The main benefit of buying is the relative freedom to make changes. In places with poor protections for tenants, it then has the added benefit of removing you f

The main benefit of buying is the relative freedom to make changes. In places with poor protections for tenants, it then has the added benefit of removing you from that (I'm in the UK; that is a consideration), but the freedom to make changes to my house and garden matters to me. It doesn't matter enough that I wouldn't consider renting if I moved somewhere else, though - it really depends on the situation.