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Would you rather rent or buy a house?

Would you rather rent or buy a house?
And why?

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Buy, because with renting you are constantly held to the whims of the agency/landlord.

Also, unless you're in Scotland (where the majority of agency fees are illegal) you can expect to pay a few grand in b******t fees before you've even moved in and paid the first month of rent in some areas.

However, if like me you live anywhere near Cambridge, you can pretty much forget buying a house until you're in your 40's.
Original post by iainvg
Buy, because with renting you are constantly held to the whims of the agency/landlord.

Also, unless you're in Scotland (where the majority of agency fees are illegal) you can expect to pay a few grand in b******t fees before you've even moved in and paid the first month of rent in some areas.


However, if like me you live anywhere near Cambridge, you can pretty much forget buying a house until you're in your 40's.


I totally agree.
I feel the same. And to be honest, id rather have my own house than be renting one off someone else.
i'd always buy as then i have an asset and would get a bit of a portfolio so maybe on or two places for myself and some rental propertys to have some active income
Depends what stage of my life I'm at.

At this point in my life I am not ready to buy a house because I don't know where I'm going to be a year from now let alone 5 years or 10 years from now, I'm not ready to settle down. So at the moment renting is for me.

But I do plan to buy for stability down the line once I've figured out what I'm doing with my life....plus have money.
Buy. Home ownership is an escape route from serfdom.
Reply 6
Original post by Emma:-)
Would you rather rent or buy a house?
And why?


This is a stupid question.

Buying is always a better option, ofc assuming you can afford mortgage payments, and have enough job security that not worried out losing job / or can get new job fairly soon in event lose job.
Reply 7
Original post by Nidhoggr
This is a stupid question.

Buying is always a better option, ofc assuming you can afford mortgage payments, and have enough job security that not worried out losing job / or can get new job fairly soon in event lose job.


No, buying over the last 50/60 years has been a better option, your always possibly needs modified.

The relative costs need considered, current interest rates certainly do not inhibit, but that may not always be the case. (though looks to be for some time to come)

In differing economic circumstances renting and investing in other asset classes may be preferable. A property is a static asset, it is not portable, and is an all eggs in one basket investment. (If viewing as an investment) Given these restrictions and illiquidity I would wish a higher rate of return from housing than from other more liquid investments as compensation.

Returns with gearing (and a house purchased with borrowing is a geared investment) do well in a rising market but very badly in a falling market, gearing magnifies returns.

So whilst I suspect housing will in the long term prove a sound investment I would not use always, it does not have to be a one way bet. (I have a family member still slightly in negative equity from a 2007 purchase that is still worth less (just) than they paid)
Reply 8
Rent, especially how I don't want to live in this god awful country
Reply 9
Buy. I want to live somewhere secure. I don't want to be moving every 10 minutes when the landlord decides he wants me out of the house.

Posted from TSR Mobile
What happens when life-long renters have to retire? How will they afford to keep up with rising rental costs in a country with no rent controls?
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Emma:-)
Would you rather rent or buy a house?
And why?


It depends on your circumstances. I rented for a number of years after uni. Financially, I should have bought, but I had plans to move at short notice and didn't want to be tied down. When we did eventually buy, house prices fell by 20% so it isn't always the best way forward. Both have positives and negatives. Our current house needs new windows, a new kitchen and repairs to the roof. No landlord is going to pay for that sadly.
Reply 12
Original post by RivalPlayer
What happens when life-long renters have to retire? How will they afford to keep up with rising rental costs in a country with no rent controls?


Exactly this. Everyone should have a plan in place to own a home by the time they retire.
I don't intend to ever buy a house. Plans can change though.
Original post by Emma:-)
Would you rather rent or buy a house?
And why?


