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.

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"

I had one of these ass-holes when I moved in. I was so pleased when she moved away.

I had the audacity to replace one of my front windows with a door combination so I could access my front garden from the lounge.

"It'll take some getting used to" she told me, in respect of how the front of my apartment now looked. I asked her if she spent much time looking at my front windows, given that she lived in the apartment above me and rarely went out.

That went down like a lead balloon.

I own an ex council flat in a small estate in an affluent area, some are still council, some are owned and some are privately rented. It’s the occupiers of the rented flats who cause the most issues and make the place look untidy - letting their dogs make a mess outside the front of the blocks, kids toys everywhere, police visits and screaming at their kids, so I do judge them, especially when it has an impact on my home and I am a high tax payer who helps these people.

I only realised this was a thing for some people when we left London when I was on maternity leave and rented a house in a midlands village, and people started saying ‘Oh, you’re the renters!’ in tones of great surprise, because we were prosperous professionals in our 40s, and clearly didn’t fit their idea of renters.

In fairness, I think it was probably the only house for rent in a trad Tory village where property ownership was equivalent to the gospel, and the only reason it was up for rent was because the three siblings who’d inherited couldn’t agree about the split if they sold.

It was the village from hell, so the idea thst renters were ‘other’ was pretty indicative.

ETA People kept asking why we didn’t buy, with the subtext ‘when you can clearly afford it’, but there’s no polite way of saying ‘Because neither of us like it here and we don’t want to saddle ourselves.’

No.

No. I dont judge people who rent.

I judge bad neighbours.

I also judge bad landlords who dont look after their properties and fly tip. They cause the most issues, not the tenants who for the most part are just living normally.

The diplomatic answer there is "we're renting while we get to know the area and work out where we would like to settle."

Buggering off 6 months later would be the perfect follow up.

@notthenameofthegameour utility room sink tap was held on by plumbers putty by the LL ‘maintenance team’ and the main bathroom bath tap ‘jumped’ when used - our tame plumber replaced the utility tap for us and attached the main bathroom bath tap with a 80p copper ring 😵‍💫

I could go on but the other bodges we’ve uncovered are very outing 🤯

Bad LL are 😡 see my PP for context, I feel bad for the LL other tenants as we know he has multiple properties. We reported the concerns we had (pretty serious ones as well involving 🔥 and ⚡️) to the council but nothing has been done

I think this might be a self perception thing. I felt like we hadn't done what we were meant to do till we bought our house. When we did buy our house our neighbours were still wankers so owning the mortgaged house made no difference in our case.

I have a fair idea of who rents in our immediate proximity. Don't give a hoot..

No. Why would I?

To be fair none of the houses in my road are rented, but I wouldn't look down on someone for renting. DD is young and rents rather than buying because she doesn't know where she is going to end up.

No I don’t.

They really do. I rented for a few years before owning five years ago, and I sensed my neighbours in both homes I rented looked down on me. I know in one of them, the girl there before me had caused a lot of trouble with parties /noise. I just sensed judgement.

I agree with this.
I don't have negative feelings towards renters. I rented for years myself before buying, as did most people I know.

I don't care if people rent or own as long as they are considerate neighbours.

I rented for 20 years. I was always a long term tenant, moving when properties were sold. Properties all well maintained. I always went and said hi to my neighbours and introduced my dog and asked them to let me know if there was a bother eg barking (he only barked if there were strangers around and neighbours said they appreciated that).

I've owned for 14 years. Was a little apprehensive when a lady moved in with a young child (potential noise) but they are so lovely and he's a great kid. We've got a mix of owners and renters. I don't know who is who. The only people I have issues with are the rude wankers who won't open their door when you knock. I was trying to be polite and let them know of building work I was getting done but the pricks wouldn't answer the door. So now if I have people doing stuff, I let the good neighbours know and those wankers can come out and use their words if the workers are blocking their garage (avoided as much as possible, but sometimes unavoidable due to how the complex is set out). I don't know (or care) if they rent or own. I just know they're rude so can't be bothered being polite or neighbourly with them.

We rent. The last place we lived in the neighbours were mostly stuck up cunts who absolutely looked down their noses at us. Where we love now we are on a main road with all detached houses so the opportunity to chat to neighbours doesn't really arise unless I were to knock on their door, but my immediate ndns are very nice to us

Not at all. My grandparents lived in council houses (they worked, if anyone wants to know) and my parents/partners' parents have both owned and rented. I'm saying this because we all need to be honest and admit our views might be tainted by our backgrounds and what we think is "normal". Why did I buy? I've had bad experiences renting in the past, and I like the freedom to do what I want to the house.
I might well rent in the future, as there are advantages, like the landlord sorting issues/being able to move areas if I want to when I'm older.
Actually I think it would be fairer if the government owned and maintained all property, and everyone was given a suitable house-we could all take turns in living in grand old halls. Yes, I know that's a pipe-dream and not realistic.

I’m really sorry OP, but yes, renters in our road can be tricky. A lot, now it’s warmer, have washing drying on their balconies!!

Lordy no. OP I have no idea if my neighbours rent or own - I suppose when one says "I've lived here 25 years" I tend to assume they own but that's about it. My lovely neighbours across the road has a for sale flag put up and I assumed they were selling until they explained their landlord was selling up. Really does not cross my mind!!!!

Thank goodness the people who lived in the two neighbourhoods I have rented in were nicer people than you appear to be.

I think it’s funny because many of the people who say they ‘own’ their property are actually just ‘renting’ it but from a bank!

Thats really not the same 🤣

I think there is a difference… as they don’t have certain rights. But I won’t look down at them…

they would be treated slightly differently… as think or complaints have to be via the landlord.

It's not that much different, you can still lose it and you are not allowed to do exactly as you want like without informing the bank like if you want to build an extension or rent a room.

Not really. It's very different having done both. (Although I've never had to inform my bank about anything, so that might be different from your experience)

We live in a block of flats that's a mix of council and private.
I'm the only person that cleans the Landings,picks up rubbish outside on communal areas, report faults or issues.
And I'm a council tenant.
Some of us do care about where we live.