I once watched a tv programme about living in Germany where they have much less home ownership than uk, they simply rent from private landlords. Perhaps in the uk we put too much emphasis on owning a home.
After all what benefits does it bring, apart from our kids inheritance.
When we own a house, the mortgage might seem less than the rent paid on a similar home but there is the upkeep, house repairs are just so expensive. And of course many people like to keep up with the fashions, new kitchens ever few years etc. How on earth is it paid for, I have never had debt and cannot imagine paying for home improvements with a loan. I can only imagine how the young families of today manage if they have a big repair, then perhaps another one soon. How do they manage to save anything.
I have an ex council house and my neighbours pay nothing for repairs, get the highest quality work done, while my house moulders waiting for repairs that should have been done years ago but I simply have no savings left. If I could have my time over I would have always rented and just picked up the phone to order my repairs asap and most of all I would have some money in my bank account now.