Your result
Buying leaves you £0 better off after 20 years
- Renting & Investing
- £0
Crossover point:
How to Interpret Results
The calculator compares two wealth-building scenarios over 20 years:
- Buying: Home appreciation and equity buildup minus remaining mortgage balance.
- Renting & Investing: Investment growth from your down payment savings and monthly cost differences.
The scenario with higher net wealth is financially advantageous based on your inputs and assumptions.
- Buying outcome:
- Your net wealth from buying (home value minus remaining mortgage).
- Renting & Investing outcome:
- Your net wealth from renting (total investment value).
- Difference:
- How much more wealth the recommended option leaves you with.
- Crossover point:
- The year when one option becomes financially better than the other.
Want to know more about how this calculator works? Check out our How It Works page.
Built and maintained by the Buy vs Rent team
- Free, no signup needed
- No personal data needed to use it
- Independent: no lender, agent or broker referral or commission income
- Headline figures from HM Land Registry, ONS and Bank of England, reviewed at least every 6 months
- Figures last reviewed 2026-09-23
Where our default figures come from
We've pre-filled the calculator with real UK market data, each figure traceable to a named public source. Feel free to adjust any of them to match your specific situation:
| Assumption | Default | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| House Price | £273,000 | HM Land Registry UK House Price Index | 2026-07 |
| Monthly Rent | £1,400 / month | ONS Private rent and house prices, UK | 2026-08 |
| Mortgage Rate | 4.92% | Bank of England Bankstats (2-year fixed, 75% LTV) | 2026-08 |
The remaining assumptions (maintenance, council tax, investment returns, home appreciation) are estimates rather than sourced figures, and every field above and in the calculator is editable.
What We Calculate
This calculator compares the long-term financial outcomes of buying versus renting in the UK. It accounts for all the costs involved in home ownership - mortgage interest, property taxes, maintenance and insurance - and compares them against the cost of renting while investing your savings elsewhere.
The calculator compares your net wealth position after a specified period (default 20 years):
- Buying: Home value + paid-down equity minus remaining mortgage
- Renting: Investment portfolio value from savings and down payment
- Includes all costs: interest, taxes, insurance, maintenance and rent increases
- Accounts for home appreciation and investment returns
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in the UK right now?
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.
How much deposit do I need to buy vs keep renting?
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 Buying 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.
What is the crossover point where buying beats renting?
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.
Does buying build more wealth than renting and investing the difference?
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.
How does Stamp Duty (SDLT) affect the comparison?
Stamp Duty (SDLT) is a one-off cost paid when you buy - our UK default is £3650 for the default house price. 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 over the whole comparison period.
How does Council Tax affect the comparison, and is it charged to renters too?
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.
What assumptions does the calculator make, and can I change them?
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 Buying section of the calculator to adjust Council Tax, maintenance, insurance, Stamp Duty (SDLT) and more, or edit any of the headline fields directly.
What doesn't this calculator account for?
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.