Renting a Home

I was talking with a new neighbour ( lives 200yards away ) and he has only rented his home, he pays £850 a month and it is only short term lease after which he has to renew his contract and the rent could rise.

Can someone explain to me why people pay large amounts of rent for homes, not council ones but modernised homes?

The average rental, so I am informed, is around £700 per calendar month, that is £8400 a year plus all the running costs, (not maintenace) and at the end of it you have nothing, you dont even own a brick.

Is it me or are people so short sighted that they can not see how expensive renting is?

Re: Renting a Home

Is he able to get a mortgage then and chose to rent instead? I rent privately but its certainly not by choice and I dont pay anywhere near as much as that. Maybe he has been refused a mortgage and has no choice, council properties are impossible to get unless you have a gaggle of children so sometimes private rental is the only way to go.

Re: Renting a Home

We rent too but will be buying the house as soon as a couple of things have been sorted out financially. The shower is leaking and the flashing under a bedroom window has dropped and the landlord is sorting those.. the gas central heating is serviced at his cost too and we just pay the rent. We have a good deal and a lovely home and it suits us at the moment.

Re: Renting a Home

People on low income cannot save for a deposit for a house and a mortgage company won't give people a mortgage one unless they have a very good salary. So this means that thousands of people have no choice but to rent. If they lose their jobs, at least they can't get their homes repossessed.

Re: Renting a Home

Fist time buyers can't afford the deposit these days, I heard most lenders want a 20% deposit.

Re: Renting a Home

we will have to rent a house in 2 years
we will be selling our home
we will not get a morrage now 850 seems rather steeep in pounds
thats 1 700 bucks to us you can get a house here for about 400 pounds a month

Re: Renting a Home

My biggest gripe is the council house system. If you have a load of kids you can't afford they give you a house otherwise you have to struggle on your own. I think council houses should be available to all for a limited time say 5 years to give young people a start. Then they should either rent privately or buy. Council houses should never be a home for life just because you have kids. It is grossly unfair to those who don't want children at all or to those who have the foresight to plan to have children when they are financially able to support them.

I don't have a mortgage now but when my ex husband and I bought our first flat repayment rates were 15%. The cost of borrowing is much lower now although I appreciate deposits are high but its never been easy for young people to get on the housing ladder. Renting is always money down the drain. OK as a short term option but not good in the long term as a mortgage will eventually be paid off and then the house will be yours outright as you approach retirement.

Re: Renting a Home

Think logic, saving for a deposit for a new home will help.

Saving for a deposit on a home may take a few years of sacrifice, no holidays and fewer luxuries but then you will hav e a foothold on the ladder to owning your own home.

Is it worth just missing on a few days away and having you own home or having a few hours in the sun and paying for it for the rest of your life.

Re: Renting a Home

Well, the house I live in was Council owned and my partner and I bought got a mortgage to buy back in 1983. The property with the Council was in my mum's name and we opted to buy the house, in her name.

I, alone, finished paying the mortgage in July this year which was a great struggle for me as I've lived alone since my partner died three years ago, and for what?

I am now solely responsible for all building work, plumbing, heating installation, guttering and everything else, which I can no longer afford.

If this had remained a Council house, they would have been responsible for all works to be carried out so, did we do the right thing, or the wrong thing?

Yes, the house and land belongs to me, such as it is, but it's no comfort to me now.

Re: Renting a Home

I think you did the right thing Mollie to buy a council house instead of paying rent. As the house had been your mother's I assume she would have lived in it for quite some time. When you bought it in her name the price of buying it would have been heavily discounted and far less than what it could have fetched on the open market. This is an advantage not everyone buying a home would have. You have now paid off the mortgage - which is an achievement, so have a secure roof over your head, free and clear of debt. If you had not bought it, you would still have to pay the rent for as long as you lived in the house and there would be no capital value for you from the house at all.
On balance, I think paying to maintain your own home is a lot better than paying rent and possibly being moved out into single accommodation later on in life.
One thought - you could now sell your home if you wanted, make use of the capital resulting from the sale and rent.