What's the point in getting a mortgage?

[tinkler]

Why are Britons so obsessed with being homeowners, and so many media column inches swamped about getting on the property ladder (or not being able to afford to)? Why not just rent?

Renting is so simple, easy and hassle-free. It's so affordable. Often it can leave you with ample spare money to do things with (typically 30-40% of one's income is spent on rent). And most of all, you're not tied down, you're free to easily move around to different cities / countries.

Getting a mortgage is a hassle. Firstly you need to build up a deposit, typically 10%+ of the house's value. That is a 5 figure sum it takes most people years to save up for. On top of the deposit you need to pay stamp duty which is about £7k for a modest flat. Then when you start the interest repayments on your mortgage can often be more than what you'd pay to rent somewhere, add in the mortgage repayments on top and you often have little money left.

It's more sensible to spend a few hundred quid a month renting (and if you have a family, you can get an entire house for a grand a month at most), and put the leftover cash from income to better use. Invest it in wise instruments - right now a 6% bank account will give more back than putting it in property, when the housing mkt is booming put it in a real estate fund etc.

If you're worried abt the landlord kicking you out when they want, you can sign a long-term contract, there's plenty of places where people have lived renting for decades.

You may say that paying rent is money down the drain, but so are interest repayments which are often much more than rent!

Thoughts?

(And btw, I own a home. And have every penny of my remaining income each month paying off the mortgage, when I just think I could retire paying cheap rent rather than this burden).

[tinkler]

Maybe people just want something they can call their own?Get a car / big TV / dog then! ;)
Have some security?Nothing's secure.. was reading today how a pensioner who's had a mansion for 18 years is being forced to have it knocked down as Everton FC or someone are building a new stadium there.
Have something to leave for their children?Kids may not want to stay in the same town they grew up in, they may prefer the money in a savings fund for them to do as they like rather than the property? Also does anyone know what the rule is, if your parents die and the house is in the will to the kids do they just get it for free, or have to pay inheritance tax? As if there's money obviously that gets taxed, does property not?
I'd buy a flat now if I could. I'm spending a fortune on rent. My rent is £695 a month. I have friends at work who are paying less than that for a mortgage on a house.If you bought a flat now, you'll have lost maybe 30% of its value by the end of 2009! And if friends are playing less than £700/mth mortgage (interest + redemptions) for a house then they must be locked in on a 25-30 year contract? Imagine being locked in for 3 decades and it being a hassle if you ever wanted to move?

[Knee High Stripy Socks]

There's no stability in renting - tenants have very few rights in Britain. With a mortgage, you are paying it off over 30 years or so while you are still earning money, and in theory you will have finished paying if off by the time you retire. Who wants to be renting when a pension is your only income?
Paying for a mortgage (one you can afford, I mean) is much more stable than renting as you don't have to reassess where you live every six or twelve months or so, and the house is yours. You can paint the living room a different colour if you want to, you can have children without having to worry about them being unsettled and moved to a different school or something if you have to move house because the landlord sells the property.

Although in the current environment you are fucking crackers to buy anywhere!

[ShyBoy]

I suspect a big reason going by a lot of threads on here is so you don't get fucked over by the landlords.

[Kermit]

The reason why people don't want to rent is very simple: there is no security in renting.

Private landlords will issue assured shorthold tenancy agreements. These provide very few rights to tenants. Once you are outside the fixed period (usually six months) the landlord can evict you with two months notice. He does not have to give a reason and there is no defence to it.

Landlords know this and will generally not offer assured shorthold tenancies for more than 6-12 months and will generally not renew them and create a new fixed period. As a condition of most buy-to-let mortgage agreements they are not allowed to offer tenancies for more than 12 months (certainly Halifax mortgages prohibit this).

Even if you are in the fixed period you are not safe. If your landlord defaults on his mortgage the mortgage lender can have you evicted. Again, there is no defence to this.

If you rent from a housing association you will generally also only be offered an assured shorthold tenancy. Some housing association tenants may have assured or secure tenancies, but generally only if they have already been living in the house for 20 years or more (assured tenancies pretty much died a death following a change in the law in 1989).

