UK QUESTION - What is are the benefits of being a home owner?

Question

YES I know its an "investment" . Me and husband have been homeowners for the last fifteen years and I don't feel that we currently benefit from being homeowners (maybe when we're old people). There are people I know who live on my road in the same house as ours whose houses inside and out (cause they are owned by the local council) are nicer than ours. All their home improvements like double glazing, new kitchens and bathrooms and repairs are done for free and we can't afford to as we are paying a mortgage. It doesn't seem fair.

One day WILL be a pensioner with no mortgage but I am young now and never have any money left to enjoy life. There are a lot of things I can't do when I am a pensioner that I am physically and mentally able to do now. I just can't afford to.

Shannow58 had the right idea. Probably one of those many senior citizens I constantly see driving around with a car a lot newer than mine!!!!

Answer 1

15 years and you don't feel like you've benefited?? FCUK right off, you've enjoyed unprecidented levels in capital appreciation!

Me..... I'm 26, and am about to jump on at the highs, not through choice, but because that's how it is. I'm buying a £450'000 flat in London, 2 bl00dy bedrooms that "fifteen years ago" was probably £100'000 and 15 years time might be still 450 maybe less

Doesn't seem fair, pipe down!

Answer 2

I live in a council house and have done so all my life because I could never understand why I should take on a debt for 25 years .
I was given a council 2 bed house when i got married on a new estate .
When we had two kids we applied for and got a 3 bed house , later on we also had a four bed house .
I pay the rent and all the improvements are done by the council .
I am now a pensioner , I live in a 3 bed house with central heating , double glazing and I have what is called tenant security which means that I cannot be evicted as long as I don't do anything silly like tearing down load bearing walls and pay my rent .
Because I am a pensioner most of my rent is paid by the council and I live very comfortably on my pension .
If I had bought a house 25 years ago what would I have gained , my kids all have their own (( council )) house and I doubt if they would like to take on the burden of ownership .
If as I get older I decide I want a smaller dwelling the council will oblige me very willingly .

Answer 3

Being a home owner is more to do with pride in your self and your family than just mere profit. Your status is above that of your neighbours who are stuck in the rented sector. While your house continues to rise in value, thus giving you a high credit rating, your neighbours continue paying rent and will never own their own property.

There are government grants to which you may be entitled, such as those which enable home-owners to save energy. These may include such as help towards paying for double glazing, plus loft and wall insulation. You can check these out at UK.gov website[s]. Go for it.

Because you are a home-owner, your council will do little to advise you about the above mentioned grants, the cost of which they may have in part to bear.

Good luck. You are sitting on a seriously 'big' investment the return from which beats the stock market every time. I bought my present house ten years ago for 160K it's now hovering around 400K - say no more.

While your rent paying neighbours are classified as 'working class', you are not. You have moved up a notch into the 'middle class'. Get your kids through school and into university if possible and your family will break out into the broad sunlit uplands to a better life with high earning potential.

Answer 4

You compare yourself to people for whom the council provides cheap yet luxurious accommodation. If the council carries on paying for your neighbours for the rest of their lives, then yes, they're getting a better deal than you are.

However, if the council one day decides to pull the plug on subsidised housing, or severely ups their rent, then your neighbours will have spent a lot of "dead money" (as their rent hasn't bought them any assets).

Over the, say, 30 years it will take you to pay off your mortgage, your house may go from its original price of, say, £50,000, to £250,000. That means you're sitting on a huge asset. You could - especially if you don't have kids, or when they leave home - "downsize" and put a good £100,000 in the bank.

Answer 5

Yes it's unfair council tax goes towards the upkeep of theese houses,but imaging if your daughter or son or even parents were in need of a council house,would you rather see them living in a rundown shed. You must of bought an ex council house to be around so many others,you should of waited till the double glazing etc had been done,then bought it. I own my own home before you think i live in a council house too.

Answer 6

It is a lot of money to pay every month, but at the end of the day when the mortgage is paid off you have your own property. Weigh that up against renting a property and lining someone elses pockets for years and then having nothing to show for it in the end.

Answer 7

Well owning your own home is only ever for investment purposes really,plus if you play your cards right you can buy a home,couple of years down the line you may be able to sell it at a higher price,thus making money.I bought my own home at 18,i sold it 9 years later and i sold it for double the money.Therefore making a 100% profit which enabled me to buy a bigger home.Plus pride is a nice thing and i would rather say i owned my home rather than rented from the council.

Answer 8

Yea i do know what you mean. But Im sure you will see the benefit when you have finished paying off your mortgage and have something to show for it. You could even consider moving now, maybe to a cheap property so that you can release the capital you have so you can do home improvements on the property.

What do they have to show from living off the council and paying dead money to them?

Answer 9

Theoretically, in my state the landowner needs to sparkling any sort of advancements in the location of conservation land with the committee in cost of such matters. as long using fact the landowner demonstrates stable-faith efforts to maintain or recreate destroyed wetlands, the conservation board will enable the landowner do its situation. My property abuts a conservation section. the former landowner bought it to a developer, who plans on development a subdivision in the section. for the time of the allowing technique the developer examined to the conservation board that any wetlands they plan to construct into could be redeveloped on the valuables at a hundred and fifty% of unique land section. What i might concept might constantly be woodland stands out as the the outdoor of somebody's residing house via the top of the three hundred and sixty 5 days. Nuts!

Answer 10

Home ownership is a con...a con I fell for as did you. You can't beat a council house. My wife an I left a very good council house to purchase an old falling down house as it would be an investment. .....40 years later I am still waiting to see any money. My sister lives in a council house and has all maintenance and repairs done free of change...she even had the council come and fit a draft excluder to her door as she could feel a bit of a draft. Come back the council house all is forgiven.