Happiness is not renting

James_N

It's official. People who rent report lower levels of life satisfaction. Although it's not dramatic, the 68% - 80% spread indicates another "cost" to renting, which must surely be compounded year on year by those who "refuse" to bite the bullet and buy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18966729

mystic_trev

People who are married, have jobs and own their own homes are the most likely to be satisfied with their lives, the first national well-being survey says.

No !!!!!! Sherlock :rotfl:

Generali

As the cut away says, correlation isn't causation. Perhaps renters are unhappier, perhaps unhappier people rent.

James_N

Generali wrote: »

As the cut away says, correlation isn't causation. Perhaps renters are unhappier, perhaps unhappier people rent.

next you will be saying that some renters are useless plonkers who complain all the time. Now we can't have that. Please stick to the accepted wisdom that renters are all hard-done-by innocents with evil landlords, please.

James_N

mystic_trev wrote: »

No !!!!!! Sherlock :rotfl:

I could imagine myself to be quite happy with no commitments, living in a shack on Orkney.
Alone.

Generali

James_N wrote: »

next you will be saying that some renters are useless plonkers who complain all the time. Now we can't have that. Please stick to the accepted wisdom that renters are all hard-done-by innocents with evil landlords, please.

...or renters are fe ckless beggars that demand our contempt. That depends on who you ask of course.

It's rather like a thing I heard the other day that people that retire at 55 have a greater life expectancy than those that retire at 65. Of course they do, they're 10 years younger!

Seriously though, this is one of those summer stories. Correlation and causation are different things, most journalists, and indeed most people, seem unable to realise that, generally using a 'where there's smoke there's fire' argument.

the_flying_pig

Generali wrote: »

As the cut away says, correlation isn't causation. Perhaps renters are unhappier, perhaps unhappier people rent.

well, indeed.

pretty much everything i've ever seen on the subject tells you that being better off financially makes you, other things being equal, happier.

it seems also [according to this] that people post retirement age are happier than workers.

both wealth/income and age are most likely correlated with home ownership.

so it'd be interesting to see whether rich renting retirees are as happy on average as rich home-owning retirees. or how happy poor, young, homeowners are compared to renter equivalents. etc.

Generali

If you read the article carefully, the question asked is along the lines of, "Were you anxious yesterday?". A couple of things spring to mind:

1. Lack of anxiety and happiness are not the same thing.
2. Anxiety can be a form of mental illness linked to depression.

You could just as easily surmise from this survey that people suffering from a particular form of depression are more likely to rent than buy.

THE_DEZERVING_BOOMERZ

Definitely something in this.

Plenty of people whinging they can't buy a house and plainly unhappy with their situation, but how many home owners do you hear saying "This house I bought is making me so unhappy, I'm going to sell it and rent instead.

mystic_trev

THE_DEZERVING_BOOMERZ wrote: »

Plenty of people whinging they can't buy a house and plainly unhappy with their situation, but how many home owners do you hear saying "This house I bought is making me so unhappy, I'm going to sell it and rent instead.

Well I did know some bloke who hung himself in the Garage because he couldn't keep up his mortgage repayments and was about to lose his house. I guess he'd have been happier renting?

aliasojo

I think having control over your life and your surroundings is what makes you happy.

Renters (imo) do not have the same control over their surroundings. Uncertainty over security and stability, or feeling dissatisfied with the types of homes and/or LL's they may have to put up with, will breed unhappiness.

I was a happy owner and a very unhappy renter.

Can you tell?