Buying cheaper than renting in over half of UK cities

Rocketing rent prices and sky high demand for property mean monthly mortgage repayments are now less than rent in over half of the UK cities, new research shows.

According to house builder Strata Homes, buying is most cost effective over renting in Peterborough, where you can save £244 a month. In Glasgow you would be better off by £209 a month and in Coventry by £109.

To rent a two bedroom house in Manchester would cost an average of £762 a month, but to buy would mean you are only paying an average monthly mortgage repayment of £676 per month, saving you £86.

To live in Birmingham, residents would only be paying a £2 difference to own a home over renting per month. In Peterborough, a first-time buyer using the Help to Buy scheme would actually save £344 a month paying off a standard mortgage on a new-build house than renting one.

Strata Homes calculated the average sale price of two bedroom properties in the UK and worked out the typical average monthly mortgage repayment using data from Zoopla.

London, Brighton, Bristol and Swansea were the only cities that were more cost effective to rent per month than buy.

The research also found that new-build property purchasers in Peterborough, Coventry and Portsmouth who had used the Help to Buy scheme were at least £200 better off per month than renting.

Gemma Smith, sales director at Strata Homes said: “Once you get over the initial deposit sum, people are surprised at how much you can save in some areas of the UK than to rent. Thanks to the Help to Buy scheme, it is easier than ever to get onto the property ladder with over 3000 accounts opened so far this year.”

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