Doesn’t everyone aspire to own a house?

[Letsmoveondude]

Is it just me? I thought everyone aspired to own a home in their lifetime.

I know that it’s a luxury many of my generation will not have.

Currently trying to understand why someone who has the ability would not take it

I find it quite surprising that anyone in the UK who could afford to buy a house would choose to rent instead.

Obviously social housing is completely different because that is far more secure.

We had a house (with mortgage) but due to a series of misfortunes we had it repossessed. We then had no choice but to rent.

We didn't think we would ever be able to buy again and accepted that. We had no problems with the concept of renting but the reality is rather different.

The first problem was that we have pets (dog and cats) so were restricted as to the properties we could rent. Our first rented house the landlord decided he wanted to sell after we had been there 6 months so we had to leave. Second house the landlord put the rent up twice in a year by £100 each time! We left. Third house landlord was a real pain and would keep letting himself into the property (one time he obviously thought no one was in but I was in bed ill). Fourth house landlord again kept wanting to put the rent up.

We then found a house in the area we wanted, decent size garden for dog but the actually house was a bit scruffy. We ended up being there almost 15 years. In that time the landlord did nothing, not a penny spent on it. We wanted a nice house so we decorated, we put in a new bathroom, bought new carpet, laminate flooring etc. The boiler packed up and we had no hot water or heating for weeks in the winter and the landlord just did not want to know. We had to pay for it

That landlord then decided he wanted to sell so once again we were asked to leave.

I had started to worry about the future - keep moving home plus we are both now early 60's so what would happen when we only have our pensions? Neither of us have a private pension?

Then we were left an inheritance which enabled us to buy a house outright. We are so much happier not having to worry about finding rent every month, worrying whether a landlord will be raising the rent, being able to do exactly what we like to our house.

If there were tighter laws about renting, as there are in other countries, then I think renting would be a reasonable alternative to buying. As it is I definitely don't think it is unless you are lucky and get a decent landlord.

Also I agree with the posters who say in the future there is going to be a massive amount of money to find to pay the rents for pensioners who can't afford them

I didn't until i could afford somewhere i wanted to live. I wouldn't sacrifice lifestyle just to own.

I agree that worrying about paying rent once old is a thing.
In my mind it's not.much different to owners worrying about losing the house to pay for care, that's a much bigger concern to me.

Scrimp, save, work and go without to buy a house, retire, get ill and bye bye house you busted your ass for 20 years for.

I know it's not as simple as that and not all old folk get ill and lose houses etc. But it seems in this country that once you hit old age you're better off having fuck all you can lose or having millions you can waste. If you're in the middle, you're screwed.

KLUTZY....who do you think should pay for your care when/if you are old and infirm?

Your and my children will be facing a huge debt with attitudes such as yours....

I to have had to scrimp, save go without ( like many if not most) but l think it is up to me to fund my old age care should l need it..and if possible.

It will only happen if we win the lottery.

Bought our first house a couple of years ago now, best decision I've ever made, so great having your own space that you can do with as you please. I have a nice car and bike which I had beforehand, if I went back in time I'd tell myself to forget about those and get a house as soon as possible instead. Can always downsize when we don't need it in later life anymore which is an added bonus.

If house prices were sensible and in line with earnings then selling your home to pay for your care wouldn't work the same way, Grandma's house wouldn't be a quarter of a million pound windfall

nope.
Some people have careers that require/enable moving every now and then.

I know plenty of people who have no desire to buy. They don't want the hassle of maintenance and decorating and being responsible for boilers. They want the freedom of being able to pack up and leave and go somewhere else with a month's notice.

This sounds like heaven!

However, I don't have a mortgage and my elderly mother lives with me so it would be madness for me to sell up and start renting just for the freedom to do what I want.

Where I live the cost of a 90k mortgage on a decent semi is about the same as a grotty 2 up 2 down in a terrible area. I think geography is everything in this debate.

*is the same as the rent on a grotty house

Out of interest, what happens if you rent long term when you retire? Surely there'll be a bit of a crisis in a few decades with people forced to work way into old age or fall on the state. I hope I'm wrong.

Klutzy, we have no children so not worried if we lose the house to fund our care. We might try and get some money out via equity release first though

Surely there'll be a bit of a crisis in a few decades with people forced to work way into old age or fall on the state

In my adult life I've already seen the pension age rise from 60 to 67 and, honestly, I already feel a bit cheated by that! As harsh as it sounds, I can only think about my situation right now and what I will do in my old age. I can't be worrying about what future generations will do. Yes I'm aware that is selfish but I've struggled just to get myself through life! I'm afraid future generations will have to do what they need to do.

