Those who rent, what is your longterm plan?
I'm talking in old age, keep working till you drop to pay the rent, or live in a dive and get by on a state pension eating baked beans?
Those who buy a house should have it paid off before they retire, meaning they no longer need to pay the mortgage, which equals more money to enjoy yourself later in life.
The long term plan is to buy, but I'm not fussed about when that is as long as I buy before I'm 40, even assuming I take the full 25 years then that means I'll be mortgage free comfortably before I retire.
I'm just about 30 now (next month), got no real ties to the area as I work from home and no family nearby, just mates. Currently rent a 2-bed detached bungalow with garage for £600 a month, to buy something even close to that would cost £180k+ around here, I could do that but in my current situation I'd be paying a decent chunk more a month to do so. And that's not factoring in any repairs/upgrades/decorating I'd end up spending on.
It's quite possible that my reasons for staying in this area change in which case buying here doesn't overly make sense if it's cheaper elsewhere and/or I end up spending thousands on moving anyway. On the other hand it could be that I stay here long term, but then in the next 10 years how is the housing market going to go, am I going to regret not jumping in now or is it all going to come tumbling down once the various vote winning schemes end and rates rise?
So yeah, for the time being I'm sitting on the sidelines, saving a bigger deposit and seeing how the wind blows, if the right house comes on the market then I might buy, but I'm not in any rush.