Remind me why it's better to buy than rent?

plarka

We own a 2 bed flat in a council estate. It's nice as far as council estates go. But we have two little kids and don't have our own private garden and it's small here, and I'm tempted to rent a house (which we might have the money for if my husband gets a better job in a few months). Plus the few hundred pounds a month I make from my small business. BUT I would sooo much rather use that money to save towards buying a house!! Friends tell me I need to rent a bigger place for my sanity, but I just don't want to part with my money to pay someone's mortgage AND mostly it would just hinder us from every being able to own something bigger. We wouldn't be able to save a penny. And our flat is valued lower than when we bought it of course, so we can't sell and buy something bigger. Only a non-council flat and that's not worth it to me!

So, remind me it's better to suffer for a few years, for the sake of a long term goal?

Rent v. buy: always better to save your money up and buy, right? Keep my mind fixed on the future?

japmis

I've rented for 14 years and it's cost me about £60k. Does that help?!

sandsni

I've owned for 11 years and my house could do with a new roof, windows, extractor fan, kitchen light... Unfortunately that's all up to me and how long it takes me to save up to pay for them :-/

UsernameAlreadyExists

Someone posted on another thread once a very important point about buying that I'd never really considered before. When you're retired and mortgage free - you have somewhere to live.

It hit home for me when I encountered an old"ish" guy that did some plumbing for me. He's 69 years old, self employed, and rents. His partner is now quite ill and unable to work. He, himself, cannot afford to stop working (and care for her) all the while he wants to keep the same roof over his head (he's lived there 14 years and made it "his" home as much as he can within the rental terms).
I think it's sad that if illness strikes him too ... he'll lose the house and have to rely purely on the govt/council to accomodate him etc.
He has no assets as such and nothing at all to fall back on.
Quite sad really

ukcarper

I've owned my house 28 years it is in good condition spent about £120k on it and it would now cost me £15k a year to rent.

sinbad182

sandsni wrote: »

I've owned for 11 years and my house could do with a new roof, windows, extractor fan, kitchen light... Unfortunately that's all up to me and how long it takes me to save up to pay for them :-/

If you have to save up to buy an extractor fan and kitchen light you probably shouldn't have bought a house in the first place

pjread

In a word, certainty. "paper value" could do anything and, sure, maybe your oven might break down and you have to pay for it. But nobody else can arbitrarily increase your costs (well, interest rates can move if not fixed, but again - that's your call whether to fix etc...)

nomoneytoday

If house prices go down, it's better to have rented (and vice versa).
Unfortunately no one has a future proof plan either way

bryanb

Could you let your flat to help you to rent and save?

bryanb

nomoneytoday wrote: »

If house prices go down, it's better to have rented (and vice versa).
Unfortunately no one has a future proof plan either way

That may be true when paying a mortgage. But I like where I am owning our house

ukcarper

nomoneytoday wrote: »

If house prices go down, it's better to have rented (and vice versa).
Unfortunately no one has a future proof plan either way

I'm not sure that is true in the long term as you own house in the end and no longer have to pay rent.