Rent vs Buy Calculator UK

There's no single answer - it depends on your deposit, mortgage rate, how long you plan to stay, and how rents and house prices move relative to each other. Enter your own numbers into the calculator above to see which option comes out ahead for your situation.

We default the calculator to a 10% deposit, a common minimum for many mortgage products, but you can enter any deposit size - as a percentage or a fixed £ amount - in the "Your numbers" section of the calculator. A bigger deposit cuts your mortgage interest but leaves less money to invest if you rent instead, so the calculator weighs both sides of that trade-off for you.

The crossover point is the year in your results when one option overtakes the other in net wealth - for example, when the equity and appreciation you've built up by buying finally outweighs what your rent-scenario investments have grown to. Run your numbers through the calculator and check the "Crossover point" figure under your results.

It can, but it isn't guaranteed - it depends on how home appreciation compares to your investment returns, and how large the gap is between your mortgage payment and rent. Our calculator runs a year-by-year simulation of both scenarios so you can compare final net worth using your own numbers; see How It Works for the full methodology.

Stamp Duty is a one-off cost paid when you buy. The calculator works it out from the house price using the current rates for where you're buying - Stamp Duty Land Tax in England and Northern Ireland, Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in Scotland, or Land Transaction Tax in Wales - and whether you're a first-time buyer, moving home or buying an additional property. First-time buyers in England pay nothing on the first £300,000, so at the default £273,000 house price a first-time buyer pays £0. Change the nation or buyer type, or type in your own figure, under "Advanced options" in the calculator. Rather than simply subtracting it from the buyer, we treat it as the renter's opportunity cost: the renter invests that same amount up front, so it compounds against buying for as long as you stay.

Council Tax is included on both sides of the comparison, since in the UK it is paid by the occupier. We assume a comparable rented home, so it matches the buyer's Council Tax and doesn't tilt the result either way.

We pre-fill realistic UK defaults for things like mortgage rate, home appreciation and investment returns, based on current market data. Every one of them is editable - open "Advanced options" in the Assumptions section of the calculator to adjust Council Tax, maintenance, insurance, Stamp Duty and more, or edit any of the headline fields directly.

The calculator assumes constant rates for home appreciation and investment returns, which can vary a lot in reality. It doesn't account for potential tax benefits of homeownership, which differ by individual circumstances, and it's a purely financial comparison - it doesn't weigh non-financial factors like stability, flexibility or lifestyle that might also influence your decision. See How It Works for the full list of assumptions and limitations.

It depends mostly on how long you stay. Buying has up-front costs such as Stamp Duty and legal fees that take time to recover, but part of each mortgage payment builds equity while rent doesn't. Renting can come out ahead over shorter stays, or when your deposit would grow faster invested than your home would rise in value. With our UK average defaults - a £273,000 home, a 10% deposit and £1,400 a month in rent - buying leaves you £80,345 better off after 10 years. Put your own rent, house price and how long you plan to stay into the calculator to see which wins for you.

At our UK defaults - a £273,000 home with a 10% deposit at 4.92% over 25 years - the monthly mortgage payment is £1,425, more than the £1,400 average monthly rent. But the payment isn't the whole cost of buying: you also give up the returns your deposit could earn if you invested it, pay Stamp Duty and other purchase costs up front, and cover maintenance and insurance yourself. Part of each payment also repays the loan, building equity rather than being spent. The calculator weighs all of these against your rent, year by year.