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RE: On the punishingly depressing cost of housing in the UK in relation to median income and expenditure patterns
Is the UK particularly expensive compared to countries with a similarly high population density?
That's something I don't know.... but we are more obsessed with home ownership than most other Euro countries.
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I've heard that in Germany and Switzerland people with high incomes often rent their homes. But if housing is expensive, it is also expensive to institutions that rent out homes to people. It would be interesting to know whether housing is more expensive in the UK or Germany. The two countries are similar in GDP per capita. Localities of similar population should be compared because there is no single huge metropolis like London in Germany. The cost of housing is terribly high in London.
Yes fair point about comparing.
I tend to view renting as a bad move.
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Renting is a bad move unless you find yourself having to relocate more often than every 5-8 years at least where I live (Finland). That's because of the transaction costs involved in buying and selling a home. If you live in the same home long enough, they are offset by not having to pay your share of the profits of the homeowner be it a person or a corporation and the deducibility of 55% of interest payments on your mortgage from your taxes.
I also like owning my home because I'm not required to ask anyone permission to modify in a lot of ways.