Rent The Dream!

Rent The Dream!

Jonny and I have been on the property ladder for about 12 years now and though it is fab to have your own front door and bricks and mortar in your very own name (well, with the bank but you know what I mean), there’s something to be said for being in a rental!

Our very first place together was rented and after years of shared accommodation I can honestly say that it didn’t feel any less ours for not having our name on the deeds. The day we moved in I remember a real feeling of having arrived and I LOVED it. Renting was absolutely awesome.

On SO many levels!

Firstly, and thinking towards the end, we could have upped ship and moved every year if we’d fancied it and you might ask ‘who would do that?’ but then you might not have met the neighbours we gathered when we bought our first flat together. While renting we’d had perfectly nice neighbours (none other than Shane Ward I’ll have you know) but had Shane held a loud party three times a week and we could have ofskied! Sadly when you buy, and move next door to the hounds of hell (they really were bad) that option isn’t QUITE such an easy peasy open door…

My other most absolute favourite thing about renting is the lack of responsibility. You still have your home to close the door to the world on every evening but if the chimney falls down, the roof crumbles, subsidence issues occur or even the boiler decides to pack in and… NOT YOUR PROBLEM! Oh I remember those glory days when I realised the dishwasher wasn’t working one morning, spoke to the landlord and by the time I got home from work there was a new one plumbed in and therein lies EVERY SINGLE REASON to rent!

Of course it’s SOMEONE’S problem, it’s just not yours and believe me, when you own your own place these things DO require attention and more than you would think. Within our first few years on the property ladder and our flat had had a new roof, the chimney had to be pinned and luckily for us the subsidence belonged to the downstairs flat but the fear was very real and very present and we worried about it, oh we worried! If you have a land lord you can leave all the worry in his or her capable hands and he or she will have landlord insurance so it’s all happy days all round!

Carefree lifestyles are afforded to renters and good landlords are absolutely not hard to come by. In fact, we had way more hassle with the freeholder of our flat that we owned than we ever, ever did from our landlord.

Do you rent, what are the best things about being a renter as far as you’re concerned? For me it’s definitely all this PLUS knowing there won’t come a time for the renegotiation of the mortgage… Gah!

Collaboration.