I have a foot in both sides of owning and renting. On the one hand I own and rent out and on the other hand I rent to stay in. Unfortunately in the country where I own, interest rates are high and almost impossible to buy, but even with that the rental is roughly 60% of the bond payment. I have made a big mistake in the past by selling a property that today I would have laughed at how low the bond payment would have been.

Personally I think a person's goal should be to own a property and if in the privileged position to do that to hold onto the property if you can. From my mistakes in the past my choice would always be to (1) buy and (2) to rent, in that order. If you cannot make that happen and can make no plans to own a property then it is what it is and rental is the last resort.