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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Too be absolutely appalled at the price of rent?

102 replies

BasinHaircut · 25/01/2018 16:36

I have just found out how much one of my friends pays in rent. Fuck me.

I knew that if we were to be renting our house rather than paying the mortgage then it would be more than our current monthly payment but I had no idea it would be double!

In the SE so property prices are high etc but this just seems obscene, I don’t know how they afford to eat. I feel like I’ve been living in a bubble and it’s just been popped.

Sorry if this post pisses anyone off, it’s not a stealth boast I promise. I know we are lucky to own our home but I never realised how lucky

OP posts:

Cantspell2 · 25/01/2018 17:50

Interest rates have been kept low for the last 8 years so a mortgage is often going to be lower than rent BUT sooner or later interest rates will rise and so will the cost of your mortgage. With inflation going up then I think you will see interest rates start to rise again soon. Might not be a at first but I don’t think the days of such low rates are numbered.

HRTpatch · 25/01/2018 17:50

I paid £2300 in London for a tiny terraced house.

MrsKoala · 25/01/2018 17:51

This hasn't been my experience at all. We've always paid lower rent than our mortgage would be. If you are renting a house which would sell at £400k for £1300 a month I can't see how the mortgage would be cheaper, unless you bought ages ago or have a whopping deposit.

Oooocrikeyitscold · 25/01/2018 17:55

Though don’t forget people with a mortgage are often paying a lot in interest (even in current rates) eg I pay £2k a month mortgage of which £1k is interest.

Sirzy · 25/01/2018 17:57

The people I know who are landlords certainly don’t make money from them st this point. The “extra” is soon off set after maintenance and repairs are covered. If your really lucky you get a tenant who looks after it but I know someone who is currently forking out a couple of grand getting things back up to standard before being able to let a property out again. For him it’s a long term investment rather than any sort of short term gain.

Cornettoninja · 25/01/2018 17:58

It's not great and it's definitely a trap. We're late thirties and were thwarted from any chance of buying about a decade ago when a series of redundancies wiped out our savings and then some (no help from anyone here either - somewhere to move into for a while to save or cold hard cash ).

We've been in our current rented house since 2014, next door bought theirs at roughly the same time we moved in and two houses on the road have just sold for £100k more than they paid three years ago. These are bog standard two up to downs you can hear a person in another room pick their nose in that rent for £1000 approximately a month.

We don't stand a chance frankly. We've had dd since we've been here, she was a surprise, but frankly I don't regret it. If we'd waited till we were in a position to buy my menopause would have set up shop!

SinisterBumFacedCat · 25/01/2018 17:58

I worry what will happen to generation rent hit retirement age. Work till they drop?

Rumpledfaceskin · 25/01/2018 18:01

It’s so deperessing. Renting should surely be cheaper than owning, I’m sure it is on the continent?! I suppose you don’t have upkeep costs but double what a mortgage would be is obscene.

NellWilsonsWhiteHair · 25/01/2018 18:01

I don't think overly simplistic narratives about tenants vs landlords are very helpful (and I speak as someone who has a bit of a wanker of a landlord).

I had a theoretical financial assessment for a shared ownership deal recently. On my current salary, I earn not-quite-enough to 'manage' the combined rent+mortgage payment, according to their 'don't let people make financial commitments which are going to cause hardship' threshold. Which, yes, all very well and good - but the rent I'm currently paying is a good few hundred per month above that still. Frustrating. And my rent is 'good' for what it is (two bed flat above a shop in less-than-desirable area of zone 3 London). I couldn't afford else anything comparable locally.

1DAD2KIDS · 25/01/2018 18:02

North Lincolnshire you can still get a 3 bed for 60k and rent a three bed for £400 pcm. I suppose it all depends where you live.

Sirzy · 25/01/2018 18:04

Renting should surely be cheaper than owning,
Given a lot of landlords have BTL mortgages how would that work?

specialsubject · 25/01/2018 18:04

Ten years ago rent was half mortgage. Massive interest rate drops, high inflation, and of course colossal population increase in the south east and you get the reverse now.

Not an answer, just an explanation.

Alicely · 25/01/2018 18:05

I genuily thought the point of a deposit for a mortgage was to show you were capable of saving and to show commitment. So I believe if you can show you have rented without fault for 5 or more years this should count as a deposit for a mortgage or at least a large part of it. Unless you live with parents while saving for a deposits or live in a run down house or area while renting in order to pay rent and save, you have little chance of getting enough for a deposit!

phoebemac · 25/01/2018 18:06

I worry what will happen to generation rent hit retirement age. Work till they drop?

