Why are Exeter tenants, tenants?

I find frequently when talking about the rental market we concern ourselves about property and landlords but seem to forget the other party in the equation, the tenant. Without tenants there is no demand for the rental property.

The profile of the Exeter tenant has changed and continues to change. Although this is in part due to the credit crunch, job mobility and the raising of deposits, an increased number of people in their twenties are choosing to rent rather than buy and have done so, even when they were in a position where they could have bought a property.

I have previously looked at how affordable properties are in Exeter and those frequent readers amongst you will know my thoughts on this so I will skip over this part for now.

I read an interesting article a recently which looked at the age demographic of people who are now renting; interestingly the south west had a higher than average proportion of middle aged renters compared with the rest of the country.  Is this because we are all getting divorced and have to sell our homes, for example, or is it perhaps because people are warming to the idea of renting and living in a property that someone else has to pay to maintain?

In my opinion, home ownership is not for everyone. Similarly being a landlord is not for everyone, however anyone can be a landlord and make money from it with the right knowledge and advice.

Having to think about when you can afford to upgrade your kitchen, redecorate or have a new roof etc can put the fear into the best of us, which coupled with other life stresses can lead to a pretty miserable time. Therefore knowing that all these points and more will be looked after by the landlord is certainly reassuring. It is similar to buying a new car – some people prefer to lease, where they can give it back after a fixed term, whereas others prefer to own it and deal with all the wonderful bills that come with it.

Generally, of course, a landlord’s mortgage, if any, is lower (usually considerably) than the rent they receive, otherwise they would be making a loss, so a tenant could potentially save money by purchasing if they have the required deposit.  However, if you take into account all the costs involved with home ownership and compare the cost of home ownership with the cost of renting, the extra money paid in rent may mean that over the course of a few years the actual amount paid may work out about the same.

It seems to me that renting is becoming more and more a lifestyle choice rather than a requirement. Figures from the EU’s official statistics bureau, Eurostat, show that home ownership in Britain in 2013 was 64.6%, down from 70% in 2005. Only France (64.3%), Denmark (63%), Austria (57.3%), Germany (52.6%) and Switzerland (44%) were lower.