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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be really worried about the prospect of privately renting forever?

83 replies

Confusedmartie999 · 10/05/2015 16:17

I'm in my early 30s and always have privately rented since I was 18 after my mum moved to the country and I stayed for my job / friends.
I then met my husband who was flatsharing so we moved in together 8 years ago.
This was the wrong decision as obviously once we were shelling out £900 for a 2 bed flat we weren't able to save hardly anything.
Anyway, here we are now, 2 children later and I've recently gone back to work evenings to top up our income so monthly we now bring in £2400 and our rent is £1100 so again nothing to save once we pay for everything we need and the kids stuff / travel to and from work etc.
what happens when we are old age pensioners who won't have he deposit / ref fees / month in advance every time a landlord decides to sell or increase the rent beyond outlet affordability? Where will we end up? :-(

OP posts:
MrsToddsShortcut · 10/05/2015 23:42

Thank you Suzanne, those are wise words and you have made me feel better. I think I'm still upset after the election result - not to criticise anyone who voted Tory, as everyone has their reasons, but for me, I hoped things might change. I've had a couple of sleepless nights since Thursday...usually I'm quite philosophical about my situation as I'm aware that I'm still better off than many.

But you're right, none of us know what's around the corner and it could be positive stuff
Smile

Redglitter · 10/05/2015 23:52

Tribbleit depends where you live
In the street I'm in there's a 3 bed 3 bathroom flat for £625 a month or a 4 bed townhouse for £710

expatinscotland · 10/05/2015 23:53

Someone will be along to tell you to 'move north' (not realising that you may be in the north, or that you aren't able to transfer your work there or find work as easily or that the wages tend to be lower), or that you are feckless and irresponsible and how you should have done X, Y, Z to buy.

YANBU

OnIlkleyMoorBahTwat · 11/05/2015 05:50

The French and Germans are happier than us at renting because they have secure and affordable rental properties.

people in the UK would love to have access to the same basic need.

milliemanzi · 11/05/2015 07:17

Yeah I'm not one of those "Tory voters are evil" labour supporters, but I do think the Tories look out for a certain section of society and the issue of private renting didn't even get a look in in their manifesto.
So here's to a future of increasing rents, stolen deposits, and lining estate agents pockets!
OH IT IS SO DEPRESSING.
I wonder how many people who voted Tory are already homeowners hmmmmmmmm.

londonrach · 11/05/2015 07:45

Join the club. We fed up of it! We back to basic idll food and £20-30 budget again and saving!

AnnoyedParent22 · 11/05/2015 08:12

The problem is you could move to where rents are cheaper, i.e. North, but can you get a job that pays the same as you were previously, i.e. London?

So, in effect, if move up North for the cheaper rent but also get a lesser paying job up North then your rent will still be an unsustainable proportion of your salary...

Otherwise I guess you could think about commuting from where you now live to your original place of work... but surely the commuting costs would wipe out any financial benefits?

It's a terrible situation.

We are lucky enough to have bought a 2 bedroom flat in SE London in 2006... but 9 years and 2 dc later we are stuck here. Cannot afford to upsize to a house anywhere locally. Also cannot really afford to rent a house in the area either.

However both our jobs are London based and we don't want to move too far and have any [minimal] savings gained from lesser renting costs eaten up by travelling costs.

It's a real bind Sad

Lucyloves101 · 11/05/2015 08:28

These stories make me feel so sad and angry, it is so bloody wrong. I feel like we should organise a protest and force the government to address these issues.

Lucyloves101 · 11/05/2015 08:31

AnnoyedParent22 literally in exactly the same situation, it's such a trap and we are in a lot of ways really fortunate, but there still doesn't seem to be an answer. 2dc in a 2 bed flat and I'm worried our downstairs neighbours who are totally lovely won't be able to help but hate us soon.

milliemanzi · 11/05/2015 08:31

anyone who says "well move then" can eff off tbh, I'm not asking to live in Kensington.

MrsToddsShortcut · 11/05/2015 09:55

Lucy, I totally understand! DD is autistic and often has meltdowns that are completely out of her control. Our flat is right in the middle of the block and I honestly live in fear of complaints about the noise (lots of screaming, crying etc).

I sleep in the lounge as it is, as DD needs her own room because of her sleep problems! It's just an extra thing to worry about because renting is insecure enough as it is.

If we owned a property, the neighbours might well resent the noise but at least we'd still be secure - my agency/LL don't actually need a reason to kick us out.

zoobaby · 11/05/2015 10:13

Totally agree with all the PPs. It's depressing to be stuck on a situation that seems to have no solution. I despair when I look around at all the young 'uns who now spend a disproportionate amount of their wage in order to live in a luxury shareflat or to live alone etc. They are being very foolish but won't hear of it.

