Why is renting so ridiculously stupidly high???

[firsttimemum1403]

Hi all,

Wondering what people are doing with regards to their living situations ?? Not to be nosy just looking for a glimmer of hope or that I'm not being ridiculous !

I just gave birth and my dd is now 10 weeks old. I was made redundant before Corona happened so I am only entitled to maternity allowance so am currently getting £600 a month (should be getting child benefit but because of Corona my baby hasn't actually been registered yet and with no registration no CB) my partner does work but hes salary isn't massive, about £1500 a month after tax.

We are currently living in the south west (and moving isn't an option as all our family is here and partner has a good job he doesn't want to leave thats here) but the cost of living here is crippling. We are living with his parents pre-corona (because I was made redundant and could no longer afford rent on our previous place) and have been here since Feb. They don't mind us living with them thank god but we can't live here forever!

Rent for a 2 bed is around the £900 pcm mark and that is for a small two bed or a poor condition/poor quality 2 bed. Any properties which are decent for around that amount are being snatched up before we can even ask for a viewing because Corona has prevented people from moving for 4/5 months it's now like the flood gates have opened and people are starting bidding wars on property rent to move.

Has anyone faced similar? Know any possible solutions? Going more than £900 isn't feasible because of our bills and needs (and even £900 is over budget !)

Thank you in advance (:

Also want to add, I have the "potential" option to buy somewhere which would be preferred but it would require me finding a job and going back to work (which I would do if it means we pay £500 a month rent as opposed to £1000/£1100) but I'm not sure we'd even get a mortgage due to stupid mistakes made when we were younger so our credit scores are the greatest. We have no ccj's or brankruptcy or anything like that, just our credit scores took a hit.

And that requires me borrowing money from family which obviously no one wants to do but I'm getting desperate.

Not sure what solution you’re looking for. Houses are worth whatever people are willing to pay for them. It’s your choice to live in an expensive area. I’m in Liverpool and I can get a nice 2 bed for £400 a month. If you’re living with you parents can you save up for a deposit on a mortgage? There’s loads of schemes helping first time buyers

Crooked posts about the mortgage

Crossed! 🙄

You can actually apply for a mortgage in principle to see if you’ll get accepted

Tbh your position sounds pretty tasty to me.

£2100 a month income with no rent to pay so you can save loads and have the possibility of getting a mortgage. Family able to lend money to help out. Grandparents on tap. Presumably free childcare when you do start working as you never mentioned the cost of childcare in your whinge.

I’d kill for that set up.

It’s a tough situation to be in and not sure what you can do at this point other than suck up the going rate.

For anyone else reading this and considering their life choices I’d encourage settling in an area they can afford, living within their means, buying a home before having children and making sure you have a financial buffer in place incase of job loss. It’s not necessarily easy and might take time, but with high housing costs in the UK I don’t think there is a short cut.

It's much the same here (SE)

Buying is a much better option. Borrowing money from family isn't always a bad thing (depending on your family).

Are you happy at the inlaws? If you and they are happy then I'd see how they feel about you staying for x period of time, so you're not working FT while DD is tiny.

Try to save as much as you can while you're there, then start looking for somewhere to buy closer to the time.

Nationwide have some excellent mortgage calculators on their website to show you what you can borrow & how much repayments would be (though I borrowed a lot more than their calculator said they'd lend me - so that bit might not be the best, but the repayments bit is good!).

I got my mortgage through a broker & remortgaged through him. Yes you pay a bit, but it's a million times easier!

How easy/ difficult is it to get social housing in your area?

Have you checked if your entitled to any help from UC with anything? You should at least get child benefit.

Find a way to make extra money, I know it’s not easy at the moment. Could you partner do overtime/ a second job?

It is possible to claim child benefit even if you haven't been able to register the birth because of Covid - you are supposed to just add a note to the claim to explain that I think. They can only backdate it 12 weeks so I'd do that asap.

How much would a small two bed cost?

I would be aiming to go back to work at least part-time and start saving like mad. I know it's very difficult but we bought our house ten years ago and our mortgage is half of what similar properties are being rented for. Our mortgage will be paid off in a few years but the cost of renting will never go away and will just keep rising. It's nuts.

Failing that, I would look into social housing.