Yes, this is a huge concern. People can't work forever and shouldn't have to. Many will need to claim housing benefit to supplment their income, which would mean the state shelling out even more huge amounts of money to landlords. This government is so short sighted when it comes to housing. We need rent control of some kind.

ASatisfyingThump · 25/01/2018 18:08

It's not just private landlords, the rent on our old 2 bed HA flat was double what we currently pay for our mortgage on a 3 bed house! And they were fucking useless at maintainence too. The only thing it had going for it was the secure tenancy - and the same perk comes with being a homeowner. The bank isn't exactly going to sell up and boot me out!

1DAD2KIDS · 25/01/2018 18:09

The house I rent cost me £230 a month out of pocked (with mortgage, fees, repairs, tax etc) in North Lincolnshire (and rising with the reduction on mortgage interest relief every year to 0). Having said that with low interest rates it's not a bad tging to invest £230 a month. One day it will be mortgage free and I will make money per month instead.

Chattymummyhere · 25/01/2018 18:12

That bit does make me laugh. Not sure you can afford the repayments but rent currently paid is £200-£300 more than the mortgage payments. Lock in on fixed rates and save the £200-£300 your saving for repairs/interest hike at the end of fixed rate.

My landlord pays on this house in the last year. Gas safety, a inspection, agent fee’s (4%) and taxes obviously. The year before the same. That’s not to say the house doesn’t need any repairs it does and he knows it and the longer they are left the more it will cost him but at the point he will likely just sell it instead quick 100k in his pocket after years and years rent and buy another property that doesn’t need the work, yes my landlord is an investor portfolio landlord he doesn’t even view his properties before he buys them.

MrsMaxwell · 25/01/2018 18:12

Oh FFS anyone?

It’s to !!!!!

PollyPerky · 25/01/2018 18:13

How did you not know OP?

One of my DCs (plus partner) is paying almost £2K a month for a 2-bed flat when you include council tax. London prices.

This is the north-south divide.

Tink2007 · 25/01/2018 18:17

I’ve sat and added up the amount of rent we have paid over the years and it would be more than enough for a substantial deposit but we aren’t in the position to buy :(

I hate renting (we are in London) - it’s dead money and they can choose to end the contract after year or sell up. I absolutely hate it and it makes me feel quite depressed.

RebootYourEngine · 25/01/2018 18:24

I live in a HA property. My rent is about a third more expensive than my friends mortgage for a 4 bed in much better condition than my house.

rightsaidfrederickII · 25/01/2018 18:42

It's not just the price either, it's the landlord's incessant poking into your life and what you do with it - all things that would be considered completely normal if you owned your own property e.g.
Not allowed to plant anything in the back garden, such as herbs. Flower beds must remain bare earth, lawn must remain 90% moss and 10% grass.
Not allowed to use the basement to store anything, such as your bike (which then forces you to use expensive public transport, because you sure as shit can't afford a car)
No pets, not even a goldfish or a hamster that cannot physically cause damage
Only allowed to have the walls in scuffed magnolia woodchip, no redecorating or personalisation
Not allowed to put up picture frames or anything using blu tack, despite the poor condition of the decor

... All of these are my current rented property. Some of the rules we can't live with, so we break them and live in fear that if the landlord finds out, we can be evicted with two months notice. As tenants, we have no security and live our lives in fear that we will be moving and uprooting ourselves yet again because we want to live normal lives like actual human beings.

Tenants are modern day serfs

BalthazarImpresario · 25/01/2018 18:46

Our rent at our lady house was around 400 more than a mortgage that would cover the cost of the house, ridiculous.

But profit speaks. That's the only reason rents are so high

Unihorn · 25/01/2018 19:08

MrsKoala
This hasn't been my experience at all. We've always paid lower rent than our mortgage would be. If you are renting a house which would sell at £400k for £1300 a month I can't see how the mortgage would be cheaper, unless you bought ages ago or have a whopping deposit.

But it's not £400k houses costing £1300 in rent now, it's £250-300k houses costing that much.

RavenLG · 25/01/2018 19:32

Yup. I pay less mortgage on a nice 3 bed semi, huge garden, nice area, garage then my friend who rents a 2 bed flat in a not so great area. It's pretty sickening. I think if you have a proven track record of renting it should be easier to get a 95%-100% mortgage, it would help so many people out.

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