Calculator
Rent or buy?
One person, two lives: one rents, one buys, and both spend exactly the same each month. Whichever life is cheaper that month saves the difference. Change the numbers to match yours and see who ends up with more.
Result
If you sell after 10 years
Buying is ahead by calculating
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- Break-even rent, monthly
- Mortgage, monthly
- First month's interest
- Stamp duty
Tap or click a year to see it. Each bar is the renter's savings minus what the buyer would have after selling and paying off the mortgage.
Year by year
| Year | Rent a month | Owner pays a month | House value | Mortgage left | Renter's savings | Buyer after selling | Who's ahead |
|---|
Assumptions and sources
The starting numbers are the ones from our rent vs buy video, made in September 2026. They're illustrations, not forecasts.
- House price £275,465. The Nationwide average UK house price for August 2026.
- Deposit £50,000. The video's worked example. The loan is the price minus the deposit: £225,465.
- Mortgage 5.68%, 25-year repayment. The average five-year fixed rate when the video was made. In the video it's held for the whole term; the "Next fix at 7%" what-if moves to 7% after five years.
- Rent £1,100 a month, rising 3% a year. An illustration for a home like the one you'd buy. Rent goes up once a year.
- House prices rising 2% a year. A cautious long-run assumption. Nationwide had prices up 1.6% and Land Registry up 2.0% over the latest year when the video was made.
- Maintenance 1% of the house's value a year. An estimate, charged monthly on the current value.
- Buildings insurance £300 a year. An assumption.
- Buying costs £3,000. Solicitor, survey and moving. An assumption.
- Stamp duty. GOV.UK rates for England and Northern Ireland, checked 1 October 2026. First-time buyers pay nothing up to £300,000 and 5% on the part from £300,001 to £500,000; above £500,000 the standard rates apply (0% to £125,000, 2% to £250,000, 5% to £925,000, 10% to £1.5 million, 12% above). Nil at the average price. Scotland and Wales have their own taxes, which this doesn't model. GOV.UK rates
- Selling costs 1.5%. Estate agent and solicitor. An assumption.
- Savings 4% a year. What the renter's money earns, with interest added monthly. An assumption.
How the model works
- It runs month by month. The buyer pays the mortgage, maintenance and insurance. The renter pays rent and saves the difference, so both spend the same. If rent costs more, the difference comes out of the renter's savings.
- The renter starts with the deposit plus the buying costs and stamp duty, invested at the savings rate.
- If you sell after a given number of years, the buyer gets the house value minus selling costs minus whatever is left on the mortgage. The renter has their savings. The difference is who's ahead.
- Mortgage capital you pay off counts as yours. Interest, rent, maintenance, insurance, and buying and selling costs don't come back.
- No tax on savings interest, no service charge or ground rent, no contents insurance (both sides pay it) and no moving between homes. What owning is worth beyond the money, like security and making a place your own, is for you to weigh.
General information, not financial advice. It doesn't know your circumstances. Speak to a regulated adviser before a decision this big.