5.1 Owning your home

In this section:

• 5.1.1 Your home
• 5.1.2 Buy or rent calculator
• 5.1.3 Reasons to rent or own
• 5.1.4 Summary of key messages

Introduction

Everyone needs a home. You may own, rent or share with someone else. You may make your decisions about where you live based partly on how much you can afford, but your decisions may also be based on non-financial factors such as how you feel. You may be happy where you are, planning to get a new place or planning to renovate the home you own. This section looks at some factors to think about before deciding whether or not to own a home. You will explore:

• the relative costs of renting or buying your home
• the emotional and other non-financial factors that go into choosing whether to rent or buy.

You'll use a calculator to compare the costs of renting and buying and a checklist to review some other factors that go into the decision to rent or buy. By the time you finish this section, you'll be able to balance a number of factors related to home ownership.