15-11-2007
Buy/rent divide drops 76%
News by Adfero for Simply Business - independent providers of business insurance, business finance, landlord insurance, buy-to-let mortgages & commercial mortgages.
The cost between buying and renting a property has dropped by almost £18,000 over the last year, according to research from Abbey.
Last year's figures revealed that buying a property could provide savings of over £24,000 over a 25-year period when compared to rental costs over the same time frame. However, recent figures show this amount has fallen to £5,811.
Although Abbey describes this fall as "massive", its head of mortgages states that it is still better to buy.
"While on a month-to-month basis in some areas it is cheaper to rent rather than buy, at the end of the 25 years a homeowner actually has a house whereas a renter has nothing," Nici Audhlam-Gardiner explains.
The head of mortgages states that homeowners will also see property price increases - a fact that could benefit buy-to-let mortgage holders.
In related news, Jonathan Moore of Mortgages for Business told the BBC today that the buy-to-let market has witnessed "phenomenal growth" over the last ten years and said buy-to-let mortgages now constitute 12 per cent of all mortgage lending in the UK.
Abbey's UK Rent Versus Buy Index was carried out during October and covered letting and estate agents in 12 regions across the UK.