Question for homeowners - do you look down on or judge your neighbours that rent?

[Sophiehoney]

I've always been a renter, for reasons not relevant to the question
I live in a large three bed house in a nice area, everyone around me owns, as do most people in the street.
I've noticed since moving in that all the neighbours who own talk to each other and my nice owner NDN said that as soon as she moved in, everyone was so nice and welcomed her to the street, I've noticed they will always stop and talk to her by their cars.
If I say hello or I wave good morning, I get ignored or I get a grunt or hurried answer. I've never made any noise, been anti social in any way, or had enough of a conversation with anyone to have possibly upset then!

I've also seen things online that made me 😮 someone complaining about someone taking up an on-street parking space - "he rents! Everyone else here owns!" as if owning your house makes you more entitled to the road next to it.
I also saw a thread on Facebook about bad neighbours and someone said "never buy anywhere near a rental property, tenants don't care about their homes or their neighbours" and loads agreeing with her. The OP hadn't even specified if the disruptive neighbours were owners or renters!

I've also had a block management company refuse to give me an access code to a side gate in the flat I live in even after I proved I was a resident because "someone keeps letting people into the building who shouldn't be here so we're only giving the code to owners'.

So I'm wondering if this is a common theme - be honest, please. Do you look down on renters? Do you judge? Think they are going to be trouble? Think they have less right to be there?

Just FWIW, I'm a working professional, I'm clean, tidy, considerate, friendly, and I pay more in rent than a lot of people pay for their mortgage, and all the same bills the owners do.

But what does that have to do with whether they rent or own?
Owners do those things too and can be just as awful.

I couldn't even tell you for sure which of our neighbours rent or owns unless I had seen a for sale sign out the front of their house.

It literally has zero impact on my life. Therefore, I don't give it a second thought, never mind a first thought.

Some people will look down on others because they can for whatever reason tickles their fancy. Usually those with low self worth and even lower self esteem. They seem to need this weird type of validation of having more or being better to boost themselves.

Try not to let it bother you.

I would like people to care for their property, whether they rent or own, so if the houses look scruffy and uncared for, then I do judge. Unless they have an illness or disability that prevents them from doing so.

There are a couple round here that are definitely in that category and it’s because they have just ignored the mess. That’s annoying and spoils the area for everyone.

I don't look down on renters. I feel sorry for them when they are having to spend so much money on rent and will always have to if they don't buy.

Same. I wouldn't know if some of them owned it or were renting

God no. I rented for years. There’s a lot of privileged snobbery on MN about renting for some reason. Not everyone can afford to buy, especially in this climate, and shock horror - not everyone wants to.

When I lived in my last place, we were the only owners in the block and I did notice that we were the only ones who tried to take care of communal areas etc. But during my many years of renting I always looked after the places I rented, and took good care of them. I certainly wouldn’t look down on anyone who rents.

Owners do those things too and can be just as awful.

Exactly, but your question was about renters. PP highlighted the types of renters they judge. Had your question been about homeowners, they'd have answered that question instead.

The PP did not say all renters behave in that way, or that renters are the only ones to be behave in that way. They gave an example of the types of renters they judge.

No, but I do judge the landlord of our neighbour renters for being a complete bodge artist yet charging rent more than double our mortgage.

I wouldn't know who rents or owns and I wouldn't look down on anyone anyway.

On the flipside, our home is an ex rental and the surrounding neighbours welcomed us with open arms when we moved in as the LL was a 🍆

The bodges we’ve uncovered so far have been eye watering at times 😳

I don’t understand LL that don’t do a ‘good job’ on any repairs etc as at the end of the day it’s an asset 🤯 have the bodges put us back in our plan for the house, absofeckinlutley however our outlook is do a job once and do it well 🤦‍♀️ perhaps we are in the minority 🤷‍♀️

Yes but your question was if homeowners judge renters. This poster would only judge a renter who deserved to be judged I imagine.

Funnily a friend of mine who has brought a house on a new build goes to extreme measures to tell me she’s not the social housing end. But I think that’s more to do with it being social housing rather than rented.

1. I don't know who rents in my neighborhood.
2. No.

I own my own home and couldn't care less what my neighbours' householder status is, as long as they are decent people and good neighbours. I certainly don't look down on anyone who rents.

I was cleaning at a house when the landlord arrived to "fix" the leak on the wash basin for my client. It needed a new plastic coupling, the sort of thing you can get for under £2.50. Any fool could see the part was broken.

He had all the parts with him to put one on there & then, but oh no, he decided that by moving the pipes about it had stopped the leak.

To this day the wash basin still leaks.

We had exactly the same thing with one house we rented.
We were referred to as "the renters" to our faces.
Bizarre

No, but I would definitely look down on an owner landlord who converted their property into an HMO

tbh I don’t look down on renters but would make less effort to befriend them as most renters in my street are only there for 6 months to a year

No because I've done both, including in another country where renting for life is far more normalised.

I can sort of understand the logic behind the "renters don't take such good care of/have pride in their homes" assumption because if I'm honest it was the case when I was renting -I didn't have any particular strong feeling about the house or the area because I wasn't planning on being there forever, and I certainly wasn't going to spend my own money on improving it without reaping the long term benefit and with the risk I could be evicted at any time.

Obviously I realise that doesn't apply to everyone -I know renters who did make significant improvements to theirhomes and owners whose houses are completely messy and unmaintained. But I understand why people make that generalisation.

The nicest of my neighbours are the renters. I hardly get a word out of the other neighbours, who like me, have lived here for decades, but the rental couple go out of their way to be helpful and have a good chat when we see each other.

Big sign in the garden before OP moved in saying either FOR SALE or TO LET.

I don't care. I have had a series of renters next door to me, all have been lovely. I remember we thought about moving from our old house and renting it out. Some of the neighbours were horrified at the thought of renters and protested loudly.

And with regard the idea that renters don't care about the property, I think the very opposite is true. I a spilt something and stained the carpet, I'd have a half arsed attempt at cleaning it. If I was renting and stained the carpet I'd be panicking and trying everything I could to clean it.

I judge the renter who doesn't do any weeding and leaves crap all over their drive, doesn't maintain their fences and piles rubbish in their garden. I also judge the homeowner who leaves their windows to rot, doesn't clean up dog shit and has a tatty garden.

I don't judge the renter who popped over to introduce themselves and is always pleasant, and couldn't reassure me enough when I apologised for dickhead dog running into their garden.

But as a homeowner of the same house for 20 years, I am absolutely judged and outright hated by the other homeowners for "moving in and thinking I can change everything when they've been here all their lives" so there's no winners.

No, of course I don’t judge or look down on renters! What an odd question ,

No, I don't even know who rents around here