Ireland greatly exceeds the UK in this; property owning is a great thing here. Maybe because of bad landlords in the past before the 2004 tenancy act came in and you still have to fight bad landlords as I know fine well. Some shocking places around like the last one I was in.

But if you rent you are looked down on often

I left home at 17, or more correctly home left me as by then both parents had died. I left from necessity and it wasn't easy financially. At 18 I bought my first house jointly with a male friend. At 22 I bought a house with my ex husband sold it 4 years later after doing lots of work on it for twice what we'd paid for it. Bought again in leafy suburb in London. Sold that one after 15 years for about 8 times what we'd paid for it. Bought my current home 13 years ago and paid if off in full 10 years ago so living rent free since then, and may consider down sizing at some point in the future and have a big wodge of cash spare to live on. That's the point of buying, I get to choose where I live assuming I can afford it, I get to choose the decor etc and if I decide I don't like it, I can move. I would never rent from choice.

yeah, although i would prefer to buy straight out, i need time to save a deposit together and i also need to wait for the OH to do the same so the cheapest way of living until then (and so allowing me to save) is to lodge somewhere, i dont intend to be lodging for more 6-8 months ideally but i need to see how the money pans out in this new job

My friend; those were boom times. Things are different now

Likewise I did good deals on two houses but then repairs started being needed on the second one. The agent said it needed total renovation so I reminded her I had lived there four years...
I had had a bathroom and kitchen put in as there were none and no water supply except run off

I was paying no rent, no water charges or rates as there were no services.

My life priorites had changed then so I sold the second one, just before the crash here in Ireland and it "became" by osmosis an orphanage in India. Which gladdened my heart more than I can say

As a disabled pensioner I get help with rent and I can choose where I live, and the decor and can move if I need to without the hassles of selling etc.

So it is easier as the landlord has to do maintenace etc.

A problem in Ireland is that they rent out old family homes and find it hard to let go.. or want money until junior or son comes in from abroad then you get ejected,. so now i am careful to get the history of the house.. presnet house was bought in on land ten years ago and the kids are 6 years and under...

Rosebud - whatever the rental laws are in Ireland, they are just that. The rental laws in Ireland.

I am very happy for you that your current rental home came fully equipped with cooker, a washing machine - perhaps even a refrigerator and freezer and a dishwasher?

But really is that the norm for rental homes? Or maybe just for temporary rental homes.

Living alone can be great, but it is expensive! When looking for a place to buy, it could really be worth your while to consider getting an extra bedroom that you could let to a lodger. Having someone to share the bills makes a huge difference and (assuming you get someone good) it can be lovely to have a bit of company sometimes. It's nice to have the option at least, if you can!

I rent atm but i am a student! we had all the furniture thrown in, in a 50inch LDC, and top of the range appliances, landlord claims "if you give students crap they'll treat it like crap, if you give them something they'll feel bad about if they break, they won't break it" so far, this has proved true. Though some landlords are terrible

Renting is ok, and i do agree about what someone said about maintenance costs, a friend of mine rents a lovely old character property, but with character comes characteristics! The roof hasn't stood up brilliantly to all the rain and the landlord has had to pay to fix that, which could be expensive.

What puts me off is that there is no investment to renting, you'll never see a return on your property. Mum always said to have something slightly bigger than you need so if you ever in dire straights financially you can downsize and have muchos money left over.

If you are going to buy i'd usually suggest investing, buying ready made is all well and good, but you can make a flipping fortune if you are clever, mum bought our house about 12 years ago, and it's worth 10x what she bought it for, she could retire now and live very comfortably for a long time if she sold it, which she wont, but if she bought a ready made house she wouldn't have seen the ROI that she will when she sells

I'd second that, a spare room could be worth it's weight in gold if the going gets tough going it alone.

Boom times yeah right, they come and go but property stays standing and if you own it long enough you'll see a return. There was no boom in 1973 when I bought my first house or in 79 when there were 6 month waiting lists for mortgages and yet profits were made. We've weathered 15% interest rates the lot not the current really low rates but renting will never see you living rent free which owning will if you live long enough to pay off the mortgage. At least I won't have to worry about where the rent is coming from in my old age and yes I'll be responsible for the repairs but that will still be cheaper than finding money for rent every month. Plus when I eventually turn up my toes my kids will benefit from the amount I've spent on property over the years. The returns these days may be much less but I've still encouraged both my sons to buy rather than rent.

...scary as I remember it .

I was just 15 and and found myself a live in job in a well known terrier kennel for the sum of £1 a week and as much marrow as I could eat all done to escape the clutches of my Step Mother who had decided I should stay at home as an unpaid cook housekeeper rather than to go to collage to achieve my ambition to teach.

Living alone ? A joy no one to please but yourself