Lodging is cheaper than renting
Tuesday, 29 March 2011 2:43 PM
Research has revealed that lodging is cheaper than renting in four out of five of the UK's biggest towns and cities.
EasyRoommate.co.uk looked into the cost of sharing a two-bedroom flat with a friend compared with renting a spare room in a property also resided in by the owner. It found that, in 82 per cent of the UK's 50 largest towns and cities, lodging was the cheaper option.
Central London provided the most dramatic example: co-renting a two-bedroom flat in zone one or two costs an average of £1,201pcm, while lodging in the same area sets people back £698pcm – that's 42 per cent cheaper.
Jonathan Moore, director of EasyRoommate, said: "Lodgers can get a much better address for their money in most UK cities than if they rent a flat.
"In Central London, lodging for five years would save enough cash to fund a house deposit."
In terms of the difference it would make to a person's practical living arrangements, Moore commented, "In theory, lodgers' rights are restricted to just their rooms, but in practice they can enjoy all the living space too."
After London, York provided the biggest savings for lodgers (34 per cent cheaper than renting), followed by Swansea where lodgers saved 31 per cent on average.
However, this wasn't a nationwide pattern. Lodging was often more expensive than simply renting in the North: in Barnsley, lodgers would lose an average of 19 per cent. Oldham and Stockport were second and third respectively in terms of losing money by lodging. In fact Bedford was the only southern town in the study where it was cheaper to rent, with lodgers losing an average of two per cent per month.
Moore explained, "In the north of England, substantially lower house price growth in recent years allowed proportionally more buyers to afford to get onto the housing ladder. This has kept demand for rental accommodation down, limiting rents and making it less worthwhile to lodge."
There are 472,000 people lodging in the UK, paying homeowners a total of £2.3 billion a year, while 1.9 million people flatshare and spend £9.8 billion a year on rent.
The towns where lodging saves you the most money
| City | Cost of flatshare | Cost of lodging | Monthly saving | Yearly saving | Saving |
| 1. Central London | £1,201 | £698 | £503 | £6,036 | 42% |
| 2. York | £526 | £346 | £180 | £2,160 | 34% |
| 3. Swansea | £409 | £282 | £127 | £1,524 | 31% |
| 4. Reading | £590 | £420 | £170 | £2,040 | 29% |
| 5. Brighton & Hove | £602 | £429 | £173 | £2,076 | 29% |
| 6. Cambridge | £591 | £446 | £145 | £1,740 | 25% |
| 7. Birmingham | £438 | £333 | £105 | £1,260 | 24% |
| 8. Liverpool | £405 | £313 | £92 | £1,104 | 23% |
| 9. Cardiff | £401 | £310 | £91 | £1,092 | 23% |
| 10. Aberdeen | £490 | £387 | £103 | £1,236 | 21% |
