I am renting and understand your husband's point of view regarding the freedom it gives you. Yet, I never feel settled, you can get booted out at a couple of months notice and after moving countries, I do not want to be moving again too many times. Renting is not cheap either and I also reckon that one day, house prices may start to rise again and I may get caught out.

John

We lived in 3 rental in 2 years when we moved back from Canada. Like you said we had to move when the owners wanted their houses back. The rentals we lived in needed a lot of work and I ended spending money on them because they were not properly maintained. Our rent was nearly double our current mortgage, but as you said you not tied into one house/area when you moved back to the UK.

Hudd

I agree with you on this. I keep asking for information that would convince me that rental for the long term is a good idea, and as yet, I haven't seen any.

I am reposting the post below because I didn't get a single comment on it and would like to know what people think:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pistolpete2
If you take a house that is worth 200,000 pounds and you have the option of renting it or buying it (no deposit), these are the scenarios which could be considered pretty typical:

The landlord wants 700 pounds per month 8,400 per annum

You buy it and the mortgage costs say 4%* 8,000
Insurance 400
Maintenance 600
Plus the legal costs etc. of buying/selling
Plus downside risk

*If you have a fixed rate mortgage for several years you have to pay a fee of around 1% of the mortgage to get it (2,000 extra)

In this example you are in the hole in early years and maintenance can be much much more than I have shown here.

The only thing that makes sense of buying in the long run is capital appreciation, unless you are looking to otherwise rent in a (relatively) high rent area such as in commuter country. The further you move from London, typically, the better it is to rent and the worse the %age return for a landlord.

Bandrui's repsonse:
I would agree that short-term rental may make sense but as a renter, you are still going to have insurance costs for contents and probably some maintenance costs too if, for instance, you asked for permission to re-paint or do your own yard-maintenance, etc., just to make it a more appealing place to live in.
As a long-term renter, the rent is likely to be increased on an annual basis so you are putting out an ever-increasing annual amount with no equity in return, in effect buying the property for your landlord instead of for yourself. So let's say the rent increases by 5%/year, after 5 years the rent paid would be £46,415.40! and your monthly rent in year 5 would be £850.86.
If you were making a mortgage payment, it would stay approximately the same other than for interest rate fluctuations, and that might have been accounted for in a longer term fixed rate mortgage (not my choice).
I am not sure what this 1% mortgage fee is. I have never paid one for any of the 5 properties I have owned. I usually go through a mortgage broker who is paid by the mortgage holder. Is this not the way it works in the UK?
The estate agent's commission is paid here by the seller. Is that the same in the UK?
The other factor is that, as you mentioned, the property's value is going to increase in the long-term, even if it comes down in the short term - money in the bank! Or is it my children's bank? (see my response to John's link in Location, location, location referencing an article in his link).
That equity can also be borrowed against to finance any one of a number of business or personal ventures.
All this, of course, depends on how much of a downpayment is made when purchasing.

I do also, feel very much the same as Sallysimmonds, in that I like the stability of knowing that the place is mine and not subject to the whims and fancies of a landlord.
__________________
On Salt Spring Island off West coast of Canada; beginning to embrace the idea of going home after 40 years! Starting to plan.

I think that renting versus buying isn't something with a right or wrong answer. It's just whatever makes you happy and suits you. I'm keeping an open mind for now and am interested in all the different perspectives.

One key point to think about when you're married and no longer a spring chicken, is that if anything happens to one of you, the other will be stuck with whatever decisions you both made together. In our case, that might mean our savings are tied up in a house that's too big for one person.

I know buying is supposed to be a good investment, but we have paid a fortune in mortgage each month for 12 years and still have the lion's share of it to pay back. I'm glad we bought here because we have made money - but I don't care about making money next time. I have no kids and I'll be 50 when I go back so I don't much care if my house goes up in value.

I am trying to keep an open mind on this but from a financial perspective I just can't make any sense of it, if you have the option. The emotional perspective is something else entirely. I can see pros and cons. Personally I never feel settled or grounded if I am renting someone else's house. It just doesn't feel like my home. Granted, it is not a decision that is as easy to change as a rental but that is why I am putting so much effort into finding what area I would like to live in and the type of house I would like to be in.

I am seriously thinking about buying a camper van when I get to England and travelling around for a while. Of course, it depends on time of year (no fun in winter) but it would be a great way to explore before I became settled. I could use a cousin's address to set up bank accounts etc.

My sister knows about the nuclear power plant plan. She said it will be at least 50 miles from Frome.

Yes, they are all on the coast. Hinckley Point is on the Bristol Channel, as is Oldbury, Gloucs.

Cheers, I think this is why those properties were so cheap around Oldbury, Lydney and Coleford.

Thanks for that John.
I've just had time to go through it and IMHO it is spot on. I feel sure we are going to see a 10% drop in house prices over the next 12 months. It will be an interesting thing to keep an eye on and plan accordingly.
For me it means that next summer/fall may be a better time to buy a house so if my house sells before that I shall probably wander around for a while and keep an eye on things.

I have been trying to get a better feel as to where the "new" nuclear plants are.

From what I've gleaned so far they are not actually planning new sites for the new reactors but adding reactors to existing sites such as Oldbury, Sizewell, Heysham and Hinkley Point.

I know there was to be a new one in Cumbria - in addition to Sellafield - but it was scrapped, along with two other planned new sites. (The original plan was for 11 and now they're down to 8).

[QUOTE=bandrui;9349843]I agree with you on this. I keep asking for information that would convince me that rental for the long term is a good idea, and as yet, I haven't seen any.

I am reposting the post below because I didn't get a single comment on it and would like to know what people think:

[I]Quote:
Originally Posted by Pistolpete2
If you take a house that is worth 200,000 pounds and you have the option of renting it or buying it (no deposit), these are the scenarios which could be considered pretty typical:

The landlord wants 700 pounds per month 8,400 per annum

You buy it and the mortgage costs say 4%* 8,000
Insurance 400
Maintenance 600
Plus the legal costs etc. of buying/selling
Plus downside risk

£850.86.


Keeping things simple are we saying it is £700 to rent vs £666 to buy?

First I think I can find a place to rent for £500 and as far as to buy I think I could find a place for £200,000 so that would be £500 rent vs £667 per month mortgage payment.There are a lot of variables but this seems a place to start. This gets discouraging when I convert to dollars. $820 rent vs $1093.88 mortgage payment. Did I miss something?

OK Linda how about this one?

It is on a main road but well set back from the road. I don't know about nuclear plants in the area but look at the garden.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-28245154.html

Woo hoo!!! I haven't looked at street view yet but that is a lovely house - lovely kitchen and garden!

I was thinking about that Linda. It may not be wise to buy this year but perhaps next spring.

(Love doggie with the helmet on!!!!!)

My point was that everything is close by in Britain. Is 50 miles far enough away to make much of a difference if the worst happens? There are sheep in Cumbria still being tested for radiation from Chernobyl all those years ago, which was further a little bit further away than 50 miles.

Depending which way the wind is blowing, you might be better off closer but in another direction. You can just never know. And you could just as easily die in a car accident driving around trying to find a house 50 miles away