The only tenants who have any security of tenure are local authority tenants. Even they have to pass what is known as an "introductory tenancy", where the local authority can terminate the tenancy with one month's notice in the first year. After the first year tenants do have secure tenancies, though.

Needless to say, the waiting list in North Tyneside for a council property is pushing five years for those who have the lowest priority need. Already councils cannot cope with those who are in priority need and waiting lists are only going to get longer.

For you to say that renting is perfectly safe and secure shows an abject ignorance of the law and really quite a scary amount of naivety.

If I could get a secure tenancy I wouldn't be fussed about buying my home. But I can't so I have bought a property. This means that, so long as I pay my mortgage on time, I cannot be evicted on the whim of any other person.

[katralla]

my landalady can boot me out with 30days notice, great. I can sign a long-term contract can I? *sigh* where?

[tinkler]

Yes, the risk is that you can get kicked out by the landlord and have a couple of months to find somewhere else. So what, you have to move elsewhere. What's the big deal? There's plenty of homes available for rent (even in times like now) and the affordability shouldn't change much given that landlord contracts are usually annual/bi-annual. How often are you kicked out by your landlord and made to move? Not often. It's no biggy.

My view on the matter is probably based on how I went from spending a mere £500/wk on rent and having tons of other cash to play with, to now wanting to put several thousand pounds a month, every penny of my income after expenses, towards paying off the mortgage and trying to reduce my interest payments to zero. I never donate money to charity anymore, I'll try and avoid having to buy rounds of drinks etc, as I always think that money could be put towards paying off the mortgage instead. (I have a fully flexible account, interest-only, so pay off whatever I have left each month as a redemption).

[littlemissy]

The other biggie for me is that I feel that renting is like throwing money away. I would rather pay £1000 per month towards something that I will eventually own instead of paying £1000 per month to someone who could, like already highlighted, throw me out on a whim.

[kangoo]

Firstly, living in a rented house is nowhere near the same as living in your own. In a rented house you can't change anything, you can't decorate it to your taste or buy new appliances. You can't buy a new oven to replace the shit one there already. You can't install double glazing to save your heating bills, and sometimes you can't change the energy provider. You can't put pictures up because you get charged for the damage done to the wall and if you spill something on the carpet you have to pay for a professional cleaner, rather than just living with a small stain. Problems with the house can take ages to sort out with shit landlords. Basically you have no freedom in your own home. Because it isn't your own home

As well as this you spend your whole life paying each month and end up with absolutely nothing. Pay for a mortgage and you're not looking at much more a month than renting, but you're getting something for your money.

[ShyBoy]

tinkler has a point in a weird way - if you look at most big businesses they rent instead of buy, because it can work out cheaper.

If you rent for example, you might be paying £600 a month on rent (round here for a small place, for example). If you buy, you might be paying £600 a month on interest (+ mortgage). Now, that mortgage is a sound investment that is likely to go up in value, but if you rent you could take that money that you would invest (and you're still paying your £600 a month 'service' charge whether that's to the bank for loaning you money, or to the landlord for letting you live there), and invest it in something else or even spend some on yourself.

I think in the UK there is a habit of getting a mortgage so your house can be your pension fund in a way. You've heard the expression 'safe as houses' because they never really go down in value long term.

However, with everything else equal - you can withdraw your 'investment' at any time by selling the house, so it's like a bank account anyway in some sense - when you have a landlord you still have the very real prospect of getting fucked over. The amount of people on here who have had things gone wrong and not fixed, who have had their significant deposits withheld because the landlord fancied a holiday, and so on.

I mean, there's issues both ways, a friend's mum's friend bought a property in Spain where there are more rights for tenants, and basically she can't increase the rent (from something laughable like ?150 a month), and she can't sell the property, she has no power to evict the tenants. They're basically getting a house for free.

I agree that in the short term, for example if I was getting a job and living as a batchelor, I'd probably rent then save some money - but long term you want some place to call home where you don't have lots of restrictions on what you can and can't do.

