do i REALLY have to explain why me and dh rent our house?

[spudFace]

we have been together for 20 years and have never had loads of money to save for a mortgage. what makes it worse is that my parents are very well off and have watched us struggle (and suffer) over the years. I am sick of telling people that i rent cos of all this but should i have to? i know that this subject will come up in conversation tomorrow with some new friends i have made recently. Am sick of the puzzled looks i get when i say I RENT MY HOUSE!!

what CAN i say to just tell people its none of their beeswax?

THERE USED TO BE SOCIAL HOUUSING UNTIL MAGIE THATCHER SOLD IT ALL.
Now we have assured tenancy agreements which is why renting here in the UK is a less attractive option. In Stoke on Trent a couple owning 200 rental properties are about to have them all repossessed leaving 200 families homeless, this should be stopped.
At the moment any idiot can be a landlord but very few have any understanding of their obiligations.
Nobody expects a tenure for life unless it's from the government or perhaps a housing association but affordable rental accommodation is not an unreasonable request.

there's always been rented housing. My grandparents rented from a landlord. He was always putting the rent up.
My mum rented off the council (yup, we are council house kids) and when I left home I moved into rented shared accomodation.
Always rented.
There's never been a point when we've managed to save a deposit or been in the sort of job a bank would lend a mortgage on. I'm guessing there's lots of people the same?

There always has been rented housing. IN 1901 my grandfather was one of 20 young men in a 3 bed terraced house who were renting. The Rent Acts reduced the suply of houses for rent hugely. Only introducing ability for landlords to get people out did the supply of property to rent suddenly become much bigger. The alternative as people say above is the state provides it.

Have read this whole thread and am a bit
What does it matter to anyone whether you own or rent your home or if you are married or not?! If anyone asked me why I rented I would think that was v rude.
Each to their own. I chose to buy a few years ago because I crave security, It was so important to me that I worked my arse off doing 3 jobs to afford a deposit. It was blardy hard work and it's still a struggle.
I probably chose to get married for the same sense of security.
I'm happy owning my own home and I'm not sure why people feel the need to be all doom and gloom about it telling me what a big mistake it is 'given the current climate'. One day I hope to have paid my mortgage off and won't have to pay rent or a mortgage.
I can see the benefits of renting, eg no maintenance, move when you like etc but it's not for me personally. But I wouldn't judge anyone becuase they chose to rent!!
Or because they're not married

I don't see why anybody should care whether or not you own your home and wouldn't bother telling them.

I think one of the key advantages of buying though is that you can add/alter your home which can also add a lot of value (even if only theoretically) so you might be able to beat the property slump even if prices drop by 30%.

My understanding is that in the 1970s, there was very good security of tenure for renters, including rent control. This meant that very few people let out property as it simply wasn't viable to do so. Maggie went too far the other way and made it too easy for landlords to get people out/treat them very badly so again, fewer people wanted to rent. This is likely to mean that most people are brought up with an assumption of home ownership which may or may not be achievable but it is very unlikely that any legislation will successfully make the housing system in this country like that in Europe.

I also do think the point about a house being security is a valid one. There is a huge shortage of social housing and I would prefer to sell my home and live in a nice care home, perhaps with a bit of money over, than be wherever the council can put me, especially as failing to pay rent can mean you're intentionally homeless and the Council have no obligation to house you.

I currently rent as we can not afford to buy but would love to one day be able to buy for added security. However I cant understand why people feel the need to judge people who either rent or buy. Everyone has a right to live their lives as they wish to.
I certainly would never ask anyone about their housing choices, nor would I justify myself to anyone.

At the end of the day I have a young child and the most important thing to me and my partner(yes Im another unmarried but engaged mum!!) is to provide for her the best we can. (If we can afford it in the future we will buy a house as added security for her when she is older).

xenia, we bought our 1st house at age 22, don't see why you think this is such a big deal tbh. i don't really think you need to use an !.
after posting you brought your home age 22.
as if it is so amazing buying a house at the age.

op, maybe people are just trying to help you.
not everyones out to get you, you know.

Milkgoddess - the average age of a first-time buyer now is 34, that's probably why Xenia added the exclamation mark - as an acknowledgement of how times have changed.

I worry about my children. They will have to rent for eternity if house prices remain over 5 times plus the average salary.

Encourage them to take jobs that don't pay the average wage then. That's one answer.. Our first house cost £40k and our joint salaries were £15,000. Those small terraced houses now cost £250,000 and my daughter's equivalent salary and a teacher at the level her father was at when we bought, those two salaries are now £70,000 together.

So:
£15k 2 wages- £40,000 price
£70k 2 wages - £250k price

Interest rates are less. It will therefore be easier or similar for her at the same age to buy as long as she has a partner to buy with of course.

encourage them to immigrate!

that's what i'll be doing with mine!

I'm curious as to where people are living where the rent is greater than the mortgage?!
We rent, our landlord subsidises us by over 100 pounds a month, it would cost us well over £1000 pounds a month more to buy (based on a guess of recent selling prices rather than asking prices which are like something from a fairy tale around here) We're London zone 2.

I must say I have seen some amazingly rude posts from some on here!

My understanding is that overseas properties are more usually owned by companies/organisations/pension funds rather than individuals so they prefer the security of a long term tennant.
DOes anyone know if that's right?

I don't know many 22 year olds who can afford to buy a house. Often they are just out of university or still training for a career. Bearing in mind 100% mortgages are a thing of the past, you would also need to have saved a hefty deposit - which is difficult for most people at University milkgoddess. I think that's probably why Xenia suggested that it isnt that common to buy at 22 these days.
I also bought my first property at a young age. Times have changed.

many university and college leavers also have at least some debt upon finishing their course, and the threshhold for paying those back is now quite low.

A key difference is indeed the student debt but when I was a student only 15% of young people went to university whereas now it is nearer 50% so things have changed quite a bit and my children are debt free at and after university but only because I picked a career which meant I was able to achieve that for them. Those wedded to nursing or working in care homes etc who obviously do a very needed job will not be in the same position (unless they marry a richer man) and I only bought at 22 because I was 20 when I graduated and married someone 6 years older and I had a few savings (as did he - he already had a house to sell)

1dilemma - the rent may be greater than the mortgage where you've got a fair bit of equity in your house and so it is on a 50% or less mortgage. Not quite so difficult as it sounds if you buy a house, sell it at a profit, buy another house for a bit more, do the same etc.. particularly if you can add a bit of value (modernising/extending etc) you can quite quickly build up a decent amount of equity especially while you are paying the mortgage off at the same time.

Ah I see what you mean, but surely your maths is flawed??!!!
Your calculations need to be based on what you could make if you took the likely achieved selling price of the house and bunged all that in whatever investment you chose. Not your martgage.
I've done the sums for places round here over and over and it's been cheaper to rent for quite some time
This guys equity is nearly 100% and he's loosing lots (even more now prices are falling so quickly and the place is getting so run down)