Last week Britain’s most expensive one bedroomed flat went on the market at a dizzying £9.9 million! You may be surprised to hear that it’s not located in Ramsbottom or Manchester, but in the exclusive One Hyde Park development in Central London, which is clearly the most expensive apartment block in the UK!
Of course, the vast majority of us would not even dream of buying such a property. Well, we might dream, but the simple fact is that unless we win the lottery, or perhaps discover the cure for the common cold, we are unlikely to have anywhere near the necessary finances available to fund such a purchase.
That said, with mortgages becoming increasingly difficult to secure, and required deposits still remaining high, for many of us even owning a ‘two up, two down’ is proving out of reach in the current market.
This is precisely why renting your next home is often a much more affordable option. Other than a security deposit equal to 5 weeks rent and the first month’s rent payable in advance, the costs involved to get you into your own rental property are much more affordable.
Without having to worry about changing interest rates impacting on your monthly mortgage repayments, you are also more secure and can budget more effectively, as you will pay the same amount in rent each month. Of course, your landlord may increase the monthly rental amount periodically, but generally speaking, this is unlikely to have a huge impact on the property remaining affordable for you and your family in the medium to long-term.
Ongoing maintenance costs are likely to be significantly less as well for a property you do not own, because you will not be held financially responsible for anything that goes wrong with the property itself.
Although you will have to take general care of the property and undertake ongoing maintenance, for example, paying a window cleaner, or arranging for a gardener to mow the lawns, you will not be liable for faults with the fabric of the property itself. For example, if the roof was to leak, if the boiler were to breakdown, or a pipe to burst in the property, it would not be your responsibility, and more importantly, you would not be expected to pay for the repairs or any of the ongoing maintenance.
Another plus side of renting a property which may not have much to do with the financial side of things, is that it’s a lot easier to move on when the property no longer suits your needs, or if you need to relocate for any reason, as its then a fairly straight forward process. You simply give a minimum one month’s notice in writing, depending on the terms of your tenancy, and leave at the end of that rental period. When you own a property, you may find you have to stay until you are able to complete an onward sale, which in some cases, can take several months, if not significantly longer.
For more information on the INS & OUTS of renting a property across Greater Manchester or East Lancashire, feel free to call our property team on 01706 828229 to discuss your requirements, and as always, they will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
