Why Is A 44 Year Old Man Still Renting?

mwpt

wotsthat wrote: »

The chap from HPC doesn't want to buy and, in fact, renting at the age of 44 having never bought fills him with an immense sense of pride.

His landlord is helping to enable this deep sense of joy - why would you want to prevent what sounds like a beautiful mutually beneficial relationship?

Where will the HPC'ers live whilst waiting for the crash? Won't anyone think of the sad bitter men!

The bureau has taken note of your opinion. Please present yourself for recondition within the week.

chucknorris

benjus wrote: »

No visas... you might need to register with the town hall where you live, but that's about it (and I suspect a lot of people don't even bother with that).

Read my post above, we cross posted.

chucknorris

wotsthat wrote: »

Don't know about Spain but, yes, in Portugal you're a tourist for 3 months but need a residency certificate thereafter. It's a formality though.

It will become more important for us to stay there for more than 90 days if we move to the IOM, as the winter weather isn't that great on the IOM.

I have been looking at the Isle of Man (IOM) over this weekend we have become very keen to explore it. It looks like there are plenty of walks, and even a disused railway line now used a cycle way (the heritage trail), which we would have missed here in the UK (my wife doesn't do hill cycling, and it is great for taking our dog out with our bikes, being traffic free, also her cycling pace is about the same as my running pace (she is slow, I'm not fast)). She doesn't do long distances, so the 21 miles (there and back), becomes 2 different days out, as she would only do about 10 miles in one go.

TheeMaskedTurnip

zarf2007 wrote: »

The difference is though that renting in the UK is not the utopia renters will have you believe:

1) Free to move whenever you like

Sure, and the landlord is also free to kick you out if they decide to sell or don't like you complaining about their job as a landlord. Think of the thousands in moving/deposits each time you move...not to mention the stress....and if you rent and have kids of school age its hardly ideal moving them from one school to the next.....

2) Free Maintenance

Yeah if you count doing things as cheaply as possible so as not to dip into the rental income and also refusing to do anything expensive unless they absolutely have to.....even then they can just serve you with a S21 in most cases rather than fork out for any major works, some other mug will accept the place in its current state.

3) Not being able to make changes to make it your home

Who in their right mind would pay for a new kitchen or redecorate when they could be kicked out of their rental home on a whim? not to mention the little things like hanging pictures which are frowned on.

Tbh until they bring in lifetime tenancies then the rental market is really only suited to 20 somethings who like the freedom to move around, for anyone else its and expensive pain in the @ss for little return.

You hit the nail on the head. The reality of renting is nothing like the utopia the HPC loons would have you believe. Also why pay off someone else mortgage for them when you can pay your own? Bad neighbours or need to relocate for work, simply rent out the home and buy another place. Hardly rocket science.

wotsthat

mwpt wrote: »

The bureau has taken note of your opinion. Please present yourself for recondition within the week.

Your views have been considered far too namby pamby - banning second home ownership - lightweight.

As such I've set up an alternative ministry for re-education and it has been decided to impose a maximum square footage allowance per citizen. If this is exceeded people will have to pay additional tax and take on a lodger sourced from the website HPC.co.uk who will carry out the necessary 'treatment'.

It has come to our attention that you have sufficient space to build an extension - please expect Mr. B. Unsight later this week.

lisyloo

TheeMaskedTurnip wrote: »

You hit the nail on the head. The reality of renting is nothing like the utopia the HPC loons would have you believe. Also why pay off someone else mortgage for them when you can pay your own? Bad neighbours or need to relocate for work, simply rent out the home and buy another place. Hardly rocket science.

Our gross yield (before any costs and 100% occupancy) is 4.3%. After the agents costs, repairs, service charge, insurance etc. I don't think we're paying off very much of the landlords mortgage.

The owners have rented out their home as the needed to relocate. They will be covering their costs, but any profit will be quite low.
Of course there are capital gains as well (low in this area now).

