My family and I have been both homeowners, home builders and home renters in multiple countries. We’ve done it all, seen it all, experienced it all and I can tell you that whilst yes, there are long term benefits to owning your own home, the benefits of renting as a family should not be dismissed. Here is a guest post by CIA which discusses the benefits of renting as a family.
Disclosure: Guest Post by CIA.
What Are The Benefits Of Renting As A Family
Owning a home is great, and a dream for many families – however, why do we never talk about how great renting can be too? Whether renting is your long-term plan or just a stepping stone before you buy your own home, there are so many plus points to the renting lifestyle that no one really shouts about…
It’s flexible
All families crave stability and security, right? Remember that landlords are looking for stable tenants who are going to want to stick around just as much as families want somewhere stable to call home. With renting, you can often get the best of both worlds; a property you can stay put in if you want to, but with the option of upping and leaving if you need to.
Perhaps you or your partner are offered an unmissable job opportunity in a new area, or you want to send your children to a different school; you won’t be faced with the hassle of selling your home (which can take up to a year or more) if you want to relocate. Whilst you and your family are young, this can be hugely beneficial.
It allows you to sample a new area
When renting, you’re not tied down to one area. Unless you know exactly where you want to live for the foreseeable future, this is a really attractive prospect. Renting allows you to get a taste for a new area before putting down your roots.
It’s important to remember that living somewhere is very different to just visiting somewhere, and the last thing you want to do is buy a house in an area, and then find that actually you’re right above a flight path and you’re getting woken up by planes, or that your road gets completely full of cars each morning due to parents doing the school run to the nearby school. If you are planning to relocate, consider renting in an area for a period of time first to make sure it’s definitely for you before committing to a property.
It’s cheaper
Despite forever being referred to as ‘dead money’, renting is cheaper than homeownership in many ways. Sure, a mortgage can often cost less per month than renting, however putting down a deposit and buying a home alone involves a lot of costs; stamp duty, solicitors fees, buildings insurance, etc. Renting leaves you with more money to spend on family holidays, days out, and making memories with your children.
You are also responsible for all home maintenance when you are a homeowner, however, 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 or pay for. Installing a new boiler or having one fixed can be very expensive, the same goes for a new roof.
If owning your own family home is your dream someday soon, renting allows you to put money away each month for that house deposit and other associated costs, whilst still living in a happy, family household.
You can experiment with interior styles
Another thing many people dislike about renting is the limitations you may face when decorating. However, there are so many handy interior hacks for renters that mean you needn’t settle for less in your rented property. When you’re perhaps not in your permanent ‘forever home’, you can experiment with different styles to find what you really love before buying your own property – think of it as a test run.
If you have a good relationship with your landlord, there are always things you can do to improve things you may not like about your rented 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. And remember, renting isn’t just a good idea for renters, but as a landlord renting can be a lucrative income – check out how in this post by AMS Housing Group.
Thank you to CIA for this guest post.
I’d love to know what you think about this topic. Do you rent by choice? Personally, we rented for all three of these reasons: saving for a deposit, making sure we were happy with the location, and flexibility. As a family who moved to the UK from South Africa back in 2018, buying as soon as we arrived wasn’t an option. Having rented for just over two years, we were grateful for all the benefits of renting as a family afforded us.
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