Forget About Owning Your Home

The follow-up to my viral article about home ownership being a Ponzi.

Photo by chris robert on Unsplash

I bought my house for €170k in Drogheda, Ireland, back in 2019. Loved it, but it cleaned out my bank account entirely. A 3-bed, 3-bath duplex, all good. Didn’t spend a dime on upkeep or redecoration because I was broke AF just buying it. Fast forward to today, I’ve moved countries, my salary has more than doubled, and I’m now in London, renting. While my Irish place is rented out, it costs an absolute fortune to do so.

First off, I can’t increase the rent due to rental protection laws. It cost me about €15k in painting, maintenance, redoing the kitchen and bathrooms to bring it up to standard. All the profits I get from the rent are taxed at an eye-watering high-income tax rate. I can’t sell it on the open market because I can’t evict my tenants without giving them six months’ notice — by which time house valuations have changed. I can’t show the property to anyone because potential buyers are wary of buying anywhere with tenants in-situ. So all I can do is rent it out and plow whatever money I get to pay off my existing mortgage, using the profits as expenses to upkeep the house, leaving me with a grand total of zero. Meanwhile, my tenants get to enjoy a refurbished and well-maintained property with zero risk of them ever having to leave within a…