To feel so depressed about renting?

[Gardentiger]

When I think about housing I just feel so depressed. All we want is somewhere we can stay long term and have a pet, but I geuinly don't think we will ever be able to afford even the cheapest house, as prices are increasing faster than we can save. There is nowhere to rent around here either, so if our landlord sells up or wants rid of us it would probably be a case of completely upping sticks to move to a different area and getting new jobs. I just feel so sad when I think of the future, it just feels completely hopeless.

is so upsetting to read your post. The government got it so wrong and it was so predictable. When it decided to significantly increase taxing on renting, increase legal requirements and then made it even harder to evict tenants, it was inevitable that landlords would sell.

People go on and on about how being a landlord is running a business but then complain when they indeed treat it like a business, and therefore sell when it stops making money, especially in a thriving market.

There was an increasing pressure on social housing and they now made it worse. They treated tenants like scums and now find they need them.

I'm really sorry OP you are finding yourself unable to buy due to the market going wild and worried that you could be homeless any day. I suspect my tenants feel just like you. Thankfully, I don't have any intention to sell yet, but yes, it is very tempting when I could make such good money from doing so. They has not been a similar property to the same standard for rental in the town for a year now.

Rented for 10 years & moved lots
Worked 3 jobs to save deposit & lived frugally
Then got a better paid job

I actually look back on those days fondly
I worked in 3 different places, so 3 different sorts of people
Sundays off

Some LL allow pets, ask around

Look on the bright side OP. Flexibility.

Shit neighbours can completely ruin your life even if you've just bought the house of your dreams.

@PartridgeFeather

Look on the bright side OP. Flexibility.

Shit neighbours can completely ruin your life even if you've just bought the house of your dreams.

This also happens to renters, especially with a shortage of houses. You can't get away from bad neighbours of there's nowhere to move to!

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

If you have no children then you are free to work second jobs etc to save for a deposit. You can move to a cheaper area or one with better jobs etc. Home ownership was important to me so I worked long long hours and went without many things in order to get a deposit as did many of my friends.

We both already have second jobs, some of the money from which gets sucked up by normal life expenses because my wages are so shit. After everything we can save up about 400 a month, but house prices are increasing faster than we can save. The cheapest houses here are around 200 thousand, so for a ten percent deposit we'd be looking at about 4 or 5 more years saving at the very least, by which time I imagine that price will have increased to about 250. It will get to the point that we will be completely priced out as any houses will go beyond the 4.5 x income borrowing limit.

Also cheaper areas tend not to be the ones with better jobs.

I'm not sating well never be able to buy, but it doesn't seem particularly likely. Also the 'get extra jobs' line never takes into account things like disability.

@TwoZeroTwoZero

I was a single woman with no dc when I got my 1st house: a 2 bed house with a decent sized garden. I also had a dog.

Apply anyway.

When was that though @TwoZeroTwoZero ?

You probably don't want to move to buy ?

I was looking on Rightmove today
I don't know the areas, but I like to browse
2 bedroom flats near Liverpool, Manchester £40k
3 bed semi, fully renovated house Stoke 105k, terraced are less

new shared ownership model allows you to buy from a starting 10% share. so that will have a very small deposit.

or if you can't manage a couple of thousand for deposit and fees yet;

hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/rent-to-buy/

Try this. find a housing association near you thats offering it. After 5 years of discounted rent you can then move onto a shared ownership tenancy too and stay forever. its also not allocated in the same way as social housing is, so you will be eligible

It’s shit OP we are in same position and it feels like all of my colleagues are lucky enough to have had parental help to get the cash for a deposit or have moved straight out from living with their parents and have been able to save for a deposit that way . If I had a secure home whether it was social housing or mortgaged and not at the whim of a landlord I would feel like a weight had been taken off my mind .

As you don't have kids, moving area is easier as you don't need to worry about schools, but you may have a long commute. Most homeowners I know have stories of living in less that perfect situations just to get on the housing ladder.

I started in a bedsit, then bought a one bedroom flat, then met my husband. Many people wouldn't consider living in a bedsit and think their first home should be a two bedroom with a garden etc, but I'm. so glad I started so small when if I'd waited, the sacrifices to get on the ladder would have been greater.

It will be hard, but it's doable.
It's about priorities.

