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Buying cheaper than renting in most of Britain

Tuesday, 27 September 2011 3:22 PM

Renting a home now costs an average of 13 per cent more than buying one, according to new research from the property website Zoopla.co.uk.

Falling house prices and increasing rental demand make it cheaper to buy than to rent in 45 out of the 50 largest towns in Britain.

The study looked at the asking prices and rents of all two-bedroom flats on the market and assumed owners would have an interest-only mortgage at 5 per cent.

Milton Keynes was top of the list with rents 39 per cent higher than mortgage payments and tenants an average of £2,544 a year worse off than owners.

Tenants in London are 28 per cent, or £5,964 a year, worse off than owners.

The best place to be a tenant is Aberdeen, where renters are 9 per cent or £936 better off than owners.

Nicholas Leeming of Zoopla.co.uk, said: “With house prices down, low interest rates and sky high demand in the private rental sector, buying has never been a better option for those able to secure a mortgage. With owners reducing prices further in order to achieve a sale before Christmas, there may well not have been a better time to buy in recent times.”

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