It pays to rent

LillyJ

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

That's not really homeless though.

I've been stuck with a house I couldn't sell and it was a nightmare. I really feel for those trying to sell their houses now. Given the choice of being stuck with a house that I couldn't sell and being given 2 months notice to move to another house, from a LL, I would choose the latter every time.

The girl living in the hospital isn't homeless, but other friends have been made homeless. One friend of mine with 2 children (7 and 10) has just been given her notice to leave her rented home as the landlord is being repo'd. She is struggling to find somewhere to take her with her kids and the fact she is a student (she is studying to be a Nurse). The council won't help her, and now she has found a place to rent but it's miles away from the kid's school, and it's pretty awful compared to her place at the moment, which is nice and has a garden for the kids. She is going through the credit check at the moment and doesn't think she'll pass. If she doesn't she will be made homeless. Yes I know you don't get turfed out on the street and there are options like staying with friends until you find somewhere or emergency accomodation. But to go from having a nice home where you have lived for 8 years to being faced with no permanent place to stay is pretty daunting and distressing.

It's not a choice between being stuck with a house to sell or being given notice to move - If you don't want to move then you are more secure in a long term home if you own it (obviously if you can afford it). In life, yes we might have to sell but these are events which happen more rarely than landlords giving you notice, meaning moving more often.

It all depends on your situation. It's not a "one size fits all" thing. Renting and buying are suitable for different people and different stages of people's lives, depending on their preference. Like me, I rented for 7 years, now I own. Personal choice.

LillyJ

dopester wrote: »

Big deal. A little inconvenience for her, and sounds like she is saving a bundle now.

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A little inconvenience? Not really. She had a house full of stuff which is now in storage and is living in a poky room where she works, with a bathroom down a freezing corridor shared with 15 other doctors. She is 32 and wants a home not a skanky room at work.

Saving a bundle? She's paying £350 a month for it!

baby_boomer

LillyJ wrote: »

Saving a bundle? She's paying £350 a month for it!

On a doctor's salary, that should leave a few £s for a future deposit .

LillyJ

baby_boomer wrote: »

On a doctor's salary, that should leave a few £s for a future deposit .

She earns 21k a year, and has £20k of student debt, so it's not exactly amazing to be able to afford a mortgage by herself.
She is saving for a deposit, she doesn't have much time to go out so that saves a lot!

baby_boomer

LillyJ wrote: »

She earns 21k a year, and has £20k of student debt, so it's not exactly amazing to be able to afford a mortgage by herself.

If that's true, perhaps she has set her short term ambitions too high?

She may be 32 [age doesn't entitle us to anything except a little respect] but she clearly hasn't taken the normal career route or time-scale for doctors.

LillyJ

baby_boomer wrote: »

If that's true, perhaps she has set her short term ambitions too high?

She may be 32 [age doesn't entitle us to anything except a little respect] but she clearly hasn't taken the normal career route or time-scale for doctors.

I think short term ambitions of wanting a normal rental house aren't too high for a full time professional person? She just wants somewhere to stay longer term than 2 months each time! I am sure it will work out in her next rental. She doesn't want to buy yet (not for a couple of years at least) but is looking to the future as most of her debt is official student loan so there is no need to pay it off quick.

Age does make some sort of difference, especially when considering starting a family (you can't have kids/partners in hospital accomodation).
It's actually very common indeed to be a graduate when studying medicine now. She was a chemist and worked in research but she hated it (as well as being paid 11k a year), and so retrained as a Doctor.
She was in my year at Uni and I lived with her in Halls in my first year, so I know she isn't the sort of person who is used to her own place, but the room she is in now is really dire.

Liz3yy

I bought my first flat 5 years ago and it was wonderful to have a place of my own. I bought as my parents drummed into me that they believed renting was throwing money away and I would be left with nothing in years to come. I believed them and got myself into huge debt just for the joy of having a mortgage.

I met my current partner 3 years ago and last year things were serious enough for me to decide to sell my home and move in with him, only trouble was I couldnt shift the flat! It took 13 months to sell with lots of stress and tears along the way. Now my OH and I live together in a rented flat and are very happy, I dont miss the burden of home ownership at all.

I daresay in a couple of years we will buy together but at the moment in the current climate I think renting is very sensible and we dont regret it at all.

zippeh_2

She may be 32 [age doesn't entitle us to anything except a little respect] but she clearly hasn't taken the normal career route or time-scale for doctors.

she would be earning from age 24 assuming she started her medical degree at age 18.

LillyJ

zippeh wrote: »

she would be earning from age 24 assuming she started her medical degree at age 18.

She didn't as I said before (like a lot of medical students nowdays she was a graduate). She was a chemist before on a poor salary.

Anyway, she isn't particularly well paid and she has masses of student debt, (but is OK financially) and has been chucked out of 2 houses by rubbish landlords. All I'm saying is it isn't particularly fun when you work long hours trying to find a new place to live (many times over), having your stuff in storage, and living in a single room at the place where you work with a smelly shared bathroom in a 100 year old hospital building that's falling down. No it isn't the end of the world, but it's not nice either. Just pointing out that renting isn't secure, and no matter how good financial sense it can make, it can still be very disruptive to your life.

If she hadn't had hospital accomodation to fall back on then it would have been even more stressful.

The fact that the stingy government has started charging junior doctors rent for rat infested accomodation whilst cutting banding (and therefore pay), is another matter all together.

PasturesNew

If you're given notice to quit and are working full-time, it can be really hard finding the time to view places. Also, rentals aren't all advertised in one main handy place, it's very ad-hoc how/where you find a rental.

Then there are the fees. How many people can lay their hand instantly on, say, £1000 deposit and £200 credit checks, plus £600+ first month's rent up front (as this might be required 2-3 days before they're paid as they need to secure the 2nd place while they've still got the commitment of the 1st place and haven't been paid yet.

Not many.