Buy now or wait 6-12 months?

[optimisticpessimist01]

DP and I are in a situation where we have enough money saved for a mortgage and are fed up of renting. Unfortunately we are in a fixed term rent contract so we have 3 options

1)find a house and buy now (well within the next few months)
2) renew rent for 6 months
3) renew rent for 1 year

What would you do given the current uncertain situation? Would you hold off buying or just get out of renting just so you own a home? I also have no idea whether house prices could drop slightly so that could be a huge advantage to us waiting, plus the extra money we get to save if mortgage approvals are restricted and for decorating

I understand I'm asking a "crystal ball" question and nobody knows what will happen to the housing market but I have literally no idea, I'm sure there are lots of people on here who can take a more educated guess than me!

Can you do rolling tenancy?

@adjeobfwh unfortunately no, we have queried about this before, it's all managed by an estate agents and management company as it's a block of flats, rather than a private landlord making all the decisions. Got ourselves into a right situation

Renew for 6 months.
Nothing is on the market at the moment. And you can't go and view etc. anyway.

Once properties start being listed again and lf you see somewhere fairy quickly that you like, it usually takes 3months or so for surveys to be completed, mortgage agreed, all the written stuff from sellers, and contracts exchanged etc. It all takes a while for most people.

Wait!!!

Unless you want to buy my house, in which case buy now, full price.

6 months is no time. Renew. Wait for the market to open by the time it does you view and the sale proceeds you will be 6 months of not likely longer, especially if there is a chain

Renew for 6mths.
There’s a lot of uncertainty in the market at the moment and Many lenders have responded by changing their loan-to-value ratios. My friend was all geared up to buy with a good deposit but hasn’t been able to secure a mortgage offer. I’m sure when the pandemic eases that will change.

Erm... actually they cannot force you into that. If you sign nothing then you automatically fall into a periodic tenancy and there's nothing they can do about that. If the managing agent really want to then they can issue an s21 to evict but that process is insanely long and if you're a good tenant then there's no real reason for them to do so.
That said, 6 months will give you a great view of how the market is behaving so I'd plump for that option.