Not sure if I want to buy a house, anyone else decided not to?

[Drumstick38]

I earn minimum wage, though I am currently applying for higher paid roles.
I have zero debt apart from student loans which is good, and about £1700 in savings.
I can't see how I could ever afford a deposit, as well as all the associated fees. I'm in Greater Manchester and having to look in Bolton, Wigan, Rochdale etc. As everything else is much more expensive.

Aside from this, I think the responsibility of paying a mortgage would be too much for me. I've already lost money this week due to having Covid and having to isolate, I'd be too worried about losing my job or something and not being able to pay.

The repair and maintenance costs are a factor too of buying a house.

I like the flexibility of renting, I don't have any pets and I like that more responsibility falls on the landlord.

The thing that people seem concerned about is in retirement age, and whether people can afford to keep renting, but surely there must be solutions?

Anyone else in a similar situation?

I am only able to save about £200 per month currently, i only pay £390 rent including bills per month. Moving back in with parents isn't an option as they don't have a spare bedroom.

If you can't afford your rent in your retirement years, it all gets paid for by benefits so YANBU if that is one of the main reasons you want to keep renting.

That's good, as I don't think that people over retirement age should go homeless just because they couldn't afford to buy a house in working age?
But people seem to make out that you're screwed if you rent in retirement age.

How long is it until you intend to retire? Mortgages are often 25-35 years long (although can be less). There's absolutely nothing wrong with never wanting buy, but equally it probably doesn't have to be a now or never decision either?

@Babyroobs

If you can't afford your rent in your retirement years, it all gets paid for by benefits so YANBU if that is one of the main reasons you want to keep renting.

Presumably there are limits on this though? It must be quite a low rent so not necessarily covering the rent someone is paying while working?

I can see your point, and I’m not sure of the right answer but all I would say is that over a number of years my mortgage payments have felt less expensive whilst rents seem to have gone up. You’re not wrong about repair costs etc though.

Yes that's true, I'm 30 now so will likely be working for another 35 years at least?
There seems to be so much stigma with regard to renting for some reason, friends talking about it as throwing money down the drain, paying landlord's mortgage etc. But at the end of the day it's putting a roof over your head.

If you own a house you’ll likely be paying tens if not hundreds of thousands in interest to the bank for borrowing the money so whilst it’s an ‘investment’ in reality it’s far more complex.

By the time someone has tallied up mortgage payments, repair costs which can be huge and are often unexpected , legal fees from purchasing and any mortgage fees it’s not actually a great deal.

If you want to rent, just rent, I don’t know why it’s such a hot topic at the minute. I enjoyed renting when I did, totally risk free, I just existed and didn’t worry about the little cracks appearing or the boiler losing pressure for the third time today or the radiator that doesn’t work or the damp gable end wall or the sewage spewing into our garden or party wall dispute. The list is fucking endless when you own the property.

The other problem is that renting is very insecure. You may have to move many times in your life even if you don't want to.

Also by buying you crystallise your housing costs in one respect; interest rates etc may change but the amount owed is at the market rate when you bought and gradually you decrease that with repayments. Whereas rents will tend to continue to rise at least with inflation meaning that housing costs as a proportion of your income never reduce as they would usually with buying a property, over a number of years.

Buying is hard. Most people have to save hard, buy somewhere that isn't in their ideal location or their ideal property initially, and then gradually trade up until they are in a house they are happy with. But on balance, given the way the property market and rental market functions in the UK, for most people it's worth buying - if they can.

Feel like it's an expectation to buy a property, I know of people buying new builds at 22/23 years old and wondering how on earth they managed.
Honestly want to enjoy my life, it's going to take me years to save for a decent deposit on my salary. I'm glad to see more open minded attitudes on this thread at least.

We are in a similar position though really hope to buy eventually. It’s very hard to save for a deposit and pay rent at the same time. I do like the fact the land lord is in charge of maintenance and although I have no intention leaving the area I like that I could just flit elsewhere with ease should I choose! There is a lot to be said for renting!

Sorry, I should go on 😂 that’s just a snippet of our lives since buying the house 3 years ago and it’s not unusual stuff all totally normal but just always unexpected and inconvenient and takes brain power to resolve when I don’t want to think about those things. I like just living 😀

@Drumstick38

That's good, as I don't think that people over retirement age should go homeless just because they couldn't afford to buy a house in working age? But people seem to make out that you're screwed if you rent in retirement age.

Well, nobody of any age should be homeless for any reason.

You don't say how old you are, but I agree with pp that it doesn't have to be a now or never decision.

If you're happy with the pros of renting and not bothered by the insecurity then you're free to make your decisions accordingly. Your rent costs do seem unusually low tbh though.

I've rented for 12 years now since going to uni at 18, apart from a brief few months back at parents and fortunately I've only had to move once due to the landlord selling up.

