To think renting as opposed to buying is not throwing your money away ?

[Usemyname123]

I am a single 29 year old and do not own a home. I have been told that renting is essentially 'throwing money down the drain' and other words to that effect.
I admire those who are able to save for a deposit as I have a hard time doing so. I think it will take me several years, and I'm single so will potentially be buying something alone.
I think owning a house and being able to have your mortgage paid off so that you can live rent-free in retirement age is the main reason I would buy one.
But sometimes I feel, especially in the UK, that there is this thing about buying a home in order to be complete and fulfilled in life, along with getting married.
I think renting shouldn't have a stigma attached to it, not everybody wants the financial commitment of a house. Personally, I like the fact that I have the freedom to move elsewhere, or that my landlord is responsible for paying for a new washing machine etc.
I don't think that 'just' renting should be seen as some sort of failure, and should be a more celebrated choice as it has many advantages.
However I can also fully understand wanting to purchase a house. It must be a great feeling to know that you are the owner.
Interested to hear others' thoughts.

I think the problem is when you are older if you’ve been renting. Fine if you’ve managed to have savings and have a good pension. I’m nearly 50 and our mortgage will be paid off in the next 2 years and we can spend the money we save on helping the children with college/uni fees or just be able to save or spend more on holidays etc. We have friends who lives in the south who are the same age as us and renting and pay roughly the same in rent. They will have to keep paying rent always and basically won’t have an asset to show for it. I’m not judging anyone by the way, just saying for me it will be a weight off my mind when the mortgage is paid off as it’s one less expense.

It really should be pointed out the realities of renting with a family in the UK can be very challenging. A lot of places are 'no children'. Then there are often rules like no hanging up anything with nails, no decorating, inspections. And usually after the initial 4 months of any AST you can be given notice to move in 2 months at any given time (and expected to host viewing, open the home to viewings). There's very little stability for families.

Then there are often rules like no hanging up anything with nails, no decorating, inspections

fair enough, but on the plus side, it's the financial freedom of not being liable for any problem. Boiler packing up, roof leaking? you make a phone call and someone else is footing the bill to fix it. You don't need to plan for any contingency.

Now there are bad landlords, but there are also very good ones who get things done for you. just having to pay your rent and not giving a thought about anything else is quite relaxing.

it's the financial freedom of not being liable for any problem. Boiler packing up, roof leaking? you make a phone call and someone else is footing the bill to fix it.

From the threads on here, all too commonly, there's a lot of faff trying to get repairs done. There are a lot featuring boiler issues and having no hot water or heating and the LL sending cowboys to try to put off making necessary repairs.

I'd also make a guess (not sure as haven't rented in a long time) but any LL worth his/her salt would probably have insurance on things like boilers and then factor that cost into the rent. From the renting threads on here there's little that's relaxing about it.

When we rented we had people dick us about quite a bit. I was glad to get away from that. Also the 'we want a long-term tenant' and then 4 months later a letter drops on the matt saying they're selling (then come to find out they'd tried to sell in the past, weren't successful and so rented with an eye to put it on the market again once they got a tenant in).

I believe it's dead money. You are paying your landlord to pay off HIS mortgage on the place.

You are left owning nothing.

If you have a mortgage, you are actually paying off a loan. When your 25 year mortgage is paid off, you then own the house.

What will you live off in 25 years time? Where will your rent money come from?

The main reason people rent rather than mortgage is because they can't afford to get a mortgage.

I'm a homeowner and a landlord, and if MN posts are anything to go by, very much hated for being a landlord (stopping people from buying the flat I rent out etc.). In reality my tenants are much like you, OP. Younger people who are not yet ready to commit to buying because they're only living in the area temporarily and enjoy the freedom of being able to move, or not in a position to get a mortgage let alone commit to all the other financial implications of owning.

Of course longer term most people will want the security of ownership and many of the freedoms that come with it (I have four cats, I know it would be next to impossible to find a rental property for us!). Equally owning is not perfect, the house I own has a lot little jobs still needing doing that I could never leave for so long in the flat I rent out. When something goes wrong, it can take time to find anyone to repair it - a couple of years ago my roof was leaking in the middle of winter, and every local roofer I called either wasn't available at all or would only be able to book me in a week or two away even just to take a look, let alone fix it. And then when I found someone, I obviously needed several hundred pounds to pay for it.

I can't afford to rent. Luckily I bought at age 24. Then even with years of financial abuse I was lucky as mortgage was 60% of rent, then half of average rent, now it would be 30% of average rent.

But moving to a cheaper area means I'm mortgage free, so can just about afford to live on ctc and carers allowance as a carer.

Im so happy I bought at 24 as yes I would get housing benefit but I would have been subjected to universal credit years ago and not had the autonomy and freedom to move.

Also rent in the areas I have looked at, has always been more than a mortgage. Even factoring in repairs and maintenance.

But renting suits alot of people and whilst owning stacks up financially in the UK, renting should be made less Insecure.

There is the care issue with a growing no of people needing care in old age but more people remain in their homes and pass their property down. Whilst yes your property may need to be sold to pay for your care, it's not a done deal and most stats suggest that around 30% need to do so. That means 70% do not need to sell.