I own my home (well, how can I will do in 12 years when I've finished paying for it!) and I have to say at times it has been the biggest millstone around my neck. I've wondered whether I did the right thing in buying at times. When money has been tight, you can guarantee that something huge will suddenly need fixing. My interest rate went up a lot and I can't remortgage to a cheaper rate at the moment. When I had a house fire, it drove me to a deep despair having to sort it all out (despite insurance covering the cost). When I've been out of work, I got zero help at all unlike renters, leaving me about £3 a week for food and bills! And it is worth exactly the same amount as I paid for it 13 years ago.

So yes, I'll have an asset to (maybe, if I'm very lucky) to pass to my kids. And I don't have the stress of wondering if my landlord will evict us to sell up at any time. But I do think people stress too much about owning property in this country and it's not always better than renting.

My mum owns her own home and she is always saying we need to buy and then moans about having to pay for a new boiler before it gets too cold  oh yeah that really inspires me to buy my own home mum 

Storm4star I agree its all very well to say that we should be saving for the future but its hard enough to get buy as it is. We take out loans for our educations which we have to pay back, then save up for a house deposit or rent, if we have children we have to get back to work and pay for childcare. Then we are being told that we should start saving for them for their educations and even for their retirement. We need to save for a rainy day or incase we get ill all the while paying high rent, high utilities and savings have no return at all. So all i can do is just focus on the here and now but I do worry for the future and the pp who mentions a looming crisis may well be right. Especially as retirement age is going up regardless of what kind of work you do. Perhaps fine for people with office jobs (not always I know) but what about people with very heavy physical jobs will they be expected to carry on at 70+ just to afford a roof over their head?

PP saying their colleague was ringing around about fixing a broken boiler and they just rang their LL. Yes, but you're paying off your LL mortgage, allowing them to possibly retire easier than you

I think it's simpler than that. Having been a landlord I can assure you, very few make a loss. We still cover the mortgage and the new boiler and make a profit. From the rent the tenant pays. Yes it's easier to call the landlord but it's a service you pay for. Way more than the actual cost. It's much cheaper to Have your own boiler fixed.

Sure you might be happy to pay over the odds for the service and not having the hassle, but be in no doubt you paid for the boiler and the landlords time.

I have also rented and was under no Illusion the landlord was doing me a favour fixing the boiler. I knew I'd paid for it in rent. It wasn't free.

We're sitting tenants on a country estate, we're in a very rare position of having security as renters with very low rental payments. I say that quite comfortably as I don't believe home ownership is necessarily secure, what happens if you can't pay the mortgage, or you end up with negative equity?

We don't want to move unless we could afford to buy something as lovely as the house we live in, which is unlikely. I don't aspire to home ownership at all for that reason. The closest we'd get is a buy to let, to pay our rent here, which is what the neighbours have done.

My DP's Mum and partner are/were in the position of buying a house but didn't want to.

She received quite a lot of inheritance and they could have bought quite a nice house however they've chosen to stay in their rental flat. They said that they don't have to want to worry about repairs and that they know because they're in social housing then they never had to worry.

So instead they've spent it on things like holidays, cars and a caravan. They seem happy with their decision and that's the main thing I guess.

Other than that, everyone else I know aspires to buy their own home.

People may aspire to home ownership but it is increasingly more difficult for young people to get onto the housing ladder so they have to rent. It's not a bad thing to rent for a few years, at least you don't have to worry if anything goes wrong in the property - assuming of course you rent through a reputable agency who vet the landlords as well as the tenants. You have more disposable income to enjoy.

Owning your own home is good though, especially as you get older. If you have a reasonably sized family house you can downsize or have a walk in shower put in downstairs so can be cared for at home if you need care. I'm thinking of doing the latter sooner rather than later so it's all ready for if and when we need it.

I don't want to be tied down and have all the maintenance work.
I know it makes more sense financially to buy if you can, but it's not something I WANT.

" I find the people who talking about buying a house making you 'inflexible' or 'fixed' odd.

I've lived in four different countries since buying a house. I just rent it out, and use the rental income to pay towards the rent of the place I'm living in."

I was told that if you rent out your house your mortgage becomes much more expensive. And what if you can't find a tenant or the rent doesn't cover your mortgage?
I was thinking of buying when I lived in another country, but over there, if you moved within 5 years you had to pay a lot more tax as it was then your second residence. I didn't want to be that tied down so didn't go for it.
I'm sure I'll regret it when I'm old, but you have to make the choices that are right for you at the time.

"In Germany most people I know rent (unfurnushed, long-term) and wouldnt think of buying. But rent prices and tenants are better protected there."

Yes, but also state pensions are higher in most of Europe so there's less need to buy a house for your old age.

assuming of course you rent through a reputable agency who vet the landlords as well as the tenants.

Name one.