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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Rent or mortgage does it matter??

171 replies

Catty1720 · 07/01/2021 11:43

Me and my partner rent a lovely 2 bed apartment for 825 per month. We comfortably pay rent and bills between us and have enough left for the month.
He’s older than me (47) I’m 31.
We don’t have money for a deposit as we had to use savings when I became sick and needed time off to recover. My partner never ever begrudged this as a lot of the savings were his. We live in a town near to London so it is pricey to buy (or in my opinion it is)
I worry we don’t have a home of our own and probably due to ages never will. I save money for our DD so she will have something when she’s older it won’t be a lot but something.
Should I worry we won’t ever have a home of our own?? Am I unreasonable to stress over it? Would you say There’s pros and cons for both?

OP posts:

Viviennemary · 07/01/2021 11:45

Buying is nearly always better. IMHO. But caution is advised in an uncertain market like this one.

NeedCoffeeToSurvive · 07/01/2021 11:53

We rent, 3 bed house for £695 a month. We have a two year old and 2nd baby on the way and whilst I'd love to own our own home, the idea of the stress, potential to lose so much money if the sale falls through, risks if anything goes wrong with the property absolutely terrifies me. At least with renting, we know any faults are not our responsibility to fix.

We have a rather significant plumbing issue with our rental property that might cost a couple hundred to fix now, but if left could cost thousands because eventually the pipes will fail, this isn't our responsibility to fix so I don't have to deal with the stress of the work and cost. If we owned this house I'd probably sell rather than deal with it.
Plus we know if we ever want to move, just give our notice period and find somewhere new. We're not tied into a property with thousands of pounds on a mortgage. Another bonus is the money we have that could be used to buy a property we can use for other things.

2pinkginsplease · 07/01/2021 11:54

I would rather have a mortgage at least you know that the house will eventually be yours with nothing to pay on it. In 5 years our mortgage is paid off, my mum at 72 still rents and still has to pay her rent money. Circumstances meant she couldn’t get a mortgage.

Only thing with a mortgage is when something goes wrong, eg heating, leaky roof then you need to find the money for repairs.

FinallyFluid · 07/01/2021 11:55

A mortgage is posh rent.

FinallyFluid · 07/01/2021 11:56

You need somewhere to live, if you can manage it you may as well pay your own mortgage as opposed to someone else's.

Sway19 · 07/01/2021 12:00

@NeedCoffeeToSurvive If we owned this house I'd probably sell rather than deal with it.

You sound clueless. Do you have any idea how much money it costs to move?

pinfloy · 07/01/2021 12:00

Another bonus is the money we have that could be used to buy a property we can use for other things.

It's very unlikely you'll have more money from renting than buying in the long term. Rents only ever go up. When we bought our house our mortgage payment was similar to the cost to rent the same house, now the rent would be double whilst our mortgage payment has decreased.

DianaT1969 · 07/01/2021 12:01

In your position I'd be thinking of where you will live when you are retired. Do you have good pensions, or could you be able to save enough to buy a small, property in 20 years. I hear that buy to let mortgages are less profitable now, but if you are both employed and can get a mortgage, I would be tempted to get a buy to let in a cheaper area and let that tenant pay the mortgage off for you. Not saying being a landlord is easy or without risks though. Particularly now, when it can take 6 months to evict non-paying tenants. I assume there is some landlord insurance for that (I'm not one).

2pinkginsplease · 07/01/2021 12:03

@pinfloy I agree, our neighbours rent their house and pay more than DOUBLE our mortgage!

user1471462428 · 07/01/2021 12:03

Just to add the other side I have a mortgage and currently don’t have a job. Universal credit do not help you with your mortgage until you have claimed for 9 months. I have 200 pounds left after I’ve paid my mortgage and I’m on my arse financially. My best friend is in a similar position gets her rent paid and can spend her universal credit on essentials and then a couple of things I consider treat ie Netflix. I will be paying my mortgage till I’m 65 and I doubt I’ll live beyond that.

emilyfrost · 07/01/2021 12:03

Financially you’ll always be better off with a mortgage, so it’s always worth saving for one.

