Owning a home is £2,270 a year cheaper than renting – but you’ll need a £51k deposit first
The sour statistics show that renters are forking out up to £289 a month MORE than a first-time buyer on their mortgage
HOMEOWNERS spend £2,270 LESS than renters every year, according to one lender.
The depressing new statistics show that it's more expensive to rent than buy in every region of the UK, where tenants are paying up to £289 more than first-time buyers on their mortgage.
On average, tenants are handing over £912 of their hard-earned cash every month, while a first-time buyer is repaying £723, according to Santander Mortgages.
The lender reckons homeowners could save around £189 a month or £2,268 a year if they got onto the property ladder.
But you'll need to save up a whopping £51,905 deposit on average - and with steep rents continuing to creep upwards, it feels like owning your own home is harder than ever before.
Renting used to be cheaper than buying a house but since the financial crash in 2010, inflation has fallen taking mortgage rates with it, while rents have steadily crept upwards.
Unsurprisingly, Londoners are set to make the biggest monthly savings by buying a home of around £289 a month, while first-time buyers in Northern Ireland would see themselves £629 a month better off.
At the other end of the scale, people living in the East of England would save a much smaller £43 a month on a mortgage, and in the East Midlands homeowners would save £45 every month.
Only last month tenants were breathing a small sigh of relief as data showed that rents in Northern England have dropped since last year, but these latest figures show a more sour outlook.
Tenants who are still waiting for a law banning letting agent fees almost two years after it was first announced, should try haggling with their landlord.
MORE FOR FIRST-TIME BUYERS
Renters face price hikes of up to £276 a year as almost half of landlords say that they will have to put up prices this year, piling pressure on tenants who are already struggling with stagnant wages and the rising cost of living.
Tens of thousands of tenants could be entitled to up to three times the value of their deposit from their landlord thanks to a little-known clause, according to a leading lawyer.
But even though getting your foot onto the property ladder feels impossible, figures from UK Finance show there are 365,000 first-time buyers out there giving home ownership a go.
Our new series My First Home celebrates new homeowners who did it on their own, and share tips on how you can do it too.
What help is out there for first-time buyers?
GETTING on the property ladder can feel like a grim task but there are schemes out there to help first-time buyers own their own home.
Help to Buy ISA - It's a tax-free savings account where for every £200 you save, the government will add an extra £50. But there's a maximum limit of £3,000 which is paid to your solicitor when you move.
Help to Buy equity loan - The government will lend you up to 20 per cent of the home's value - or 40 per cent in London - after you've put down a five per cent deposit. The loan is on top of a normal mortgage but it can only be used to buy a new build property.
Lifetime ISA - Another government scheme that gives anyone aged 18 to 39 the chance to save tax-free and get a bonus of up to £32,000 towards your first home. You can save up to £4,000 a year and the government will add 25 per cent on top.
Shared ownership - Co-owning with a housing association means you can buy a part of the property and pay rent on the remaining amount. You can buy anything from 25 to 75 per cent of the property but you're restricted to specific ones.
"First dibs" in London - London Mayor Sadiq Khan is working on a scheme that will restrict sales of all new-build homes in the capital up to £350,000 to UK buyers for three months before any overseas marketing can take place.
Starter Home Initiative - A government scheme that will see 200,000 new-build homes in England to be sold to first-time buyers with a 20 per cent discount by 2020. To receive updates on the progress of these homes you can register your interest .
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