To think that sime homeowners regard themselves as superior to renters?

[malificent7]

Not all by any means but im a bit fed up of the 'well i work hard and lived off baked beans for 10 years.'
Well i work hard but cant save a penny as there isnt enough cash to stretch.
I find it hard to muster any enthusiasm when a friend shows me around the latest extension and starts talking about house values.
i just cannot relate.
Yes of course im envious but i made bad decisions when younger due to bad mental health issues.
I also feel like my ex friendship group split into homeowner/ non homeowner groups...maybe they have more in common although i do work longer hours....its just i dont live with a nain breadwinner atm.
Ive also been told by friends that i SHOULD get a mortgage...
I mean why SHOULD i if i cant afford it?
One friend said that homeowners take better care of their property...generalisation.

I feel sad as i find so many people money orientated..and snooty with it.

The way social housing tenants are viewed is a major problem which is why Shelter have launched a social housing commission.

www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/25082

I know what you mean OP. A group of friends were talking the other day and one of them (who I’m sure has autistic traits as she constantly insults people without knowing it) said to another who rents ‘it’s ok for you to split from your partner if you want coz you just rent, we’ve put a lot of money into our beautiful house and I’m not giving it up’
I kind of get her point that I would never walk away from our house but she could have said it in a nicer way.

Turquoise A homeless man i spoke to this week is homeless because his relationship ended. He lived in a rented property with his girlfriend.

The social housing problem could be fixed overnight if housing benefit was paid directly to the landlord. The government has chosen not to do this and so many landlords can’t afford the risk of arrears.

Not answering the original question as such but I have noticed a lot of homeowner and landlord bashing this week.

Just wanted to share a situation my Dad currently has as a landlord.... tenants moved out this week, their deposit is not yet returned as they have to evidence they have paid off all utilities and council tax before they get deposit back (as per their contract). They request deposit back, my dad points out the evidence required from them they reply "but we need our deposit money to go away on holiday next week you're being money grabbing typical landlord"

In the past he has also had to deal with police drugs raids, people smashing up bathrooms when leaving property, threats of violence etc. (Not these tenants just generally) And he's a good landlord - fixes things immediately, available on the phone at all times etc but still often treat like shit by tenants.

As I say I know this isn't the thread as such and no I don't look down on renters as a homeowner! Just wanted to voice an example of some of the issues landlords have when this week has been very anti landlord and owners.

I was bought up in a council house my 3 sisters went into council accommodation me and DH rented privately and bought in the 80s it was my Mum who was the one who thought we had gone up a bit and she was very proud, when we paid off our mortgage in 2008 she told everyone who would listen.

Of course all 3 of my sisters had council properties in the area I grew up in Wimbledon South West London, DH and I couldn't afford to privately rent there (this was in 1972) when we married and certainly couldn't ever have afforded to buy there, but that didn't worry mum she would have loved it if we were round the corner like my sisters but she saw us having move away as a small price to pay for bring home owners, I know owning her own home was something she dreamed about
herself, so we sort of lived the dream for her

Also I do sometimes think people say things without thinking. A freind was in the middle of buying a house, the house next door to the one that she was buying became available to rent...she said 'well we're a bit worried, you never know who you'll get'. I was a bit shocked tbh, normally she is very non judgmental. As it happens (and as I pointed out, may well happen) some nice people moved in.

Linnet Well in that case when she would have done her property checks she would have found out if next door (your house) was rented or not. We moved next door to a rented property and it came up on the checks. Didn’t bother me in the slightest x

Maybe she didn’t check if the flat next door was bought or rented, I don’t know. All I know is that she didn’t speak to us properly until I had to go to her to discuss something which affected us both As owners and after that, once she knew we were owners, she started speaking to us more. But I know that she doesn’t talk to some of our other neighbours who are renters.

Hang on, which checks would show if the flat was bought or rented?

I think Land Registry would show you who owns the property.

But if my neighbour did a land registry check, to see if next door was bought, which presumably she’d have to pay for, that doesn’t mean that I live in it. I could rent it out, to tenants it wouldn’t tell her that. The flat upstairs from her is owned but it’s rented out to tenants.

No, it just shows (I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong) who owns it. So if you live there, but someone else owns it, fair to say she knows you rent.

I do agree with OP I have always owned, however, for a couple years rented due to change of area etc and I noticed that the neighbours made no effort to be friendly (we rented in more than property) and were very quick to complain (even if not really justified). We were definitely second class citizens or made to feel it. In contrast when we bought the property we are in now the neighbours were straight round welcoming us and have been so lovely.

