Better to buy than rent in 60% of cities

property: People can save 16% by purchasing a home in Dundee, rather than renting

Dundee is one of the most affordable places in Britain to buy a home instead of renting.

Buying a home is more cost-effective than renting in nearly two-thirds of major cities across Britain, research from a property website suggests.

Zoopla compared the average monthly rents being asked for a twobedroom home across 50 cities with the cost of paying a mortgage on a similarsized property with a 10% deposit – the size of deposit often put down by firsttime buyers.

It found that in 60% of cities, buying a home was more cost-effective than renting one.

The proportion has increased since April, when buying was more costeffective than renting in 48% of cities.

Home owners in Glasgow fare particularly well compared with renters there, the research suggests. Mortgage payers in Glasgow may find themselves parting with an average of £450 per month, while renters there fork out an average of £596 – a difference of £146.

Owning a home in Birmingham and Bradford rather than renting one was also found to be particularly costeffective.

But in southern England, where house prices can be particularly high, renting often works out cheaper. London was found to be the city where renting was particularly likely to beat buying, in terms of the monthly costs, followed by Cambridge and Bournemouth.

The research assumed that a mortgage holder would be on a 25-year repayment deal with a fixed interest rate of 4.5% to make the findings.

Zoopla also analysed the current asking prices and rents of two-bedroom properties currently on the market across Britain’s 50 biggest cities for the research.

Lawrence Hall, a spokesman for Zoopla, said: “Buying a property is a costly process, but once you get past the initial fees, it can – as our data shows – prove a more economical option on a monthly basis.”

It’s better to buy in the City of Discovery, Zoopla has found.