Buying a house without a mortgage certainly isn’t easy, but it is possible. Imagine the feeling of having no mortgage, knowing that your house is completely owned by you and not bought using money borrowed from a bank or another lender.

While for many people it can take decades to pay a mortgage off, there may be a way that you can buy a house without needing this loan in the first place.

There are many advantages of buying a house in this way.

The most obvious way to buy your home outright is to save enough money over a period of time to do this. This may sound tricky, but you should have a think about your current lifestyle and how you may be able to cut back in some areas. Perhaps you go on a few luxury holidays a year, or regularly go out for meals or order lots of takeaways. If you’re serious about buying a home without a mortgage, then these luxuries might need to go.

According to research by the popular food delivery service Deliveroo, the average Brit spends around £1,000 per year on takeaways. This equals around £80 a month. In places such as London and Edinburgh, this average increases to over £100 per month. And according to Evolution Money, the average two-week holiday for a family of four costs around £4,792, and this total doesn’t include spends on food while you’re away. By cutting back on these lifestyle choices, you may find that you can save thousands of pounds for a house in just a few years.

Alternatively, you might be able to find cheaper home insurance or cut down on your energy bills. There are lots of ways you can save money if you look hard enough.

If you already have a home with a mortgage, it may be easier to buy your next home without having to borrow any money. As people get older, they often look to downsize. This means that your next house could cost significantly less than your current home. If you’ve already had your mortgage for a few years, you’ve likely paid a large chunk of it off. This equity could be used to pay for a smaller house in full. For example, you may sell your home for £400k with £250k of equity. You could buy your next home for £250k, making you completely mortgage free.

When you hear people talking about a cash buyer, it doesn’t mean someone who pays for the house using physical cash. It means that they have the full asking price available to pay for the property immediately without the need for a mortgage or loan.

Firstly, there’s less chance of the sale falling through. When you require a mortgage, you need a bank or building society to borrow money from. The lender acts as the middleman and sometimes they can decide not to finance a mortgage or that the buyer can’t afford the property. Without the need for a lender, the seller knows that the buyer can afford the property and the sale will likely go through much faster.

Secondly, cash buyers are very desirable and so you could have a better chance of becoming the new owner of the property. For example, if someone else puts in the same offer as you but you’re a cash buyer and they need a loan, there’s a higher chance of you being accepted because cash sales tend to go through faster with fewer hiccups.

Finally, you’ll have more security when you buy a house in this way. Knowing that your home is paid for could be extremely beneficial if you were to run into financial problems because you wouldn’t need to worry about making the mortgage payments.