To not give up hopes of owning our own house!

[Rentingranting]

Dh has given up. Refuses to talk about it. Says it's too late now we are in our mid-forties. We haven't got any savings - too busy paying the blasted fees on this ridiculous house.

If we did buy it would be far smaller than the lovely house we are renting. But it would be ours. Dh says so what, it's an English thing and we're better off renting a lovely house.

Can't handle the thought of renting still when we are 80 (God willing). I'm now working again but we are in an unusual situation (self-employed and other factors).

It's the one thing that really bothers me. Is it much nicer to own your own house? We've rented for 20 years.

And even if we could get a small mortgage; would it be selfish on the children to all move into a smaller house.

We're on outskirts of London so would need about £500,000.

Should I just resign myself to renting til we die?

AIBU to be hanging on.

[MitzyLeFrouf]

I'm with you OP. I'd definitely rather own a small house than rent a bigger one. It gives you so much more security and means you can look forward to a retirement without any accommodation costs.

[titchy]

Buy somewhere smaller and rent it out. Then you'll still be in your nice big place but you'll have a property you can retire into.

But yes look at your outgoings - you seem to be pissing a hell of a lot of money up the wall

[FurtherSupport]

I agree with you on that OP. I hope I provide a legacy in other ways for my DC but I'm not planning life around a grand plan for them to have an inheritance.

I'd still favour home ownership though, simply because it means a secure home and not having to worry about where the hell DPs will live in their old age.

[Rentingranting]

Leaving the children some money isn't a priority for me. They wouldn't even get much as we have four children. I would prefer to give them a fabulous childhood and lead them on their way to getting their own money. I have seen too many families argue about houses left etc and don't care one bit about that aspect. At all.

[Becauseicannes]

Owning your own place is better I think. Despite the initial feeling of being financially stressed to pay for it all, you can picture in 5 years time when rents have increased even more. at least you will be able to pay the mortgage and reduce it. You will have no control over rent increases and I doubt that that is going to reduce over the next few years.

[MadisonMontgomery]

I own outright - I like the security, whilst obviously you do have to pay for upkeep etc, it's mine and things would have to get really bad before it could be taken away from me. I know people have said that pensioners could be better off with benefits etc - you shouldn't be expecting to rely on the government to bail you out.

[Apatite1]

Renting in the UK is not equivalent to owning. Renters have few rights here, unlike other countries where they can get very long secure terms and can redecorate etc.

[Apatite1]

No I agree with you. I'd be looking to get a secure roof over your head at this point. If you need help with sorting your budget, the money forum on mn is very helpful, you can post there. I'd be looking to secure the deposit in the next two years, saving just over £2k per month. Is this possible for you?

[Rentingranting]

Thanks for the comments. Have to be careful not to out myself. We have had an amazing 15 years working in wonderful exotic places. I wouldn't change that for the world. We came home to give our large family a good education. We're doing that and everyone is happy. It's now time to grow up. Our earnings have leapt only this year. It's now or never.

Our outgoings are high. No, not in private education. We need to sit down and look at where it is going.

As I said, husband would prefer to rent a nice place rather than own a small house. I don't agree.

[prepperpig]

I think it will be a real problem 20-30 years down the line. As further points out those renting in retirement have typically been council tenants with low rents. Think how high rents will be in 20 years with all that demand from those who have not bought their own properties.

You should definitely be thinking long term OP. It seems like you are taking a very short term view of life. You say you've rented for 20 years. You could have had a mortgage paid off by now (albeit potentially on a smaller house)

[prepperpig]

Clearly the OP has high outgoings. £2500 rent still leaves around £4k. Are the DCs at independent school OP?

We have a high income and not a lot left over every month but we have two lots of school fees and a nearly £4k mortgage.

[FurtherSupport]

I think generation rent is a real time bomb. It might be Ok to pay rent and have someone else worry about the roof when you're young and earning and your income's going up every year, but how do you continue that in retirement, or even when you income plateaus in middle-age?

The great thing about buying is that your "rent" goes down every year in real terms, as the mortgage repayment stays the same but your income goes up (hopefully) and then in retirement, once the mortgage is repaid, you don't have any rent to pay.

I know there have always been renting pensioners but these have tended to be council tenants paying lowish rents. If you're used to renting a nice property, how are you going to maintain that in retirement ?

I agree it seems odd that you can have no savings with that income though.

[WinterOfOurDiscountTents15]

150k and no Savings? You can't be that bothered about owning, that'd a huge amount of money to earn and you haven't bothered to save any by now.

[butterfly133]

howcanitbe " If it's going to exist i think there are good arguments for not means testing - leads to all kinds of perverse incentives to reduce your income once you means test, particularly with such a valuable benefit as that."

ah, I see what you mean, yes, people would try to reduce their incomes.

Argh, crazy house prices strike again....

[Apatite1]

On £150k you probably have over £7k net coming in per month. Rent is £2.5k so you have plenty of money left to save after bills etc. Most people would have a hefty deposit saved by now. Do you have very high monthly outgoings for some reason?

[x2boys]

isnt all that*

[x2boys]

I owning your own home is all that tbh when major things like the boiler need replacing you have to pay it yourself i owned my flat but than was in negative equity had two children in a small flat it ended up being reposssesed, we than went into private rental which was nice but as you say isnt your own i now have a council house i live in the northwest so got it fairly quickly i can decorate nd carpet how i want but the council do all the big jobs plus we have security.

[butterfly133]

When you say you're on the outskirts of London, what does that mean? To me that means outside of Zone 6 where a house should be cheaper to rent or buy, unless it's somewhere fancy or you have several children.

I think owning is better due to the control and I'd be worried about someone moving me on in old age. Your combined salary is excellent, it should be doable but I don't know your essential outgoings. It's better to leave something to the children, I think. A bought house may be smaller but still an asset.

I don't know why you get help to buy on that salary though.

[prepperpig]

On that sort of income I would definitely buy. You will not be retired for another 20 years or so. Who is to say housing benefit will be around in its current form. Its unlikely to be honest, particularly if you have any level of savings and pension income.

As a result you need to be confident that you can still afford to pay rent when you are in your 80s. That requires a hefty pension, particularly since rents are likely to be even higher by then.

I would buy a much smaller property and rent it out (although be aware that since you're self employed, a mortgage might not be easier to get). That has the added benefit that since its would be your only home, if you moved into it once your DC's have left then you wouldn't pay CGT on it (at least under the current rules)

[Poppet1974]

£150k is a really healthy joint income, I would definitely look in to buying. Are there any reasons why you haven't before?
I definitely prefer to own my own home, it gives me security to know it's ours and can do whatever we want with it, plus our home has risen in value since we bought it so it's also an investment (although I didn't look at it that way when we were buying).
Good luck