Demolish
I personally believe buying is the best outcome, yes it may be an expensive process but in the long term you will make savings- but on the other hand anything which goes wrong in terms of your electrics, boiler or plumbing you have to foot the full cost of the bill so you will need housing insurance . Also the house is your asset and your children can live in your house after you "kick the bucket" and it can be sold if you wish to move into a nicer house then you will have a big deposit and less in a mortgage burden - however this is only for people consistently on the move

I think it really depends on individual circumstances in terms of earnings, what your house is worth and if the bank will give you a loan. The house my parents currently rent is worth around 110,000, due to my parents being long term council tennants they can get up to 57% off the price which means we can get it 47300. My parents are quite old and the bank based on the wages would not lend them the money to buy the house and my income which is quite low (live in deprived area).

Again I am going off my parents bills- renting in the public sector is around £390 a month, this is where I am going to make the case for buying a house as a long term cash saving, Most houses in my area are around the 100-150,000 bracket. So I am going to say Daz (me) is going to buy a house at the lower estimate of 100,000. A quick google search finds me the current mortgage interest rate is 3.92% so will cost me a total of 157,000 /25=6,276 per year.

Whilst renting at £390 a month may be cheaper in the short term, in the sense that you have no interest and the government set the rates lower , over the long term you are going to be paying more and the house does not belong to you, After 34 years of council renting you would of paid more if you brought the house, also you do get a discount via right to buy if you have rented more than 5 years (35%) and an additional 1% for every year after that

It depends how well you can budget and your access to finance, if you don't earn that much it is likely you are not going to get the access to the finance the bank are not loaning you 100,000 for 15 hrs a week at the NMW/NL. If you can not budget efficiently it is likely you will live in poverty and or get into debt, i know this is a bit of an extreme- but a distinct posibility

TLDR
1. Prefer buying over renting- house is yours and cheaper then long term renting (30 yrs plus)
2. There is no harm in short term public renting to access discounts via right to buy scheme (council tennant for 3-5 years- min doscount of 35% of value )
3. You will need to be in a semi decent financial position to buy a house- banks do not borrow huge amounts of money to someone on shite income
4. Make sure you budget well

Please don't have a go for the length of this post.
Original post by Emma:-)
Would you rather rent or buy a house?
And why?


Honest answer: if you can, always buy. Although it's hateful, the entire economic logic of Britain dictates that you will inexorably become much better off and have a much better life in every way if you can buy.

There are some exceptions though. People who want to remain free to work in many different places sometimes prefer to rent because of that, but even in those cases, it would often be better to have one base they own somewhere.

Then we have the reality, which is that a great many people can't afford to buy, especially across Southern England and in London in particular.
Original post by Fullofsurprises
Honest answer: if you can, always buy. Although it's hateful, the entire economic logic of Britain dictates that you will inexorably become much better off and have a much better life in every way if you can buy.

There are some exceptions though. People who want to remain free to work in many different places sometimes prefer to rent because of that, but even in those cases, it would often be better to have one base they own somewhere.

Then we have the reality, which is that a great many people can't afford to buy, especially across Southern England and in London in particular.


What about us in the Midlands? We are paid some of the lowest wages in the country, but are still expected to pay£100-150,000 per house. Immigration keeps the prices high.
Original post by RivalPlayer
What happens when life-long renters have to retire? How will they afford to keep up with rising rental costs in a country with no rent controls?


This is going to be a real problem and unless something is seriously done about housing supply we will have one of two situations:

1. A large share of the population are going to be on housing benefit and the government is going to have to use taxpayers money to pay the rising rents to landlords.

2. Government will reduce eligibility to housing benefit and a lot of elderly people will be homeless on the streets like you get in developing countries.

A lot of old people will try to keep working to pay their rent but what happens if they get ill, have a stroke or cancer etc and can't work for a while. The landlords will have no mercy, if they can't pay their rent they will tip them out on the street.
Original post by MagicNMedicine


A lot of old people will try to keep working to pay their rent but what happens if they get ill, have a stroke or cancer etc and can't work for a while. The landlords will have no mercy, if they can't pay their rent they will tip them out on the street.


Do you not think these landlords are scum?

I'd like to think if I was a landlord and I had a renter like that I would at least drop my rent to breaking even prices...

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