There is a difference; you're at the mercy of the landlord's will.

I enjoy not having to ask permission from someone if I fancy repainting a room, changing a carpet, laying a driveway, getting broadband plumbed in, or having to wait on someone else to get off their arse to get blokes with tools in if anything breaks, etc.

It's a very small freedom, but it's one that helps make my home feel like a home. It's a freedom that lets me feel it's *mine*.
(Musuko, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 16:36, 1 reply)

agreed
I suppose it's about what's personally more important to you. Probably due to my upbringing, being able to leave if I don't like something is more important to me than having the freedom to do whatever I want to my house to make my home perfect.
( djtrialprice, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 19:11, closed)

It suits me
Being a lazy fucker I enjoy having an excuse for not decorating! It IS a good point, and I agree that the quality of landlords varies considerably. For me decorating and gardening are not big priorities - aside from being a lazy fucker I just don't have time to do either (hmmm, a dichotomy - I'm lazy yet I have almost no free time.)

However the advantages of having a landlord that you can call on when things go wrong is a major bonus. We had trouble with the central heating boiler recently and had to call British Gas out a few times before it was fixed. But the landlord sorted everything and I didn't have to pay a penny.

I guess maybe I'm lucky - I've always had landlords that were willing to help and make themselves useful in a crisis. I understand that some people have had nightmare landlords, but you get what you pay for. If you're paying £200 a month for a grotty flat alarm bells should be ringing about the sort of bloke who's willing to let that out!
(MrC. Having the most boring username on b3ta since 2004, Sat 24 Jan 2009, 0:04, closed)

I completely agree
I am one of life's prolific nesters, which always came up to bite me on the arse when I was renting. Twice I moved into nice-enough flats, only to nest away and beautify them, as I always do. Having seen the impact on their property, the landlords made the canny decision to sell them immediately, forcing me to move out as soon as the six-month break clause was up.

And, in some areas, renting is actually more expensive than buying. There's no way we'd have been able to have rent the equivalent of where we are living now (a humble 2 bed flat). It kind of made the decision for us.
(cherrynicola, Wed 28 Jan 2009, 15:39, closed)