There seems to be a stigma around renting as a family and an opinion that renting is just a stepping stone lifestyle before purchasing a home. It’s viewed as a secondary and inadequate way of living. But why?
There’s a whole host of benefits that renting can offer, and particularly to families. Society says we must all do our best to get on the housing ladder and whilst that may suit many people, it probably won’t suit everyone. For starters, buying a home is incredibly expensive and simply out of reach for some. When you’re raising a family, could that be money better spent elsewhere? There’s a few real benefits to renting that many people may overlook…
Renting gives you flexibility
Every family is different, and whilst some may crave putting down roots and purchasing a property, others may love and feel attracted to the flexibility that renting provides. It’s easy enough to up and move at the end of a tenancy, meaning that if you want to move to a new area or street, you can.
Perhaps you don’t get on with your neighbours, you want to be closer to amenities now your children are getting older or you’re quickly outgrowing your current property. There’s no need to go through the expensive process of selling your home which can take up to a year or more. Sure, you still have to move all your belongings but all in all, it’s less of a headache.
And if that stability and security is still something that you really crave, it’s important to remember that landlords are looking for stable tenants who are going to want to stick around for years to come. They don’t want to be swapping tenants every 12 months (as long as they are happy with you!) so as long as you prove yourselves to be good tenants, then that should not be a worry.
Renting is cheaper
Sure, your mortgage repayments are pennies into your own pocket and renting is pennies into your landlord’s – but overall, you may be left with more money to spend on family holidays, days out and making memories with your children. The costs involved with buying a home are plentiful; stamp duty, solicitor fees, buildings insurance and the cost of selling up and moving.
You’re also responsible for all home maintenance when you are a homeowner. When renting, much of this is your landlord’s responsibility. If your boiler breaks or your ceiling begins to leak, providing it is not your fault, it is not your problem to solve. This can be a huge weight off your mind financially.
Similarly, many rented properties come fully or part furnished with white goods and appliances, so there’s no need to spend money investing in everything you need to run a household. If there’s things in your rental property that you don’t like, you can always ask your landlord if you can swap them out for your own.
A rented house can be a home
Which brings me on to my final point – let’s scrap the idea that a rental house can’t really feel like home. A house is only bricks and mortar – it’s who and what is inside that matters. If you want somewhere to feel like home, simply fill it with all the things you love; be that family photos, memories, pictures and crafts that your children have made, your favourite colours…
If you have a good relationship with your landlord, there’s always things that could be improved within a rental property. The worst your landlord can do is say no. Any good landlord will have a landlord insurance policy with a specific landlord provider so will be covered for any disasters.
See if you can paint the walls white, swap out light fittings and fit your own curtains. Hopefully your landlord will just ask that you keep the original items safe. There’s plenty of things that you can do to make a rented house feel just like home.