Lucyloves101 · 11/05/2015 10:16

MrsToddsShortcut that sounds really tough, I think as a parent the noise of your own child's meltdown is a million times worse to you than anyone else as you're emotionally involved. We have upstairs neighbours with two children too, and I weirdly find the sound of them living upstairs quite comforting now. I hate feeling so tense about noise all the time, but I don't think anyone can reasonably complain about a crying child! So please try and relax about it if you can. Also if no one has complained so far I think it's unlikely, the fact that you are worried makes you a lovely neighbour already.

annielouise · 11/05/2015 10:24

It's an horrendous situation and I don't see it getting any better as the government isn't addressing the issue and is contributing to it by holding up house prices with various schemes - Help to Buy etc. I think high house prices are here to stay. Also, while the government props up wages I can't see them going up much either. What a mess.

annielouise · 11/05/2015 10:27

And whoever said the French and Germans rent so we're in the same boat, it's not the same at all. They have better systems in place. I know Germans have reasonable rents can rent basically for their lifetime, or 20 years. In fact, I read somewhere they tend to rent for 20-30 years and save during that time and then buy outright when retiring. With the private rental market in this country we can't. Buy to let is disgusting on the scale it is, more acceptable if someone is trying to get a pension in the future as then they'll need less state help, but massive portfolios have only benefited BTL LLs.

annielouise · 11/05/2015 10:29

And of course Cameron is now going to give people the right to buy so less housing stock. I don't blame someone doing it but the housing situation isn't being addressed at all, just a sticking plaster being put on it. All they've done is the odd scheme to help people buy overpriced houses - Help to Buy you could only buy new, I think (one of the schemes was like that). New housing is massively overpriced to start with.

suzannecanthecan · 11/05/2015 10:34

obviously renting is not inherantly problematic
the problem is the severely dysfunctional rental market

Damnautocorrect · 11/05/2015 10:34

I feel your pain op, I wake up at night because of it. I can't sleep because of the worry. It's a constant nagging worry.

What I want to know is how on earth they are going to house generation rent when we can't work anymore (formerly known as retiring)

FishWithABicycle · 11/05/2015 10:36

YANBU to be worried but this is a long game. You're in your early 30s now with young children and it's all very expensive and you can't save. BUT when you are in your early 50s and your kids have left home you will have a lot lower outgoings (and can consider downsizing) so can manage. The instability and pitfalls of renting are indeed frightening BUT as pp have said, there are a hell of a lot of other people in the same boat so you are unlikely to be abandoned even if you never get to own.

But I wouldn't give up hope of owning - Shared ownership and help-to-buy schemes are targeting exactly your sort of situation so find out what is available and go and talk to them - some even allow you to join with no deposit but what is available varies according to exactly where you are.

BabyGanoush · 11/05/2015 10:38

That si so tough. And it is not like the continent, as all the people I know who rent happily and life long are renting from housing associations, where you cannot be kicked out (as long as you pay the rent, which cannot increase by more than inflation).

Renters need more protection in England.

The housing bubble needs to pop as well!

Not sure any of this will happen under current gvt?

Can you borrow a deposit from family, and pay mortgage instead of rent??

Cheeseandhamtoast · 11/05/2015 11:37

YANBU

I don't know what will happen when generation rent all retire. They will all need to be fully funded by housing benefit, which will potentially not cover the rent of the the property they are living in. This means lots of older people moving into bedsits or moving far away from their family.

If you own a property you will not be in this position, so YANBU, I worry for my DCs and their future. It don't know what the solution is. Lots of voters didn't vote Labour, but voted Ukip, wrongly blaming immigrants. But whether Labours policies would have helped much we don't know.

hennybeans · 11/05/2015 12:18

I do feel for you, OP. I wouldn't write off owning something at some point because you just don't know what the future will be. Many will be in your situation and who knows what will happen.

I know nobody ever wants to hear this- but seriously, there are other places where the standard of living is better. Yes, you should be able to buy something where you grew up, where your family is, where your work is, but unfortunately you can't.

My DH is in IT and could earn 30% more in London, but our house would easily be 3 times as much even in outermost London, so we clearly have a better life in Yorkshire.

Last year we rented a house for 6 months and paid £750 for a detached 4 bedroom in a village with an outstanding school. I would seriously do some research on jobs elsewhere to see how much they pay and what rent prices are in other areas. There really isn't any other solution anyone can give you.

Lymmmummy · 11/05/2015 12:38

YANBU - I don't think there is anything wrong with renting but without a proper housing association or council tenancy it can be insecure and it must be hard not to feel a bit sad about that

I also get a bit irritated by people who "can't understand" why people rent as if it's a choice or failure on behalf of the person, many people have no choice but to rent, not everyone has parents with deep pockets to fund a deposit, not everyone can move somewhere cheaper in the country, etc house prices in the South east in particular are crackers so if you didn't buy many years ago even those win high salaries would struggle to afford to buy

Damnautocorrect · 11/05/2015 13:04

I'm south east and a three bed semi is 350-400k upwards
So you need a 35/40k deposit for a 10% mortgage. But to get the mortgage multiples you need to earn over £100,000 a year just to buy a lower average home.
How does that work?!

So due to the multiples of what they'd lend us we would actually need a 'deposit' of £200,000- £250,000. How the hell can we save that?!

londonrach · 11/05/2015 13:10

Damn you cant! Unless family can help you cant buy. Who earns £100k