This is what I am thinking if I'll rent a house. It is going to the right place, my money is being paid off and the house will be mine even it is going to take a while. I don't mind getting such hardship through the period of time as long as I know that I can survive with that.
So with renting you get nothing and the landlord is still going to rent it out with another renter while getting the profit. Well, that's an investment, a passive income that they've also planned all along.