As to why not get a mortgage, well 99% wouldn't be able to afford to.

seven-day-weekend

chucknorris wrote: »

Thanks just found it, see post above yours, it is 90 days. Presumably it is a very simple process?[/QUOTE]

I only have experience of rural Spain, where any bureaucratic process is as complicated as it is possible to make it. Presumably it is easier in more cosmopolitan areas , and differs between countries. (I wouldn't hold your breath on it being simple in rural Portugal either!).

Speaking the language helps greatly.

mayonnaise

Interesting thread, interesting insight into the HPC mind.

I nearly bought a house for £180,000 five years ago. But it seemed madness for such a small place in a rough area. It's now knocking on for £400,000. Totally disengaged with it all nowadays. I work enough so I can pay my bills each month, and a bit more for the savings, then I don't bother much. What's the point.

ouch.

I'm mid 40s. I STR in 2006 and went abroad for a year and never bought since. Seemed like a good move until the evil policies of our enlightened leaders really started to work a few years ago and now I am many £10Ks down on where I would have been if I had kept a position in SE UK housing. Now I refuse to buy in to the grotesque system - in fact I opt out of the modern economy

ouch.

HPC forums should come with a health warning:
HPC forums are addictive and can cause serious damage to your financial and mental health.

paddyrg

zarf2007 wrote: »

The difference is though that renting in the UK is not the utopia renters will have you believe:

1) Free to move whenever you like

Sure, and the landlord is also free to kick you out if they decide to sell or don't like you complaining about their job as a landlord. Think of the thousands in moving/deposits each time you move...not to mention the stress....and if you rent and have kids of school age its hardly ideal moving them from one school to the next.....

2) Free Maintenance

Yeah if you count doing things as cheaply as possible so as not to dip into the rental income and also refusing to do anything expensive unless they absolutely have to.....even then they can just serve you with a S21 in most cases rather than fork out for any major works, some other mug will accept the place in its current state.

3) Not being able to make changes to make it your home

Who in their right mind would pay for a new kitchen or redecorate when they could be kicked out of their rental home on a whim? not to mention the little things like hanging pictures which are frowned on.

Tbh until they bring in lifetime tenancies then the rental market is really only suited to 20 somethings who like the freedom to move around, for anyone else its and expensive pain in the @ss for little return.

Some of those factors are very real for some people in some tenancies. It's not universal.

Our current place we've been here around 9 years, lady before was here 40 years, landlady isn't a twitchy amateur worrying about stamp duty rises etc. And as a good tenant, it's better business for her to keep us keeping the place in good condition than have the place unoccupied for a couple of months. And we pay significantly less in rent than a mortgage on the place would be. And the last rise was 7 years ago, by £25/month. And we agreed to it. And it's worth it.

Maintenance - agreed, it can dawdle for non-essentials, but the essentials are sorted next day, when they arise. The place was fully refitted between the last lady and us, much of it is still as new. Not all landlords are alike.

You're right, I haven't paid for a new kitchen or decoration - the kitchen was new when we moved in, the landlady paid for a painter to refresh some walls we asked for. Admittedly, we keep to fairly conservative colours, mostly 'Landlord Magnoila' in one or another form, but with accent walls etc. Many people would choose similarly TBH

Not every rental experience is the same. Yes, there are slumlords catering to people who would never be able to afford to buy anyway, so not really a part of the dialogue. People make different choices and that goes for professional landlords and tenants. If in your world it's only bad news, I'm sorry to hear that. The reality is more varied and complex.

lisyloo

paddyrg wrote: »

Not every rental experience is the same. Yes, there are slumlords catering to people who would never be able to afford to buy anyway, so not really a part of the dialogue. People make different choices and that goes for professional landlords and tenants. If in your world it's only bad news, I'm sorry to hear that. The reality is more varied and complex.

I would agree and I'd hazard a guess that some of it is related to what you are paying.
As a professional in London I've had nothing but good service from landlords both renting and with serviced apartments.
When I was a student I did experience worse at the bottom end of the market, but I guess if you are paying less then you should expect less if it's non-essential. To a degree you get what you pay for.
It's certainly true if you rent you aren't in control of when things get done as you would be when you are a householder.
It's also worth pointing out that tenants vary a great deal. some don't take care of the property and don't even think about matters like ventilition and some have unreasonable expectations.