Homeowners saving around £500 a year compared to renters

Pedro Goncalves

·Finance Reporter, Yahoo Finance UK

Wed, 15 March 2023 at 12:01 am GMT

Homeowners are paying on average £42 a month less than if they were renting a similar property, ending up nearly £500 better off annually than renters.

The average monthly cost of a mortgage on a three-bed home is now £971, compared to £1,013 for renting the same property, according to Halifax Owning vs Renting review.

Despite a saving of almost £500 per year for owners, the gap is down from its peak in 2016, when owners were saving £1,567 annually.

The biggest gap between homeowners and renters was found in Scotland where renters pay an average £918 per month, compared to £727 for home-owners — a saving of 21% for those on the property ladder.

The East of England is the only region or nation in the UK where it is more expensive to own a property than rent the equivalent.

Homeowners there pay £90 more each month, on average, than those renting.

“Our latest analysis shows that becoming a homeowner can bring significant savings for people. Nationally, homeowners are almost £500 better off than renters each year,” Kim Kinnaird, mortgages director at Halifax, said.

“These benefits are felt most keenly in London, where homeowners are saving nearly £3,000 annually compared to those renting similar properties — a significant figure.”

When it comes to a deposit to get on that housing ladder, prospective first-time buyers should go North. The average deposit required in the North East is the lowest in the UK at £32,920 — around 19% of average property prices in the area.

Outside of London — where those buying a first home have to raise £188,663 on average — properties in the South East and East of England also require substantial deposits from new home owners, at £97,320 and £87,157 respectively.