Wednesday, Aug 18, 2010
Renting is so depressing you see
BBC: Can the British ever learn to love renting?
Usual claptrap. Kirstie quoted of course. Just look at the pros and cons inset for the bias. They say you'll never own your own home and that you are paying off the landlords mortgage when renting, and that it's more expensive than buying, but this is based on Zoopla nonsense comparison using interest only mortgages. I fail to see how you own your own home when you are only paying interest, and forget about adding repairs and maintenance to the comparison. "But could a national consciousness forged in the eras of Right To Buy and Sarah Beeny ever truly be reconciled to paying off a landlord's mortgage rather than one's own?" Again, what evidence is there that any landlord in the last 20 years has paid off their mortgage from the rent and not capital gains?
11 Comments
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1. need-a-crash said...
Of the Cons listed: "Usually more expensive, properties of lesser quality, can't decorate, never own your home, paying someone else's mortgage, less security"
I would like to point out that at the moment renting is definitely cheaper than buying and the property I'm renting is of a far, far superior quality than anything I could afford to buy in my wildest dreams. In fact so much so that I'm starting to wonder why I'd ever want to buy, seeing as I'd have to take such a large drop in my standard of living.
2. Crunchy said...
Renting, the fear that helped drive the housing market into the stratosphere.
"The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly.
It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over."
Joseph Goebbels.
3. greenshootsandleaves said...
The bit about 'exposure to the turbulent property and mortgage markets' is, I think, as close as the author of the article gets to warning the public about a possible rise in interest rates. Well done (as usual), the BBC property circus!
4. paul said...
Egregious bias there from the beeb.
5. mark wadsworth said...
I'm with n-a-c on this one.
Yes, I have learned to love renting (with all its admitted downsides*) and the idea of tying up vast amounts of cash** in a probably depreciating asset (with the risk that you end up with the neighbours from Hell) is fast losing its appeal.
* I'd love to redecorate, remodel etc to suit our tastes and circumstances, but in this game, you take what you are given.
** We sold to rent etc, and if we bought, our monthly cash outgoings would fall, seeing as we get naff all by way of interest. But that does not compensate for the widely heralded price falls.
6. Brightonrentfodder said...
To be fair to the BBC, they are starting to show some signs of democratic thinking. there was a good interview on the Beeb radio last week about a couple who bought a flat ( it was for some extortionate figure). They described how their mortgage broker, who was an older sage, wisely told them that there was nothing to worry about, as prices only go up, & that a 110% mortgage was a safe option! they were ex-students & so also used the money to pay off their debts. however their maintenance costs alone are pretty crippling (£300 a month). It was, they conceded, it was the worst thing they have ever done. Now they can't afford holidays etc. (if you can find a holiday company that hasn't already gone bust)!
7. Stevie Dee said...
I think my father thinks he's a modern day tutemkhamun (or however you spell it), i think he's hoping to take the rolex, merc, flat screen, bungalow and cat with him to who is after-life. Good luck i say. I wonder if they rent in heaven or hell?
8. Milo said...
I too have recently sold and am renting for the first time, I'm enjoying not worrying about maintenance anymore or indeed constantly thinking / being nagged by the missus about decorating or improvements. I'm happy to ride out the storm and rent for the next year or more as I think prices have quite a way to fall :)
9. timmy t said...
Interesting that if you're renting there is "no risk of negative equity", yet there's no mention of the missed opportunity for capital growth in the con's... presumably they don't think there is any.
10. crash bandicoot said...
"paying off a landlord's mortgage rather than one's own"
I thought that interest only mortgages were the way to go for the BTL set. Isn't that what aunty Judith told us?
11. Ffxiv Gil said...
I'm enjoying not worrying about maintenance anymore or indeed constantly thinking / being nagged by the missus about decorating or improvements.