Non football financial question relating to housing in the UK.

I read the following article today.

User Posted Link

I dont know what the current housing situation is in the UK but going by that article it sounds crazy.

The claims in that article that renting is far superior seems like bollocks.

In the US where I live the average monthly rent is around ~1% of property value

Meaning its much cheaper to buy than to rent.

What is the average in say Norwich? (monthly rent vs property value)

The claims about the interest you pay are silly.

If you rented over the same time span you would have nothing to show for it but paid the landlord more than the 350K you paid the bank.

The lanlord repairs thing is way over blown.

Stuff just doesnt go wrong that often.

It may equate at worst to an average cost of less than 1 months rent per year to the landlord

Even assuming your house doesnt go up in value you are building equity when you buy.

If you needed money in an emergency, most lenders will loan you money based on the equity you have in the house.

In the US you also get nice tax breaks on mortgage payments.
The biggest problem I see with the UK market is the huge gap between house prices and average salary.

Its pretty shocking how its remained so large?

Posted By: usacanary, May 18, 20:38:51