Renting vs Buying Property in the UK – Which is Better Financially?

With high house prices leading many to forget their aspirations of homeownership despite current mortgage affordability, lettings platform Bunk has looked at whether you are better off financially when renting or buying across the UK.

Bunk looked at the cost of a rental deposit and the cost of renting for a decade. Bunk then compared this cost to the financial barrier of a mortgage deposit, and the cost of monthly mortgage payments over a 10-year fixed term at a rate of 2.58%.

Across the UK the average monthly rent is £676. With the newly introduced five-week cap, that means a rental deposit costs an average of £845 and renting at this average monthly rate over a 10-year period would cost a total £81,120 – a total cost of £81,965 when including the deposit.

The current average UK house price is £226,798 and so a 10% deposit would set you back £22,680. This leaves a loan amount of £204,118 and at a 10-year fixed rate of 2.58% would mean a total repayment of £231,798, a total of £254,478 including the deposit.

This means, that renting is £172,513 cheaper than owning a home over a 10-year period when it comes to the upfront and monthly costs, with the one big difference being the bricks and mortar investment secured at the end.

This saving is most notable in Cambridge with a difference of £341,090 over 10-years between renting and buying, with the saving in London also topping £316,247.

In Bournemouth, renting over 10-years is £183,376 cheaper than buying, with Bristol (£177,613), Edinburgh (£166,547), Cardiff (£143,984), Southampton (£138,617), Portsmouth (£137,240) and Plymouth (£128,480) all home to some of the biggest savings.

The lowest saving is in Glasgow where renting for 10-years is just £43,145 cheaper than buying in the city.

Co-founder of Bunk, Tom Woolard, commented: “Of course the big difference between renting and buying is that one leaves you with a sizable financial asset as a reward for your years of hard work making mortgage payments.

However, more and more of us are opting to rent long-term and what we wanted to highlight is that while the rental market is generally viewed in a negative light due to high rental costs, it is actually a considerably cheaper option when compared to homeownership, even with almost record low-interest rates.

Not only this but those that feel resigned to renting due to the high financial barrier of buying actually have a much better opportunity to save compared to those paying a mortgage. Whether they choose to use this for a deposit further down the road or simply to enjoy a better quality of life is up to them.”

Average house and rental prices from Gov.uk.