FooFighter99 · 07/01/2021 12:04

We rent, and can't afford to save a deposit for a mortgage, so short of a lottery win I think we'll always be renters

My mum and 2 older brothers are horrified that we can't buy a house, and see it as a massive issue that we'll never own a property....

But I'm not sure why it's so important to them

We're happy where we are, have been renting the same house for nearly 7 years and have a good relationship with our landlord/agency and they respond quickly whenever we have something that needs sorting

It's swings and roundabouts isn't it

CakeRequired · 07/01/2021 12:06

Would you be able to get a mortgage though that's affordable given your ages? He's 47 so getting close to retirement, or at least a lot closer than you. A bank might only lend to him until retirement age, so you'd have 20 years probably max if they are picky and go by his age. That means the repayments will be larger, and as you have no decent deposit, will make them even bigger.

However if you can afford it, go for it. There's nothing stopping you really, it is just what a bank will lend you that's preventing you. I'm not sure if they would take into account your sickness either to be honest.

Talk to a broker and see what you can afford. You'll never know unless you try.

Mintjulia · 07/01/2021 12:07

Yabu that you think you can't have a home of your own.Your partner has 20 working years, you have 34. That should be enough to buy somewhere if you want to, although you may have to cut back a bit, as everyone does while they save up.

If you have a housing association tenancy then there's not much difference in terms of security, but if a private tenancy, you are reliant n your landlord being fair, and being alive for all the time you want to live there. That would worry me.

HollyBollyBooBoo · 07/01/2021 12:08

Always better long term to pay for a mortgage. Let's say you pay £500 a month for 25 years for a mortgage but £500 a month for life for rent. No brainer.

Manteo · 07/01/2021 12:08

Mortgages usually go down over the years. Rent usually goes up.

Original poster

Catty1720 · 07/01/2021 12:09

@DianaT1969 we are lucky that we both work full time for a supermarket not glamorous I know but both with over 10 years there our pension is good. That’s my main worry all well and good now but long term it’s not ideal.

OP posts:

NeedCoffeeToSurvive · 07/01/2021 12:09

@Sway19 I am clueless about property ownership, buying/selling a property and mortgages because I don't own a property and don't have experience of this. I moved in December, from one rental to another, and it cost me probably around £2500. Like I said if we owned this property, I'd probably sell instead of fixing the issues because the property has a low value already, the issues could cost thousands to fix and won't actually add any value to the property.

notangelinajolie · 07/01/2021 12:09

Renting a lovely apartment is great when you are young and working and can afford it but not so great when you get old and have no pension because you have spent all your money on a nice lifestyle. Where will you live then?

schmockdown · 07/01/2021 12:10

@FinallyFluid

A mortgage is posh rent.

Ridiculous.

If you rent, you rent FOREVER.

Original poster

Catty1720 · 07/01/2021 12:10

I know we have a lot of working time left abs can save we did to have the savings we had to use but obviously his age will make things harder. I want a home I just wanted over opinions I know long term best

OP posts:

TheNanny23 · 07/01/2021 12:11

There isn’t anything wrong with renting, but Christ despite having renovated our property ourselves as we bought a house that hadn’t been updated in 30 years, I can tell you actually renting was way more stressful. I hated the house inspections, things going wrong and having to nag and nag someone else to fix it, not having things the way you’d like, the rent going up...

We have gone from owning 0% of our property (got 100% springboard mortgage) to 25% in 3 years. It feels good knowing our money is going into our asset.

Bluntness100 · 07/01/2021 12:12

Of course it’s better to buy, because at some point you have paid off the mortgage and uou own it, in addition it grows in value long term snd you get equity, now you’re both faced with rent post retirement.

If you both work, and have disposable income, can’t you save a deposit? Then buy?

What happens if the rental market goes crazy? And you get priced out to an extent you need to move etc?

TheNanny23 · 07/01/2021 12:13

Honestly I would stop putting money away for your daughter depending how old she is. Much better to put money towards a stable home for the family, can cross the future university money bridge when you come to it.

Plussizejumpsuit · 07/01/2021 12:14

I wasn't fussed over owning my own home really. But we wanted to because where is that £800 pounds or in our case £1250 a month going to come from in retirement?

Where as hopefully we will have paid off the mortgage by then. I couldn't afford a deposit in London so we moved to Newcastle and bought here.

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