Should have said I split the rent with my partner, just a bit tired of being asked when I'm going to buy a property, and renting being a dirty word. It's madness

@Drumstick38

I've rented for 12 years now since going to uni at 18, apart from a brief few months back at parents and fortunately I've only had to move once due to the landlord selling up.

I rented for a similar number of years before buying, OP. When I think now of all of that money, it makes me cringe. Over £100k spent on rent and nothing to show for it. Sure when you have a mortgage some of what you pay goes on interest, but some is also purchasing you an asset. Alongside the freedom to have a home that is genuinely secure (provided you keep up repayments obviously! 😂).

One of the reasons I bought was because I didn't want rent costs to spiral upwards in case my salary didn't. However, over the years maintenance costs can be huge. Replacing bathrooms and the kitchen, roof repairs, redecorating, plumbers, rewiring, new driveway, new windows, new internal and external doors and the list goes on. Maybe renting would have been cheaper.

Other people's opinions about renting don't have to affect you unless you choose to adopt them as your own opinions.

30, so your views might change and if they do you can make different decisions. If and until then, crack on with how you want to live - as long as it's not hurting anyone, who cares?

Yes you're right I shouldn't care what they think, it's up to me.
It's a bit like the whole stigma of not wanting a child as a woman of child bearing age.

@Maddermax

One of the reasons I bought was because I didn't want rent costs to spiral upwards in case my salary didn't. However, over the years maintenance costs can be huge. Replacing bathrooms and the kitchen, roof repairs, redecorating, plumbers, rewiring, new driveway, new windows, new internal and external doors and the list goes on. Maybe renting would have been cheaper.

This is true, but also that's not really wasted money as renovations/ refurbishment increases the value of the property. Yes, it's a cash cost. But far better than being charged more to live in the same place because your rental payment includes an estimation of what such maintenance will cost, so effectively paying those costs anyway just more smoothed out and for a property you don't even own!

Honestly I find ownership more stressful than renting. I'm very house proud though and have a compulsion to make a place my own - DIY, decorating etc (I'm pretty sure this has deep psychological roots).

I rather envy people who are happy with any old roof over their heads. It gives them so much more freedom - both literally and psychologically.

I also suspect that renting can often be cheaper in the long run, particularly if mortgages are involved. As long as you put money into good pensions and investments so that you can cover costs in retirement, I can't see why renting shouldn't be a sensible long term plan.

I think a good idea if you like the flexibility of renting e.g. to be able to move areas easily etc, a good solution which several people I know have done is to buy a property and rent it out, and also rent yourself. That way you have flexibility in your own living arrangements but also the security of a property to live in should you need it at some point. The Government have obviously made this far more difficult in recent years though, by taxing landlords at higher rates than any other occupation. So depending on circumstances, for some this is no longer viable. Hence fewer rental properties available and rents rising even further in recent years! 🤦🏻‍♀️

God, the whole ‘renting is money down the drain!’ thing is irritating and exhausting isn’t it?

It’s payment for a roof over your head. Just because you don’t own the roof in the end doesn’t make it wasted money. You spent those years with a home for crying out loud. It’s like saying eating food is money down the drain because once it’s provided it’s nutritional value you no longer own it.

Nine times out of ten it’s spoken by someone who can’t understand the idea that not everyone can buy and that for many renting is a permanent situation. It just smacks of privilege.

I think it’s your circle of friends OP. I’ve had friendship circles where buying literally never came up as it wasn’t even tangentially realistic as an option. And circles where nobody rented.

Laugh it off, ‘I’m happy where I am for now thanks’ or if you want to be more direct (which I recommend) a ‘huh, what a personal question!’ And subject change.

If you can anyway afford it I'd 100% go for it.
If you don't you end up paying someone else's mortgage for them and have nothing go show for it at the end.
Property is the best investment you'll ever make. End of. House prices over the years rise exponentially.

I’m in a similar situation OP. Due to circumstance, DH and I will never be able to afford to buy. Around us, most of our friends have bought at the right time (pre crash and stricter lending criteria, 100% mortgages etc) or had family help.

Every once in a while I look wistfully at their lovely show homes and feel a pang of envy.

Until I realise that their mortgage payments are over double our rent payments. One friend has just moved in to a new build house which is lovely but they are mortgaged up to their eyeballs for the next 30 years and rely heavily on employment in an unsteady industry.

They aren’t in high flying careers so the mind boggles how they’ve managed to max out buying on their income but it’s all about moving up the ladder for them.

They have a beautiful home in comparison to my rented shabby chic, but honestly, I’d rather have the extra money to spend on myself and my DC than put it in to bricks and mortar. They will be under a lot of stress if a life event such as redundancy occurs.

I’m starting to accept that renting will be it for us and maybe it won’t be so bad