Mortgages grow pricier than London rents for first time in four years
With London rents diving amid a pandemic-induced city exodus, it is now cheaper to rent in the capital than own a home for the first time in four years.
According to analysis by real estate agent Hamptons, city dwellers’ in rental accommodation are £251 better off following monthly payments than homeowners dishing out their mortgage repayments.
The analysis, published today, showed that owning a property in March last year was £123 cheaper than renting.
But after the UK endured three national lockdowns, each of which pushed more Londoners to leafy suburbs, the scales have tipped – and landlords have been pushed to offer cheaper rents to avoid empty homes.
“Falling rents in the capital have made renting cheaper relative to buying by a bigger margin than anywhere else. And with rents still falling, the differential looks set to continue growing,” says Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons.
London saw the widest cost gap, according to Hamptons, but the trend has spread across seven regions, like the South East, South West, East, East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber.