Aug

To buy or not to buy

To buy or not to buy – that is the question

An interesting report on Zooplas blog suggests that around 74% of Britain shows buying cheaper than renting. This comes from a chart that looked at the average asking price for a 2 bedroom flat against the average monthly rent.

The top 10 places across Britain where renting a property beats buying and vice-versa in current climate is shown below. While buying wins out over renting today, the impact of a rise in interest rates cannot be ignored. If interest rates were to increase by 1% and rents to remain the same, renting would become more cost-effective in 80% of the UK.

To buy or to rent

It was also found that it is still cheaper to buy than rent in London, despite high prices. London’s average rents on two-bed flats are currently at £2,155 per month with average asking prices at £446,345.

The top place where renting is a better option than buying currently is Huddersfield, where the average two-bed flat costs only £493 per month to rent versus £146,898 to buy. Renting is also cheaper than buying in a number of other places including Oldham, Brighton, Swansea and Edinburgh.