If you look at property though it's vastly overvalued, I'm tempted to just get a caravan, but then there's the issue of where do I send my post...?

[kangoo]

The other biggie for me is that I feel that renting is like throwing money away. I would rather pay £1000 per month towards something that I will eventually own instead of paying £1000 per month to someone who could, like already highlighted, throw me out on a whim.

:yes: I'd rather pay £1000 a month for something that I'd eventually own than £600 a month dead money

[BritJamez]

Well, I have owned for over 4 years now, and it's mine.

I don't need permission to fix it up, paint the walls, or even worry about whether I will be kicked out for the olympic games (landlords can make a fortune there).

I am about to remortgage on a fixed 3 year deal at 5.x percent. This is 2.x percent lower than I am currently paying.

Oh, and why buy when you can rent: because wouldn't you rather be paying off your OWN mortgage, than somebody elses?

[tinkler]

Firstly, living in a rented house is nowhere near the same as living in your own. In a rented house you can't change anything, you can't decorate it to your taste or buy new appliances. You can't buy a new oven to replace the shit one there already. You can't install double glazing to save your heating bills, and sometimes you can't change the energy provider. You can't put pictures up because you get charged for the damage done to the wall and if you spill something on the carpet you have to pay for a professional cleaner, rather than just living with a small stain. Problems with the house can take ages to sort out with shit landlords. Basically you have no freedom in your own home. Because it isn't your own home

As well as this you spend your whole life paying each month and end up with absolutely nothing. Pay for a mortgage and you're not looking at much more a month than renting, but you're getting something for your money.

Fantastic answer, answers my question really well, highlight what people see as important. Also shows why I don't care - I've just noticed how shit the windows are here, but I don't care about getting them replaced! Same with pictures which were here when I got here and I've not cared about replacing them, they'll do. Meh, I'm a simple person! Also I suppose I see this place as temporary as I did renting as it's just a pokey flat, want to pay off mortgage asap and get something decent.

Cheers

[ShyBoy]

Ok, just a quick comparison for you:

4 bedroom home in York within commuting distance of York University

To buy:
approx £150k (bit more in reality, but for simplicity's sake), mortgage interest rate (from a quick look) - 7%, repaying over 25 years

Monthly repayment - 1072.63
(Interest only) - 875.00
at 12% it will be - 1593.74
(Interest only) - 1500

So at 7% (that might be wrong, but what I got from a quick search as the APR) you're paying 875 a month dead money - that's just paying the bank for letting them loan you the money. Comparing this to rent...

To rent
house value the same etc.

Monthly cost: £960

and then the rest of your money is freed up to what you like with it. If the bank's interest rate goes up, you're tied into a contract so for the next 6-12 months you're safe at least.

What I'm saying is that in some situations it gives you safety by proxy - it's not your property, if something happens you can up and leave. But on the other hand, if you're going to live somewhere long term, for the safety it affords you may as well get a mortgage.

edit: the rent is taken from the house I'm staying in which is a bit nicer than some of the houses I found actually, they varied from £199k to £149k so I took the lower. It might be misrepresenting the costs.

[BritJamez]

Ok, just a quick comparison for you:

4 bedroom home in York within commuting distance of York University

To buy:
approx £150k (bit more in reality, but for simplicity's sake), mortgage interest rate (from a quick look) - 7%, repaying over 25 years

Monthly repayment - 1072.63
(Interest only) - 875.00
at 12% it will be - 1593.74
(Interest only) - 1500

So at 7% (that might be wrong, but what I got from a quick search as the APR) you're paying 875 a month dead money - that's just paying the bank for letting them loan you the money. Comparing this to rent...

To rent
house value the same etc.

Monthly cost: £960

and then the rest of your money is freed up to what you like with it. If the bank's interest rate goes up, you're tied into a contract so for the next 6-12 months you're safe at least.

