Renting In Sunderland Is Good For You!

I was chatting to one of our Landlords the other day about the very negative '#Vent YourRent' twitter campaign that has recently seen tenants highlighting the poor condition of their rented accommodation and this got me thinking whether there was any truth behind the media frenzy – is renting in Sunderland really bad for your health?

In the latter part of the 20th Century, the British were persuaded that rent payments were ‘wasted money’

However, owning often makes less financial sense than renting and for some it is simply unattainable - as the rate of home ownership is starting to drop substantially, there is no stigma at all to renting.. everyone is doing it

In fact, of the 119,758 Sunderland households, 86,056 of you rent your house from the local authority, housing association or private landlords – meaning 39% of Sunderland households are tenanted compared to 59.8% which are owner occupied 

Home ownership is at the heart of Government policy, as George Osborne has promised 200,000 new properties a year so first time buyers can buy their first home whilst recently changing the tax laws for Buy to Let landlords

To get votes, Mrs. Thatcher, and everyone since, ran election campaigns promising everybody their own home, and as a country, we've always seemed to view home ownership as a fundamental part of British life

So, as more and more people are renting nowadays, are we turning to a more European way of living? 

I believe we are and based on my research it may be a good thing – as home ownership could be affecting your health! 

The UK, according to Bloomberg, is only the 21st healthiest country in the world

Germany is at No.10 and Switzerland at No.4 - home ownership is at 53% and 44% respectively in those countries, in the UK it is 65%

Looking at the latest census data from 2011, in the Sunderland City Council area, 63% of home owners said they were in ‘very good’ or ‘good’ health whilst, at the other end of the scale, 11% said their health was ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’

Looking at renting, the census splits tenants into two types – 63% of Sunderland local authority/social tenants said they were in ‘very good’ or ‘good’ health and 15% were in ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ health…

Private rented tenants’ in Sunderland were the healthiest of all the groups, as 82% of them described themselves in ‘very good’ or ‘good’ health and only 6.5% were in ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ health!



So despite all the negative media headlines about 'Generation Rent' living in squalid conditions that are detrimental to their health it would appear that, in Sunderland at least this couldn't be further from the truth! 

I am not suggesting that low home ownership rates in Switzerland and Germany are directly linked to health, however I do think that a lot of the upside to home ownership in recent years has been a function of monumental rising house prices

Now that’s come to an end, it’s becoming harder for some to justify buying

Renting is here to stay in Sunderland and it’s growing incrementally each year

Even with the new tax rules for Landlords, Buy to Let is still a viable investment option

There has never been a better time to invest in property in Sunderland, but buy wisely

Gone are the days that you would make profit on anything with four walls and a roof but if you take advice & do your homework there are good long term investments to be made in Sunderland

Read my blog or call me on 0191 567 8577 for a free, confidential chat about any aspect of property investment in Sunderland