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.

Hmmm... I definitely don’t think like you OP as I am 45 and really worried now about my old age and how I will afford rent with my pension alone. I pay £1400 a month for a one bedroom flat in a fairly cheap area in London. I know I could be paying less if I had a mortgage and securing my future home at the same time. Finding it hard to save for a deposit though and worrying by the time I do I will be too old to get a mortgage. It is all one big worry to be honest!

I guess I would just be worried about a plan for housing when I retire. Some people can save and then buy in a cheaper location - though hopefully somewhere with facilities for older people. there are also some retirement flats on a lease. I don’t know what financial planners would advise. I guess long term council housing is now hard to come across but that might be an alternative?

My grandmother still lives in the council house she moved to when my dad was 5. She is 97 now, and it seems to have worked for her.
But then I met a lady at work recently who is in her late 60s. She lost a lot in a divorce and says she now rents, and has no choice but to keep working 'forever'. I didn't know what to say. We are in the same industry as my parents, who both retired at 50. Since then they have bought and sold a few properties, and now live in a fancy 5 bed house with a huge garden.
I would buy if you can.

But Shinycat, if you don't want to replace your roof at 55, you have the option of selling your house. If you have paid the mortage off you will be £250k up (or whatever the house is valued at).

@poetryinaction your grandmother is lucky, there are hardly any council houses left, renting from a private LL is a different ball game.

On the estate where we live houses are anything up to 1k PCM to rent whereas we pay £400 pcm mortgage... This isn’t uncommon, mortgages are almost always cheaper than renting. Renting is dead money in a sense although you are obviously paying for a house to live in. It’s just putting money into someone else’s pocket really and never having anything to show for it. You move out and someone else moves in, it’s never completely yours.

@Shinycat when you have paid off your mortgage at 45 and still working you can save £800 a month say instead of paying rent, in ready for your twilight years to pay for maintenance on your property, you can also downsize and hopefully put a couple 100 thousand back in the bank.

@shinycat

Your post makes zero sense- if you have paid off your mortgage entirely by age 55 then this:

New roof? 10 grand. New boiler and heating system? 5 grand. New windows? 5 grand. New kitchen? 6 grand. New bathroom? 5 grand. New electrical panel? £650. New garage roof? £1200

Wont be a problem because you'll be living rent/mortgage free. That means you'll have £800 saved a month. Also- apart from replacing tiles, I have literally never heard of a single person having to have their ENTIRE roof replaced. I'm sure it does happen but its not the common thing you have to have done every decade like you make out it is. Also- a new bathroom and kitchen is not necessary if you are perfectly happy with your old one. If you think LL just decide one day to replace the entire bathroom and kitchen in their tenants property just to give them a shiny new updated version then think again- that's never happening lol
Another hole in your argument is that not everyone is going to get housing benefit - what then?

I'm aiming to save around £100 per month for 70.5 months in order to afford a deposit for a small, modest flat or house in a reasonable area. I will be buying it on my own and that's all I need.
So this will take me a little under 6 years, I refuse to live on beans and toast and live in misery for years just to afford it, I admire people who do that but i don't want to, i'd rather just save more slowly.

That sounds very sensible and above all- realistic, which is the most important thing with goal setting

@Gin96 No, get no UC as both working ft.

On the very high home owner costs above that is not the case for most people. Whilst my fatehr did decide to put in new windows when our mother died (they bought the house in 1961) as she had not liked in her later years having work men in and repairs inside and had it repainted it did not cost a vast amount as quoted here and the local painters were not very expensive.

I did just have £1600 of painting done here but I have a very large house, can afford it (work full time as a lawyer). My neighbour who is 85 has simply chosen not to have some work done on her unmortgaged house and she can live with a reasonable state of disrepair. Neither she nor I would feel we need "new bathrooms" for example. My bathrooms are fine. I don't need the latest new stuff - happy with what I have if it works. I do keep on top of any repairs and do a lot of DIY myself which gives you self satisfaction, builds your skills and is quite fun.

However people who choose to rent or have no choice but to rent -that's fine too. I don't think people go around looking down on renters - in fact how would you even know unless someone told you?

For me, paying towards my mortgage will give me stability, assets and options when I'm older and don't want to work anymore.

And then there is the bedroom tax, another issue when your children leave home as your rent payments from UC go down quite a bit

@RainMinusBow make sure you get everything you’re entitled to if you are both on a low wage, all the best

I’m an accidental landlord in that I was lucky enough to buy in 2003 (days of 100% mortgages) but then lost job and had to move away for new job so rented it out. It’s just about washed it’s face in terms of outlay versus rental income but has thankfully over doubled in value and now have about 300k equity in it. So it was a good buy.

That said, it is now becoming a hassle as starting to need lots doing and I’m a flight away, so it’s on the market and hoping to shift it. I’ll not buy another to rent out, too much hassle.

Def can see the benefits of renting: mobility, lack of responsibility for repairs etc, but downsides too: less security, paying someone else’s mortgage, not building up equity. So comes down to circumstance and personal choice.

If you can buy, it’s a good way (potentially) to move up housing ladder whilst interest rates are low because you’re paying off so much capital. Think I was lucky buying at a good time but now want to get out of London market and it’s not proving that easy to sell

OP, are you calculating your saving plan on current prices or on the forecast in 6 years' time (if there is a reliable one?). In all likelihood the prices will go up by then, so it's pretty sensible to squeeze in a bit more than £100 pcm if you can. And I mean even £150 or £200 pcm might make a difference and wouldn't necessarily mean living on beans on toast for the whole month. Do you have a home buying ISA? Also banks do offer 95% LTV mortgages, TSB and Natwest I believe do. Sometimes it's more about being savvy and less about denying yourself everything.

@Casino218 let’s hope you have good health and you don’t have to sell it.

@GinDaddy good point.

I love the freedom that renting gives me. Being able to move easily and decide how much I want to spend on accommodation depending on my current income is brilliant.