What I'm saying is that in some situations it gives you safety by proxy - it's not your property, if something happens you can up and leave. But on the other hand, if you're going to live somewhere long term, for the safety it affords you may as well get a mortgage.

edit: the rent is taken from the house I'm staying in which is a bit nicer than some of the houses I found actually, they varied from £199k to £149k so I took the lower. It might be misrepresenting the costs.

The only downside to owning, rather than renting, is the bills aspect.
You may be able to negotiate a nice "all inclusive" amount for bills.

own the place, you'll pay lots, and have to stay on top of them.

[lipsy]

I have often wondered this before! So this thread is pretty interesting..

btw shyboy, what does this bit mean with the different interest rates?

Monthly repayment - 1072.63
(Interest only) - 875.00
at 12% it will be - 1593.74
(Interest only) - 1500

[ShyBoy]

I took it from the BBC's mortgage calculator. Basically when you get a mortgage, the cost of the service (lending you the money) is determined by the amount and the interest rate. For some reason they put 12% in - for example if the economy goes a bit funny your costs could spiral. If mortgages are at 7% now, well a few years ago they were at 3-4%, so because it's more costly / risky for the banks to lend the interest rates seem to be going up. The central bank cuts interest rates it lends to the banks to try to counter this... but it's like a warning. If you get a mortgage at 3% interest and you can barely afford it, if the interest rate does go up you'll lose your home.

This is unfortunately what may happen to people with the credit crunch and house market crisis.

If you look at that, you're only paying back maybe £200 a month, the vast majority is interest to the bank's profit account.

[ruby_soho]

If you look at that, you're only paying back maybe £200 a month, the vast majority is interest to the bank's profit account.

Yes but when your paying a landlord your paying back nothing, apart from his mortgage of course.

The way i see it, our house costs us around £680 a month in mortgage payments but to rent the same house it's still going to be £550 a month, so whats the extra bit when you can do what the hell you want to your house, and call it your own.

[budda]

I could rent my place for about £150 more a month than I pay in mortgage, says it all really. Landlords arent a charity, they are there to make money.

[katralla]

Yes, the risk is that you can get kicked out by the landlord and have a couple of months to find somewhere else. So what, you have to move elsewhere. What's the big deal? There's plenty of homes available for rent (even in times like now) and the affordability shouldn't change much given that landlord contracts are usually annual/bi-annual. How often are you kicked out by your landlord and made to move? Not often. It's no biggy.

I would have 30 days, and oooh, now you put it like that, of course it's no big deal to uproot yorself on someone else's whim, and no great expense either. /sarcasm

[Wyetry]

Also the % of your income on mortgage repayments will go down overtime as your salary increases even if it just increases with inflation.

My parents remortgaged their house in the late 1980's to pay for an extension and i'm sure that the repayments at £250 were a significant part of thier montly income but now is hardly anything - compared to thier average mothly income - which though i hate to ask what it is must be somewhere in the region of £8-10K a month after tax.....

Plus thier house is now worth around £500k yet they bought it for only £33K so is a thus a worthwhile long term investment.

For me the mortgage on my house is less a month than it would be to rent it so it makes no sense why i would bother to rent, also its gone up in value so astronomically in the last 4 years that only a devaluation by around 70% would leave me in negative equity...........

[tinkler]

The way i see it, our house costs us around £680 a month in mortgage payments but to rent the same house it's still going to be £550 a month, so whats the extra bit when you can do what the hell you want to your house, and call it your own.

What about the £20,000 or whatever deposit it would take most people years to save up for?

[Disillusioned]

In quite a lot of other countries it's the norm to rent. In Germany it is but it's a diff culture, tenants have more rights and rents are restricted and so are increases, there's a local max level of rent per square metre/a month. I can see the attractions in renting, it's more flexible and there's no worries about maintaining it or falling house prices but given the lack of security it doesn't really make sense if you can afford to get a mortgage.

[Knee High Stripy Socks]

The tenants rights bit and the renting on a pension bit is why I don't like renting, and why I don't want to rent forever. If there were more rights it possibly wouldn't be a problem.

