Renting vs buying: which is better?

Renting vs buying has been the topic as of late as it has been discovered that it is in fact cheaper to buy than rent in 47 out of 50 British towns and cities.

This contrasts to last year when it was only in 40 out of 50 towns where this occurred.

The financial crisis has lead to banks being less willing to approve mortgages with their stricter guidelines, and thus making it harder to buy a house.

Therefore this leads to rental prices going up, as landlords take advantage of those unable to get onto the property ladder, meaning that potential house buyers are forced to rent.

Renting vs buying has further been a hot topic as it is a well known fact that a low UK bank rate over the past few years has kept mortgage repayments low, benefiting those already on the property ladder.

It was found that in only 3 UK cities (Swansea, Plymouth and Bournemouth) it was cheaper to rent than buy, according to a survey by Zoopla. Milton Keynes came top as the town where it was best to buy instead of rent, where renting was 38% more expensive than buying.

Business development director at Zoopla.co.uk Nicholas Leeming said: ‘The shortage of financing, especially for first-time buyers, has pushed demand for rental property through the roof. But for those lucky enough to be in a position to get a mortgage, there may never be a better time to buy.’

Image from flickr/Fortyseven