NRTWT -
Renting is simply buying some other twats house for them - Enjoy the feeling,
Me...I'd give the greedy fuckers nothing...zilch..nada..

Despise these parasites with a passion

@contentedsoul , I don't think you've thought this through. What would happen if there were no landlords?

Renting is simply buying some other twats house for them

twats? really?

I once added up how much money I'd spent on rent and how much that would have paid off a mortgage.

So yeah it is dead in that sense that whilst it buys a roof over your head, you don't get anything long term back for it.

Some people are bit unfair on landlords. I have been a landlord and 4 of my children have and in none of our cases did we ever want the property to deterioratea as it was one of our main assets. My sons have tenants who are not yet in a position to buy and I think trying out the area they just moved to first. There will always be people (even those tenants who have a toddler by the way) who don't want to or can't buy and they need places to rent

My daughter is about to complete on a house purchase and I was just doing a card which shows the houses she lived in from when we first bought the year she was born and each house since so been thinking about when people buy and my own progression from the first house we bought onwards.

Re the maths you need to calculate the money you pay in interest plus maintenance costs plus agents fees plus tax plus the money you loose through equity (this can be a bit hard to calculate but if you have an investment portfolio I’d just use you average return).

So what you actually make out of you property on sale will look like this:
Sold price

• tax
• fees (legal, estate agents, surveys)
• Upkeep (insurance, new kitchens, etc etc)
• interest payments
• equity payments
• deposit
• lost income/asset accumulation

Obviously there are situations where buying with a mortgage works out well financially. In particular when you buy below market value/in an upturn and sell with enough of a gain to make money after all of the costs above. Another instance when it will work quite well is when you buy a high yield property and rent it out making back your deposit money over a number of years while the rental income pays for the upkeep and interest payments etc . Or thirdly where it would cost you more to house yourself in the rental market than through buying (this is the case in some parts of the U.K.). By an large though buying a house with a mortgage is going to cost you far more than it would to rent. But there are other factors to consider like security vs risk of getting stuck, what is on offer in your local market, willingness to take the effort to invest money saved etc which will have an effect on the true value that will vary depending on individual circumstances.

@contentedsoul jealous much? You remind me of Seth from that book - “my land! Grrrr”

I think if your young, single and not sure what area or country you want to settle down, renting is fine. As soon as you have children it’s difficult, you have to change each time you have to move, you can’t have pets, with a family you need stability.

Change schools I meant

I think there is a time and a place for everything. When you are going, renting is ideal as it gives you maximum flexibility to move for work etc, plus no need to have responsibility if the boiler goes etc.

But when you have a family or are older, the lack of security of tenure in the uk can be problematic. Having to move house in the middle of a school year because the landlord needs to sell is a nightmare, for example. It can be helpful to be free of rent & mortgage in your latter years if your income drops in retirement.

We rented in our twenties and moved around, then bought before starting a family.

The thing about owning your own house is you are responsible for all the issues with it. It's all well and good owning for retirement but if you have a problem house it becomes a money pit that you're throwing your pension at.

I don't agree with bashing landlords - it is true there will always be people who would rather rent, and landlords are needed.

Having said that, I do think too many people have become too greedy, bought multiple properties alongside having jobs and secure income and effectively contributed to other people being in a position where they cannot buy - for various reasons, which include limited availability of reasonable quality housing in reasonable location which results in higher prices.

Good on such landlords that they are in a position to afford this, but it is necessary to recognise the negative impact of buying multiple properties too. There are other forms of investment than property which in my view more people should educate themselves on and try out.

It depends on your situation. My sister rents a 2 bed apartment for £650 a month close to the hospital she works at. We have a mortgage for £750 a month. She earns £30k a year, starting salary. If she moved back in with my parents, even after paying keep and travel costs she could save £1k a month. Alternatively she could rent a smaller flat but have longer commute and still save towards a deposit. One bed flats close to the hospital she works at are in the region of £60k for which she could get a mortgage on her own for. She just doesn't want the responsibility of a mortgage at her age (23) which is fair enough. Renting as a single person is a means to an end, renting with children is harder due to the lack of stability. Do what is best for you.

@Reginabambina
Not in the slightest
We paid our mortgage off in our late 40's after slogging our guts out for decades
Now debt free. We both work full time. one and a half of our income is surplus. So I'm in a prime position to jump on the bandwagon and screw others far less fortunate..but I wont.
Unlike others it seems I'm not greedy. But I am grateful...there is a difference.
If landlords were not so greedy, then why do they charge much much higher fees than social housing. Why if the tenant loses their job, are they then expected to vacate.
Honestly, I am unable to express my utter revulsion towards people that are happy to instigate misery on others so they themselves can have more. Just vile...fucking vile.

Just to note, the planet is dying because humans just want more than their fair share...sheer fucking greed!!

It’s very hard to save for a deposit and if you live in the south even more difficult. I don’t judge anyone who doesn’t own their own home, we were in the same situation until a couple of years ago.

I don't agree with this" By an large though buying a house with a mortgage is going to cost you far more than it would to rent"

For most people over time it will be cheaper to buy. Eg we paid off our mortgage on our last house by the time I was 35. I have also now paid off the mortgage no my current home. I will now live rent free for 30 years. How can that be more expensive than renting even if you factor in stamp duty and property repairs.