There’s a definite snobbery around renting and I’ve many a time reminded my mum when she makes rude comments about renters that we rented for 3 years and my brother has been renting 20.

I rent in Germany, and it's not as absolute as Mummyoflittledragon says. There are minimum periods before which a landlord is not allowed to require you to redecorate if you move out. It's five years for most rooms, 7 for some. And of course there is a concept of wear and tear. Nobody expects (for instance) flooring to be replaced before at least 10 years.

Precisely because people can treat rented places as their homes (which they are), tenants don't want their landlord's furniture. They want their own. If you move out and decide to leave (e.g.) your kitchen in, it's often the case that an agreement is made with the next tenant who pays you a proportion of the value.

There's none of this ridiculousness with time-limited contracts. Almost all contracts are time-unlimited, with a minimum notice period of three months on both sides. After five years, that period begins to increase for the landlord, but never for the tenant. A landlord has to have one of a specified and small number of reasons to end the contract (your unreasonable behaviour, needing the property him- or herself - which is only possible for private landlords and is interpreted quite narrowly - or rent arrears). You can't even be thrown out if the landlord wants to sell. You might agree to leave, but you will usually have all your costs paid and perhaps compensation on top. The buyer would have to give you notice on the basis of wanting to live there themselves, and pass said stringent test.

It's brilliant. I would be very reluctant to buy here, especially outside the big cities. I'd be too worried about never being able to sell. I know people in extremely prestigious jobs who actively choose to rent.

OP, I have encountered plenty of the attitude you speak of among Brits. Assumptions about us because we rent (in wilful ignorance of the differences in culture).

Oh, and as for paying for repairs - we pay for our own up to a value of about 100 euros (and obv where the broken thing is our property, washing machine or whatever), bigger things are the landlord's responsibility. This is usual practice.

I'm not smug about it. I didn't put a penny into our first house. DH already owned it when I met him. Pure luck and nothing more.

I've owned for 15 years, rented for 10, now owning again.

A good deal of people DO look down on renters. Especially, it seems, if the majority of the surrounding residents are owners.

I did took good care of the 2 properties i lived in during my 10 renting years. Both landlords were sad to see me go.

Both rental properties were 'posh' houses in 'posh' neighborhoods. The first one was in the same village where i'd owned for 9 years so i just had all the same friends and neighbors.

At the second location however no one knew us (except as 'the renters') and we were virtually shunned for the first year. Inevitably over the course of a few years situations arose where the neighbors were 'forced' to speak us for one reason or another and so many openly said things like ''oh, i wish we'd got to know you earlier now'' ...

It's quite obvious when you getting the cold shoulder in a neighborhood. And when you're living in the only rented property in the village it's not rocket science to work out why.

I own my own home but only due to my mum and dad dying young and leaving me money....i was married at the time so bought an old cottage...he left me 4 years ago and im struggling to keep on top of it....every month something goes wrong and i have to pay a tradesman....i have to pay £600 to sort my heating and have another bill soon for new fencing due to the storms....im sick of it and i wish i was renting and it was someone elses problem.

I don’t feel superior but I do sympathise with renters who can never get on the property ladder. Our mortgage meant that we had to wait to have children, couldn’t afford foreign holidays because we had to spend money on the house, spent nights and weekends doing endless DIY. So I do resent the attitude that all owners have it easy. However I think that young people today have been shafted by rising house prices, but this has been going on since the late 1980s, so it’s not a recent thing.

I have definitely experienced this. The whole "I would never throw money away on rent" line is SO infuriating, as if everyone has a choice!". Some people are just ignorant. Fortunately most of the home owners I know are decent people, we don't even really talk about owning/renting it just never comes up in conversation.

For some renting is a choice. I have friends who have decided that as they haven’t bought now, and they’re in there mid 40’s, they’d rather enjoy the freedom and not have to worry about bricks and mortar!
However if you really would like to buy, I understand how hard that can be op.

I agree. Some do. But those same people probably look down on others for other reasons too, such as the car they drive or the types of holidays they take or how much they earn.

Obviously some people choose to rent and that's fine, there are obviously circumstances where renting is the better option. It's the assumption that everyone chooses to rent and that if they really put their mind to it they could own that irks me.

AnElderlyLady

We moved out of the house we rented in Germany after just under 4 years. The owners were given a sum of money to repaint the entire house top to bottom. We were also told that the owner could have asked for the carpets, which were brand new when we moved in to be replaced. But didn’t. I cannot account for why your experiences and my experience of renting in Germany is completely different.