[morrocan roll]

A growing problem at the moment is the sliding house price. Often you agree to buy a property months before you actualy sign anything ...this starts the ball rolling ...the chain.
When it comes to signing for you have agreed to buy ...the house is worth ten grand less than it was at the time of agreememnt. Haggle haggle haggle comes into it then.
The poor sod who is selling you the house may well have to accept the lower offer ...to enable them to purchase the one they have agreed to buying.

[ShyBoy]

The tenants rights bit and the renting on a pension bit is why I don't like renting, and why I don't want to rent forever. If there were more rights it possibly wouldn't be a problem.

As to your renting on a pension problem, what if you rented, and the £200 or so that would pay off your mortgage you save / invest then when you retire you will have an amount of money to buy a property if you wish to do so.

I'm being a bit of a devil's advocate though, I intend to get a mortgage as soon as I can because the conditions in the UK are suited for house owners, not renters. If the legislation was changed, it might not be the case.... but at the moment you are far better off buying so long as the price differential isn't too massive (bank loan interest vs. rent, both of which is a cost to you and a profit to the other guy, in a mortgage the mortgage repayment bit you could actually count as in investment).

[ruby_soho]

What about the £20,000 or whatever deposit it would take most people years to save up for?

ours was £6000? and we only bought it a month ago - i don't think £6000 is an unreasonable amount to save if theres 2 of you over a couple of years or so. I know a couple of people who have got 100% ones aswell so they didn't need a deposit.

[Mandalena]

Over the long term, if you have the deposit, buying your own home has to be the best option but the key is to be sure that you can afford the repayments. If you think it might be a stuggle you could consider getting an extra bedroom which you could let out if times were hard. Watch out for dodgy estate agents and tricky sellers, remember if you are a first time buyer you are holding some good negotiating cards.

[Kermit]

Yes, the risk is that you can get kicked out by the landlord and have a couple of months to find somewhere else. So what, you have to move elsewhere. What's the big deal?

Are you actually for real?

The "big deal" is that it costs a lot of money to move and by renting you can potentially be moving every six months. My sister-in-law is now in her third rental property in two years because her previous landlords decided to sell up.

Around here the letting agents charge half of one month's rent + VAT as an administration charge. To move a family you'll need to hire removal services, you'll need to find the deposit and advance rent for the new home.

To move between rental properties you'll need to have set aside nearly two grand- £300 removal fees, £300 admin fees, £500 advance rent, £500 bond. Even better still, you'll only get 60 days to do it in.

I have over £40,000 coming into my household and I'd be struggling to find the cash. My sister-in-law and her partner earn about the same yet they had to borrow money from us to pay the bridging costs.

And if you're unlucky, on top of all that, you might have to move your children to a new school.

Moving between rental properties at short notice is not such a big deal if you're 21 and single. It's a huge deal when you're in your 30s and you have two kids to feed.

If we had a European rental market people would rent. In most of Europe rents are fixed and tenants have strong legal protection. Even private tenants in Germany have rights that eclipse those given to council tenants in the UK.

[MrG]

And every time ive moved and used a letting agency i have had to pay pretty much £200 applications fees, and then theres the deposit and the first months rent in advance, fair enough you get deposit back off the first place, but yo have to have the money ready up front !

[Whowhere]

I'd rather own a house, which is worth more money than I paid for it, which is in considerably better condition than a house I would get as a rental for the same monthly repayment but with the security that I can't get turfed out.

As long as I can afford the repayments, which make up about 1/3 of my salary alone which I can afford by myself without even putting my wife's salary in the equation, then why would I want to rent???

[purplebutterfly]

I'd much have a mortgage and own my own place then rent. A mortgage would probably work out cheaper in the area I live in and I'd have much more long term security for housing. My brothers moved twice in the last eight months because hes had so many problems renting.

[tinkler]

ours was £6000? and we only bought it a month ago - i don't think £6000 is an unreasonable amount to save if theres 2 of you over a couple of years or so. I know a couple of people who have got 100% ones aswell so they didn't need a deposit.Lol. Try and find a reputable mortgage lender today that will provide a 100% mortgage where you don't need a deposit. It's precisely those sort of spivvy instruments that have led to the credit crunch. Most decent reputable lenders today will ask for a 10% deposit, hence my £20k figure (for a decent flat in a town/city outside London, good starting point for many).

