Rent or buy? Renting is actually cheaper than buying in these 10 locations
High and ever-rising rents would lead many to suspect that buying their own place would work out as a cheaper option when it comes to monthly costs – but, it turns out renting is cheaper than buying in a several areas across the country.
In Cambridge, renting costs around £10,000 less than the monthly mortgage repayment on a home, while in London and Brighton buying a place cost 46 per cent and 29 per cent more, on average.
"Despite the very high rents of London, and relatively high rents of Cambridge, Brighton and other southern cities, getting onto the property ladder is still proving tough," said Lawrence Hall of Zoopla, which conducted the research.
"The housing supply pressure in London in particular has become so intense that getting onto the property ladder can be significantly more costly per month than renting.”
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Stripping out the costs involved in buying a home – legal fess, stamp duty and deposit – the property site found it was better to be renting in the majority of locations, 52 per cent versus 48 per cent where the reverse was true.
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Of course, despite the difference in cost, most people would likely be happy to pay more to invest in their own property rather than handing over their cash to a landlord.