Rent is high due to demand and the lack of social housing. I now own a similar size house to the one I used to rent. My mortgage is £200 cheaper than my rent was.

I'd consider buying if you are set in staying the area. Speak to a mortgage advisor they will let you know if it's possible.

Plus its your file they look at not your score so historic mistakes with credit may no hamper your ability to get a mortgage

Renting is not that much cheaper. If you bought the same property, your mortgage would be £500 to £600 now...that I retest ratés are massively low. You have to consider that it could easy go up quite a bit in a few years. Add costs to maintain the house and garden, money to put aside for more repairs, which are required more often then we think and before you know it, it adds to not much less.

Of course it means you then gave your house so much better but people often assume being a home owner is cheaper. It often isn't.

@dontdisturbmenow I'm not sure what figures you are basing that assumption on but renting is much more expensive here. Our mortgage (ten years in) is £750 per month and similar rental properties are £1450.

Our mortgage will be paid off within 25 years. The renters will be paying the £1450 (or more) forever.

The figures may look similar at the outset but as time goes on, the relative value of a mortgage will go down as rents continue to rise.

Rents are high because house prices are astronomical specially in the south. Here in North Birmingham are getting ridiculous.

If you’re concerned about your credit file, stepchange offer a free mortgage broker service which can help target mortgage products you may be more likely to be accepted for (and any commission they get goes back into their charity work). A few past errors is certainly not a total barrier to getting a mortgage, it just might mean some of the very best rates are not available to you. If the difference between rent and mortgage is so great in your area it’s definitely worth looking into.

As a long term renter

Buy buy buy
Rent will only go one way. You want the stability of a home for your kids, not having to move and change schools and friends because your now priced out an area.

I’d encourage settling in an area they can afford, living within their means, buying a home before having children and making sure you have a financial buffer in place incase of job loss

Not everyone has the ability to follow such a careful plan. The OP has the option of staying with family or borrowing so it is a position most renters aren’t in, and Id advise doing it otherwise you’ll be stuck renting forever.

But living ‘where you can afford’ is a dismissive unrealistic thing to say. People need to live where their work is, otherwise you have to add long commutes into it. Others stay where they grew up near family and their community... over time some places become gentrified and push long term locals out. Buying a house before children, having a financial buffer, again not everyone has the option of a perfect life plan or enough money to save a buffer.

To answer your question, rent is high because of demand. There’s a shortage in a lot of areas, plus when you rent you don’t have much option so you take what’s there and what the landlord will accept or you go homeless. That’s why a lot of people spend half their income on rent and can’t save for a house.

The figures may look similar at the outset but as time goes on, the relative value of a mortgage will go down as rents continue to rise
I totally agree, would always encourage people to buy, but my experience is that people who have been renting for some time underestimate the monthly cost of owning a house because they only consider the mortgage bill and forget all the things they haven't have to account for whilst renting because they were their LL's costs.

That’s why it’s better to buy, our mortgage now is £500 a month, we have 4 years left. We have a big 4 bed house. We are in our 50’s but if you don’t want to be paying extortionate rent for years to come, you need to buy.

Rent is high because of demand. People are willing to pay.

We rent and will never be able to buy because we will never be able to get a deposit together. Luckily we got lucky with our house and it’s fairly cheap but really nice. We have no security though.

I don’t know about now, but back in April I was able to apply for child benefit without getting registering ds. I applied over the phone and they said they would seek confirmation from the registry office by themselves. I just had to give them both the same name. So make sure you have decided what to name the child before calling.

If rent is high then you claim Universal credit but it will depend o your partners earnings. This assumes you don't have savings over 16k. Uc will pay a rent element according to the local housing allowance in your area so if it's an area of high rents you will get a higher rent element.
As far as CB goes your baby does not have to be registered to claim it. My friend was getting CB for her baby within a couple of weeks of him being born but he wasn't registered for weeks afterwards. Obviously they will ask for some other proof of birth like a hospital discharge letter or something but they are aware of problems with people being able to register births.

Stay with parents till summer 2022 when things should be calmer. You’ll be working.

Get your finances in order save and pay off debts. Get yourself mortgage ready. Lots of people have to live with parents to claw a House deposit together. Be thrifty and count every penny. Make cuts.

Buy a modest property. Do not have a second child until you’re in the mortgaged property.