Why is it that people are so desperate to own houses?

Batchy

Buying a house is no bad thing, its only a bad thing if you can't afford it.

Other than that, its a way of life, not a block on life, its part of lifes obstacles!

Its a form of saving and a cost of living at the same time! Unlike renting which is a cost of living and saving which just doesnt help with the cost of living.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Carl31 wrote: »

I understand the general view, Renting is 'Dead money', ownership leads to
an asset of potentially some value at the end of the mortgage term, but it seems that people will give up 'living' in order to obtain the, quite seperate, dream of owning a house? why is this? surely its just somewhere to live at the end of the day

I do understand the reasons people have, i'm looking for views and opinions, out of interest more than anything. After all if there wasn't this desperate view imposed on the people of this country, then there wouldn't be any issue with house prices

is it a lack of financial/understanding awareness causing the problem? For those more financially aware, its not hard to see that as an investment, a house is a pretty poor option, the true value of which after paying off mortgage and maintaining the property for a number of years is probably closer to 0 than many really understand it to be

is it time that the view that house ownership is a must was changed?

I have rented once in my life and never again.
Owning a home to me is not the monetary value,I could'nt care less about that as I need my home to live in and so it does'nt have any value.
That will be for my family to benefit from.
Owning my home means I am independant and can do as I wish with it something that is more important to me than anything else.
I could'nt live in a sub standard property in any case.
I'm too much of a perfectionist for that and I've never seen a rented house that would suit me without changing it considerably or personalising it.
I could never feel in control or secure knowing that the property was'nt mine.
Owning means I can make my home as comfortable as I wish yet feel secure in the knowledge that I have no one to answer for and feel happy that whatever happens when I die every penny I've spent on my home will go back into the family pot for them to enjoy.
Whats not to like.

Mallotum_X

In a rental its someone elses, you cant change things or make you own mark. My other haft and I are keen gardeners, we couldnt have it the way we want in a rental. We also are building a koi pond, which is a large project and quite expensive, we couldnt do that in a rental. We have pets, many rentals dont like that. We want security of where we live.

Long term its cheaper to own, and we get the security to do things our way. Could not have our lifestyle we want and freedom we want in a rental.

quantic

Simple really, it costs us £550 a month to buy our home, which will take another 19 years to pay off, and next door has just been rented within a week of being advertised for £675. Simply put, we could not afford to rent the same house for the same money as we can buy it. I quite like that our house will be 100% ours by the time we are 45 - providing we choose not to borrow more.

puddy

although there are many benefits to renting and i rented for years before i bought my first flat (in bedsits i might add), its more than the issue about 'owning' for me, its because i must have pets and i couldnt bear to be without my pets. the 'rules' that many landlords stipulate for pets is unacceptable for me and i think its heart breaking that people are forced to choose between members of their family (pets) and their home in many cases

having said that, i dont think there is anything intrinsically preferable about owning or not, i understand the arguments for stability and personalisation and i also feel that in my own propery, im very fussy about how i want things and want to feel in control, but i could tolerate someone elses property if i had security of tenure and the ability to have pets

Graham_Devon

puddy wrote: »

although there are many benefits to renting and i rented for years before i bought my first flat (in bedsits i might add), its more than the issue about 'owning' for me, its because i must have pets and i couldnt bear to be without my pets. the 'rules' that many landlords stipulate for pets is unacceptable for me and i think its heart breaking that people are forced to choose between members of their family (pets) and their home in many cases

having said that, i dont think there is anything intrinsically preferable about owning or not, i understand the arguments for stability and personalisation and i also feel that in my own propery, im very fussy about how i want things and want to feel in control, but i could tolerate someone elses property if i had security of tenure and the ability to have pets

Many people would not only tolerate it, but feel it's adventageous in such circumstances, hence what we see in Europe.

However, when a landlord can give you a month or two's notice of eviction for your family because he want's to cash in, it's not going to happen.

The stupidity of the current rules is beyond belief. Enough landlords are not playing by the rules and putting the deposits in the correct accounts. This can be verified by the posts on the house buying board. But all the court cares about is whether, on the court date, the money is now in the correct place. If it is, which it will be, as the landlord will have by that point done it due to the court case, the tenant ends up paying court costs.

This leaves the tenant without anyone fighting their corner. Fear of court costs stop them going to court as all the landlord has to do is play by the rules for one day. It's an insane system, but not likely to change any time soon.

molerat

I don't have to earn £9K a year (£500 pcm average rent + tax & NI) to pay into some scummy landlord's pension fund, seems good enough reason to own to me. If I was renting I would not have been able to retire at 55 so the mortgage was actually investing in my pension.

Mallotum_X

molerat wrote: »

I don't have to earn £9K a year (£500 pcm average rent + tax & NI) to pay into some scummy landlord's pension fund, seems good enough reason to own to me. If I was renting I would not have been able to retire at 55 so the mortgage was actually investing in my pension.

Yet by buying (assumed with a mortgage) you paid into scummy bankers pension funds.

Same sh't different day.

wastedtalent

Mallotum_X wrote: »

Yet by buying (assumed with a mortgage) you paid into scummy bankers pension funds.

Same sh't different day.

As you would when renting if the LL had a BTL mortgage.

Difference is, the capital part goes into your own rather than someone else's.

molerat

Mallotum_X wrote: »

Yet by buying (assumed with a mortgage) you paid into scummy bankers pension funds.

Same sh't different day.

When I paid the mortgage off 15 years early, because you have a choice with a mortgage, I stopped paying into theirs.