[Whowhere]

Lol. Try and find a reputable mortgage lender today that will provide a 100% mortgage where you don't need a deposit. It's precisely those sort of spivvy instruments that have led to the credit crunch. Most decent reputable lenders today will ask for a 10% deposit, hence my £20k figure (for a decent flat in a town/city outside London, good starting point for many).

Which is why it's best to save up first. Me and my wife were saving constantly for 3 years to afford a deposit. Unfortunately a lot of people nowadays don't understand the concept.

[Yeah I no]

?

Renting is so simple, easy and hassle-free. It's so affordable. Often it can leave you with ample spare money to do things with

My fella was renting a one bed flat, it was £350 pcm, we now pay £400 per month on a 2 bed terrace house, with a garden! Weres the logic in that?

I hate renting, I think its a waste of money. At the flat I wouldnt do anything to it, cos it wasnt mine, so felt like I was throwing money away.

I like to know that this is our house, a landlord cant come and throw us out, we can decorate it how we like.

My mum and dad have got 3 years left on their mortgage (they bought their house for like 16k!) then theres my grandparents, they will be paying rent for the rest of their life.

[kangoo]

My mum and dad have got 3 years left on their mortgage (they bought their house for like 16k!) then theres my grandparents, they will be paying rent for the rest of their life.

How come they never bought?

[Wyetry]

Previously it was the norm for most people in the UK to rent rather than to own thier property. Mortgages were much harder to get in the 50's and 60's than they are now and buying your own home wasnt' really possible for many people.

In addition historically tennants have had much stronger rights than they have today, most of my relatives were in long term rental agreements, my great aunt took over the rental agreement on the house that her mother had lived in with a rental price that was fixed before the war!

[ShyBoy]

I've just been looking at leasehold, you can get charged by the freeholder (say for example, they want a new bathroom) but new laws were put in place to protect you. So you take them to court and win - but then (and this is the best bit) - they can actually add their legal expenses (of you taking them to court) onto the cost of running the freehold and pass it back to you. It's laughable!

[ruby_soho]

Lol. Try and find a reputable mortgage lender today that will provide a 100% mortgage where you don't need a deposit. It's precisely those sort of spivvy instruments that have led to the credit crunch. Most decent reputable lenders today will ask for a 10% deposit, hence my £20k figure (for a decent flat in a town/city outside London, good starting point for many).

As i said we bought a house/sorted out a morgtgage a month ago, and our deposit was 5% and thats with Nationwide, and they are not exactly a back street mortgage shop.

[g_angel]

Renting is better when you're quite obviously living in an area you would not be able to buy in.

For example... Me.

Apartment value approx £650-750k (2 bed in Nottinghill). Rent approx £2k a month. There is no way on God's green earth I could get a mortgage anywhere near that unless I had recently sold property with a remotely similar value (£500k upwards).

In regards to London, it is quite often the only option.

On the plus side, I already own an apartment ooop Norf, so I'm ok with that.

[kangoo]

Apartment value approx £650-750k (2 bed in Nottinghill). Rent approx £2k a month.


:crazyeyes We pay £400 a month for a 2 bed terraced house! Our combined wage is £2k a month! Are wages significantly higher in London or is everyone skint!

[g_angel]

:crazyeyes We pay £400 a month for a 2 bed terraced house! Our combined wage is £2k a month! Are wages significantly higher in London or is everyone skint!

:lol:

Wages aren't that much higher in general... I do have a good job though. :)

Rent in some areas of London is shocking. I was checking out an utterly stunning 2 bed to let in a converted church just down the road from where I am now. The price wasn't on the ad... Turned out to be £2,200 a week. I honestly asked the guy if it was a mis-print in his notes. To be fair, it was utterly stunning - movie-set stunning, but Christ that's a bit much. You pays yer money, you makes yer choice, I guess.

