Renting was a dirty word in the 60’s and 70’s when tenants had bedsits that featured polystyrene tiles, woodchip paper and coin operated meters or lived in a council house.

A legacy of the Thatcher era was that more people aspired to own their own property and clambered onto the housing ladder and suddenly paying rent was perceived to be wasted money.

Fast forward to today and in many instances owning can make less financial sense than renting and as the rate of home ownership drops, the stigma of renting has subsided. People from all walks of life are now renting in central Somerset.

In fact, of the 3926 households in Glastonbury, 1318 are rented from either the local authority/social provider (i.e. council house or housing association) or private landlords – meaning 33.57% of Glastonbury people are tenants in rented properties.

The idea of home ownership is deeply embedded in the British psyche: 2502 (or 63.72%) Glastonbury households are owner-occupied.

Housing is at the heart of UK government policy, as George Osborne has promised us 200,000 new properties a year so first-time-buyers can buy their first home, whilst changing the tax laws for buy-to-let landlords.

In an effort to grab votes, Thatcher (and everyone since) have run election campaigns promising everybody their own home – and as a country, we see home ownership as a key part of British culture.

So as more and more people today are renting, are we turning to a more European way of living? Well, I believe as a country, we are. Some may even say that home ownership could be affecting our health.

The UK, according to Bloomberg, is only 21st in the healthiest countries of the world. Germany is 10th and Switzerland 4th and home ownership is at 52.5% and 44% respectively in those countries – while in the UK, it’s 64.8%.

37% of Glastonbury homeowners own their house outright but only 76.89% of Glastonbury said they were in ‘very good’ or ‘good’ health whilst at the other end of the scale, 6.69% said their health was ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’.

None of this is conclusive proof that low home ownership rates like those in Switzerland and Germany are directly linked to better health and I do not expect a mass exodus of Glastonians tripping to Bern or Berlin to observe how happy people are when they don’t have the stresses that often accompany home ownership.

I believe that much of the upside to home ownership in recent years has been a function of rising house prices in Somerset and the wider UK. Renting is here to stay in Glastonbury and will continue to grow incrementally each year and if the growth of house prices eases so too will the upside to home ownership. Even with the new tax rules affecting property investors in central Somerset, buy-to-let is still a viable investment option for people who buy wisely.

Gone are the days that you would make profit on anything with four walls and a roof. Take advice, take opinion, do your homework and seek local expertise to help you make the right choice.

About Tom Morgan

Founder of Jungle Property the multi award-winning letting agent based in Glastonbury, Somerset. I am passionate about property and Glastonbury and about providing the very best advice to anyone who wants the best return on a buy-to-let property investment. For an open and brutally honest opinion on anything in the Glastonbury property market please contact me via tom.morgan@jungleproperty.co.uk