The current state of the banks and their unwillingness to lend people money has started to have a dramatic effect on those people looking to buy their first home. Some lenders now want up to 40% of the house price as a deposit before they will grant a mortgage, and for some first time buyers, this is simply impossible.
This has now led to a growing group of people choosing to rent a property as opposed to buying one outright. Whilst renting is certainly not cheap, it does give first time buyers more time to either save the money needed, or, as is more likely, wait until the banks wake up to their bad policies, and realise that they will have fewer and fewer borrowers at those sorts of rates.
Renting a property is relatively easy, and there are literally tens of thousands of houses and flats to rent on the market. There are a few things to consider when renting, which includes having adequate insurance, as although there will be landlord insurance , this will not cover contents.
Other things include agency fees if the building is rented through an agency, minimum tenancy periods, and sometimes quite substantial deposits.
Renting a property is sometimes the only option for people wishing to live together at the moment. Hopefully, the banks will soon revise their lending policies, and the flow of money being lent will begin once more.