You'll rarely find a room in a shared house that is anything half decent for under £400 a month, from experience, unless its MILES from the centre.

ETA - This is a flat for rent on my street: 2 Bed (http://www.foxtons.co.uk/search?bedrooms=2&bedrooms_max=2&order_by=price+desc&location_ids=167-29&search_form=map&per_page=10&search_type=LL&property_id=632336&submit_type=search)

£2000 a month is quite cheap for the area. The one in the link is also smaller than mine... But it is, admittedly, a lot nicer.

Funnily enough though, Council Tax in Westminster is dirt cheap compared to elsewhere. That one is £688/year :)

[kangoo]

:

ETA - This is a flat for rent on my street: 2 Bed (http://www.foxtons.co.uk/search?bedrooms=2&bedrooms_max=2&order_by=price+desc&location_ids=167-29&search_form=map&per_page=10&search_type=LL&property_id=632336&submit_type=search)


:crazyeyes Wow. Its done out mega posh though, ours is a wee little terraced with 70s style kitchen and upstairs ceiling so low you bash your head off the lampshades and I'm only 5'2! The whole house is on a slant so when you sit on a swivel chair its really hard to stay in front of the desk and none of the doors line up with the ceilings. Still you get what you pay for! Its nice and homely - and cheap!

[g_angel]

:crazyeyes Wow. Its done out mega posh though, ours is a wee little terraced with 70s style kitchen and upstairs ceiling so low you bash your head off the lampshades and I'm only 5'2! The whole house is on a slant so when you sit on a swivel chair its really hard to stay in front of the desk and none of the doors line up with the ceilings. Still you get what you pay for! Its nice and homely - and cheap!

Awwwwwww - sounds cute :)

[ShyBoy]

g_angel how much is rent in Slough nr. London? Might be doing some summer work there :s

[g_angel]

g_angel how much is rent in Slough nr. London? Might be doing some summer work there :s

Erm...

I have no idea. :confused: Try that wonderful google invention ;) It'll be a lot cheaper than London though. It's a bit of a shithole :D

www.thegumtree.com may have a Slough branch to it. That's always good for rooms.

Oh, and it's not that close to London. It would be like saying York, nr Bradford ;)

ETA - thinking about it, there are fast trains from London Paddington out to Slough. If you can stretch, I'd get a room in London (Ealing, perhaps) and commute out there. Trains also run from Ealing Broadway. Takes about 20 minutes, if I recall. It would be MUCH more fun than living in such a dump (I worked there briefly).

[Meryn]

ETA - thinking about it, there are fast trains from London Paddington out to Slough. If you can stretch, I'd get a room in London (Ealing, perhaps) and commute out there. Trains also run from Ealing Broadway. Takes about 20 minutes, if I recall. It would be MUCH more fun than living in such a dump (I worked there briefly).

But Ealing's pretty expensive. I'd love to live there one day though.

[g_angel]

But Ealing's pretty expensive. I'd love to live there one day though.

It's certainly not the cheapest place in the world, but you should be able to find a room in something quite nice for well under £600 a month :)

Always worth a good squizz around on thegumtree.

I recently left Ealing and it is not as nice as it once was - Queen of the Suburbs.

[katchika]

£600 a month isn't cheap! Especially when you add in the train fares.

I'd love to be able to get a mortgage, one day. I've been renting for eight years, which has cost a lot of money. Plus you have the bother of deposits/not being able to decorate/horrible landlords etc etc etc.

[Wyetry]

I have to say though the only advantage I can see to renting is that you can theoretically afford to live somewhere nicer than you could afford to buy - because renting is 90% about how much you are prepared to shell out a month. Whilst a mortgage is how much someone is prepared to give you (though i know you should also take into account how much you can afford to pay back).

So for example i could afford to rent in chelsea but on my wage alone i could never afford to buy there straight off.

Though obv now i am on the property ladder i obv have capital to invest and I could afford to buy in chelsea - however i've decided that i want a house with a garden instead of a flat of you see what i mean.