The issue with moving up north is that I am currently in the south West, so who would run my parents to hospital appointments / care for them when they get older and start having more health issues?

I wish people would stop suggesting that moving hundreds of miles up country is easy or feasible. It isn't for a lot of people. Just because we don't gave children doesn't mean we're not tied to the area we live. Also it's absurd this idea that it's okay that normal people are priced out of basically half the country.

@beigebrownblue

I wouldn't rule it out. Depending on the policy, if you are given notice by your landlord which may not happen for a long time you are in a higher priority band,

also some give points for working in the area, living there for a long time, disabilty etc.

E

Depends where she lives. In my area you can't even get on the list if serious domestic violence and risk of being killed and several other areas I've approached tell you no local connection. They tell you to just rent private. In my situation nowhere safe as disability benefits and landlords don't take you. It's not much better if you have children in my area though.

@Gardentiger

The issue with moving up north is that I am currently in the south West, so who would run my parents to hospital appointments / care for them when they get older and start having more health issues?

I wish people would stop suggesting that moving hundreds of miles up country is easy or feasible. It isn't for a lot of people. Just because we don't gave children doesn't mean we're not tied to the area we live. Also it's absurd this idea that it's okay that normal people are priced out of basically half the country.

Not saying move hundreds of miles, just cheaper than where you are. In some areas, this could be 50miles, or just an estate 5miles up the road that isn't very desirable. you buy where you can afford then move closer to your 'ideal forever home' as you move up the ladder. Moving up the ladder isn't necessarily about bigger, just more what suits you and in. your instance it might be that you move closer to your parents as they get older.

Either buying rather than renting is the priority, or something else is.

Harsh, but if your parents need to be near you for care, maybe they need to follow you to a cheaper city, possibly freeing up their own equity if they have it to help you out.
You can’t sacrifice your chance to save and get secure housing because you can’t afford an area that they can. They can get equity release and afford a taxi.

Obviously I’m being simplistic here, and feel free to come back and tell me your parents are renting a council house.

But… in principle, I wouldn’t stay in an area with such a huge adverse financial impact on me, for my parents’ sake, without them sharing the burden.

The insecure feeling is very tough.
Are you eligible for a buy to let scheme, Irish laws and procedures usually follow the UK for most things, Is there a county council loan mortgage for renters, afaik here you need 3 bank refusals to apply it was introduced under the EU so unsure if available but worth looking up.

Landlord here, I use openrent when I want new tenants. I allow pets, and I generally rent to people trying to get on the property ladder so charge under market rent because I've been there, I fulfill all my obligations and sort problems as fast as I can. I've generally had lovely tenants and I'd certainly say don't give up, there are LL out there even in your area but you need to plug away at it.

DH & I rented for several years plus before we got our own house. He’s quite the saver where as I’m not so much. We did it and had our 2nd had our child in that time, it can be done.

We use to think we’d never be able to do it. All the odds were against us, no family to help, on our own.

Took us best part of about 9 years. It was hard, really had to tighten our belts, there was a lot of ‘no’s’ to mostly anything that me or could kids asked for if it wasn’t necessary. We ended up buying a 2 bed, when we really needed a 3 bed as we have a ds & dd, but we could see that we could split one of the bedrooms in the future so it could eventually become a 3 bed, but we couldn’t afford to do that straight away so we slept on the floor for around 12-18 months.

I think, if I am correct we are probably only one of the countries obsessed to actually own our homes, many many countries just rent.

It’s crazy as sometimes rent is actually more than what a mortgage would be. We paid a lot in our mortgage for the first few years as we took the help to buy scheme, I think, but for the last so many years our mortgage has been less than we ever paid in rent.

@Gardentiger

The issue with moving up north is that I am currently in the south West, so who would run my parents to hospital appointments / care for them when they get older and start having more health issues?

I wish people would stop suggesting that moving hundreds of miles up country is easy or feasible. It isn't for a lot of people. Just because we don't gave children doesn't mean we're not tied to the area we live. Also it's absurd this idea that it's okay that normal people are priced out of basically half the country.

There are thousands of houses in the southwest for a lot less than 200k!, you don’t have to start out in a house anyway, where are you looking exactly?

It wouldn't be ridiculous to live with your parents for 12 months, paying rent while saving a deposit when there is a room available is ridiculous.