowed to decotare ECt

The renting here is like the Wild West often you can be paying more in rent than having a morgage were as in Europe they have intrest only mortgages which is pretty much renting but with all the burden

OP posts:
JuliaDream · 03/04/2015 10:52

Some people have no choice but to rent. 'I'm alright Jack' in your owned home doesn't help them.

dangerrabbit · 03/04/2015 10:53

YANBU - I think there's advantages to renting as long as you are choosing to do so rather than because you can't afford otherwise. Choosing to rent may be because of the flexibility lack of responsibility, not wanting to pay to get repairs done or organise them, if you have a decent landlord/agent (more likely if you're in an expensive rental), these things should be organised for you no problem.

dangerrabbit · 03/04/2015 10:54

Most people renting don't choose to do so however which makes the pundit sound out of touch with his comments.

GiddyOnZackHunt · 03/04/2015 10:54

Well plainly he's talking rubbish if he says he'd rather rent but doesn't. I think that has little to do with being a smug homeowner and more to do with a twat.

foslady · 03/04/2015 10:56

Yep - I agree with you OP. I'm lucky to home own (old gimmer bought when purchasing was affordable and live in a cheaper part of the country) and the only downside I have is no help whatsoever if I loose my job (or when my circs altered didn't get help either) but that's a risk I'm prepared to take to have no one to be accountable to. I think everyone would love to have the option of being given their home after paying out for 25+ years (as I will in effect have) with the only caveat being I have to maintain it all myself.

Definitely a stupid statement - otherwise why would Right to Buy/Right to Acquire have been so successful?

GiddyOnZackHunt · 03/04/2015 10:56

Being a twat that should say!

ThatBloodyWoman · 03/04/2015 10:56

I cannot imagine how amazing it'd be to be a homeowner.
I have had a bellyful of damp,overcrowding,inflated rents,restrictive clauses on pets and kids,rigged meters,stained carpets,and insecurity.

Original poster
99pokerface · 03/04/2015 11:00

I think when people just causally say oh well you know in Europe they rent well lucky them the landlords in the UK are grabby and Dickens like

Who the frigg wants to pay 1300 for a shot hole when if given the help for a deposit they would otherwise have if they weren't paying 1300. Rent they could own their own home and pay £800 mortgage

OP posts:
ArgyMargy · 03/04/2015 11:03

I imagine he meant that he would prefer us to have a more European style rental market. Being a homeowner is great but it ties you down. Moving house is very difficult and expensive.

KERALA1 · 03/04/2015 11:03

My German ils say this. Maybe I am being thick but don't get it. If you have a mortgage eventually hopefully you will own an asset. After 30 years of renting you have...sod all

LynetteScavo · 03/04/2015 11:04

Renting in the UK should be much more like Europe...I'd like to see things change.

Not being able to get on the housing ladder is a concern I have for my DC in a few years.

MrsDeVere · 03/04/2015 11:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PtolemysNeedle · 03/04/2015 11:11

There are benefits to renting and if you can't see that then it's probably you who is being smug. Of course there are benefits to owning as well, but it's not some sort of problem free utopia.

I've had no heating in half of my owned house for months because I don't have the spare £800 I'm told it will cost to fix it. So while it can be thankful that I don't have extortionate rent to pay every month, and that I can decorate my house however I choose if I can find the money to do it, I can also see that it might be nice to be able to make a phonecall and make my lack of heating someone else's responsibility.

PtolemysNeedle · 03/04/2015 11:15

Owning an asset can be a great thing if life is kind to you, you have the income to maintain your property, you have your health and your adult children have managed to make their own way and settle elsewhere. But it can also be fairly worthless to you if all you can do is watch it depreciate because you don't have the money to maintain it, you can't sell it and release the money because your adult children would struggle to afford to live if you did, or because it has to be sold so that you can pay inflated prices for residential care that you'd have got whether or not you owned a property anyway.

Damnautocorrect · 03/04/2015 11:20

Can the government tell me how they are going to house the generation who rent when it comes to pension age?
As I'm one of them
I can't afford a pension, let alone one that would pay out a wage big enough to cover my rent?

Alisvolatpropiis · 03/04/2015 11:21

You're not wrong. But as you say the whole concept of renting in the UK is wildly different to the rest of Europe.

All the parties are waving "we'll help you buy your own homes" in our faces whilst flagrantly ignoring the enormous issues renters face. If they actually made the effort to control it in the same way it is mainland Europe then people wouldn't be so desperate to own homes because renting would have security of long term residence, freedom to decorate, capped monthly payments etc.

Original poster
99pokerface · 03/04/2015 11:23

Add message | Report | Message poster KERALA1 Fri 03-Apr-15 11:03:39
My German ils say this. Maybe I am being thick but don't get it. If you have a mortgage eventually hopefully you will own an asset. After 30 years of renting you have...sod all
in your Europe it only type of mortgages are pretty much intrest free so after 30 years you would still own sod all I guess I think that's the thinks so much better to rent in Europe but we certnitaly don't have the culture

OP posts:
ThatBloodyWoman · 03/04/2015 11:25

Ptolemy while I sympathise,in 29 years of non home ownership,I've only had heating for 5 years.

Topseyt · 03/04/2015 11:25

Foslady has put it better than I could have done.

We are lucky enough to own our home. We bought our first property in 1990 (not in a cheap part of the country, as didn't want too long a commute to work). Getting on the property ladder was still very expensive back then too, but doable with discipline and some family support. It would be much harder today.

We are also landlords, so kind of have a foot in both camps, but from an ownership point of view rather than as tenants.

I do prefer to own, but can see that I am fortunate to have been able to. I feel more secure generally that way, even though maintenance etc. is all down to us.

The last time I rented was when I was a student, and then again for a short time when I got my first job. I then moved in with my future husband and his parents because we couldn't afford to save up a deposit whilst I had rent to pay.

Pretty lucky really.