Buying beats renting in Aberdeen but it pays to rent in London

Buyers in Aberdeen will be £99,000 better off compared to renters after 7 years

• Dundee, Glasgow, Cambridge and Edinburgh also compelling to buy vs. rent
• Buying in London with a 10% deposit takes 18 years to become more cost effective than renting
• Bournemouth, Huddersfield, Bedford and Swansea also make sense to rent not buy

Aberdeen is the most cost-effective town in Britain for buying property compared to renting. Over a typical seven year period, the average property owner in the Scottish town can expect to be £99,040 better off compared to the equivalent renter, according to research from property website Zoopla.co.uk.
The latest Rent vs. Buy analysis from Zoopla shows that it takes buyers in Aberdeen with a 10% just one year of ownership for buying to become more cost effective than renting. The average property price in Aberdeen is currently £206,060 with average monthly rents at £1,275.
London is currently the most renter-friendly location in Britain. After seven years, a typical London renter would be £82,412 better off than a buyer with a 10% deposit of an equivalent property. It would take 18 years for a London buyer with a 10% deposit to begin to be financially better off compared to the equivalent renter. These calculations are based on a conservative estimate of 4% annual house price growth in the capital.
Bournemouth is the second most renter-friendly town in Britain. With average asking prices of £380,206 and average rents of £1,024 it would take twenty two years for a buyer with a 10% deposit to be better off compared to a renter in an equivalent property. After a seven-year period, a typical renter in Bournemouth would be £30,719 better off than a typical buyer with a 10% deposit.
Lawrence Hall of Zoopla.co.uk comments:: “Despite taking longer to be better off financially, London remains the holy-grail in terms of property investment. It is much more buyer-friendly outside the capital but with rising average prices and low savings rates, accumulating a deposit has become increasingly difficult. It is important to remember that whilst renters may be better off in the short to medium term in some areas of the country, buyers are making a long-term investment. With most buyers opting for mortgage terms of 25 years, over the long term, buyers are likely to be better off compared to those who choose to rent.”
The Zoopla Rent vs. Buy methodology compares all of the costs associated with buying or renting as well as increases in asset or savings value over time. The analysis forecasts the amount of time it will take for buying to become more cost effective than renting across the largest towns and cities in Britain and compares how much buyers or renters are financially better off after the average tenure of a house.

Best locations for buying

Location	Av. Asking Price	Av. Monthly Rent	Amount buyers are better off after 7 years (10% deposit)
Aberdeen	£206,060	£1,275	£99,040
Dundee	£96,103	£653	£54,378
Glasgow	£139,841	£722	£40,971
Cambridge	£337,586	£1,334	£28,878
Edinburgh	£224,000	£948	£32,725
Coventry	£191,833	£849	£33,730
Newcastle	£180,516	£812	£33,726
Manchester	£178,069	£781	£29,751
Milton Keynes	£264,038	£1,066	£25,345
Birmingham	£163,594	£719	£27,171

Source: Zoopla.co.uk (February 2014)

Best location for renting

Location	Av. Asking Price	Av. Monthly Rent	Amount renters are better off after 7 Years (10% deposit)
London	£896,124	£2,619	£82,412
Bournemouth	£380,206	£1,024	£49,082
Huddersfield	£177,119	£561	£7,680
Bedford	£288,598	£959	£7,306
Swansea	£185,373	£631	£204

Source: Zoopla.co.uk (February 2014)