Renting is not dead money but in the long term i.e. 25-30 years buying is still the better option. Why? It's because it's YOUR PENSION. Don't rely on SERPS, stakeholder, or final salary (if you've got one) to see you through your zimmer years. With the increasing OAP population there isn't going to be enough to look after all of us when we retire. Watch the news! There will be a BIG pension problem in the next 20 years onwards. We'll all be working until we croak. Now if you had a house, you can sell up move to somewhere nice, sunny and cheap and spend the surplus on your Toyota Zimmer. I can't wait. Sun, sangria, bingo, false teeth, incontinence pants, bring it on!