Purchasing a Home vs Renting

This simple calculator allows you to compare renting & investing vs purchase & investing as a long-term strategy for creation of wealth.

Please read the Guidance & Assumptions section for more details and note that no details are sent to a server or saved by our site.

TLDR - The wonders of compound intrest will always win out in comparisions like this so after 25 / 30 years you will often find that renting wins out.

General Information

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Renting

£

Purchase

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£
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£
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Comparison

Years into the Future: 25

1
25
50
75
100
Year
Renter Investment Fund
Buyer Investment Fund
Property ValueMortgage Remaining
Buyer Equity
Renter Net Worth
Buyer Net Worth
Difference
0£38,400.00£0.00£300,000.00£270,000.00£30,000.00£38,400.00£30,000.00-£8,400.00
1£46,272.00£3,110.90£304,500.00£264,086.48£40,413.52£46,272.00£43,524.42-£2,747.58
2£54,737.76£6,470.67£309,067.50£257,896.36£51,171.14£54,737.76£57,641.81£2,904.05
3£63,844.42£10,099.22£313,703.51£251,416.71£62,286.80£63,844.42£72,386.02£8,541.60
4£73,642.89£14,018.05£318,409.07£244,633.98£73,775.09£73,642.89£87,793.14£14,150.25
5£84,188.15£18,250.39£323,185.20£237,533.99£85,651.21£84,188.15£103,901.60£19,713.45
6£95,539.56£22,821.32£328,032.98£230,101.91£97,931.06£95,539.56£120,752.39£25,212.82
7£107,761.26£27,757.93£332,953.47£222,322.21£110,631.26£107,761.26£138,389.19£30,627.93
8£120,922.47£33,089.46£337,947.78£214,178.62£123,769.16£120,922.47£156,858.61£35,936.14
9£135,097.98£38,847.51£343,016.99£205,654.12£137,362.87£135,097.98£176,210.38£41,112.40
10£150,368.55£45,066.21£348,162.25£196,730.91£151,431.34£150,368.55£196,497.55£46,129.00
11£166,821.40£51,782.40£353,384.68£187,390.31£165,994.37£166,821.40£217,776.77£50,955.37
12£184,550.70£59,035.89£358,685.45£177,612.83£181,072.62£184,550.70£240,108.52£55,557.81
13£203,658.19£66,869.66£364,065.73£167,378.01£196,687.72£203,658.19£263,557.38£59,899.19
14£224,253.71£75,330.13£369,526.72£156,664.48£212,862.24£224,253.71£288,192.38£63,938.66
15£246,455.90£84,467.44£375,069.62£145,449.83£229,619.79£246,455.90£314,087.23£67,631.33
16£270,392.88£94,335.73£380,695.66£133,710.63£246,985.04£270,392.88£341,320.77£70,927.89
17£296,203.03£104,993.49£386,406.10£121,422.34£264,983.76£296,203.03£369,977.25£73,774.22
18£324,035.78£116,503.86£392,202.19£108,559.28£283,642.91£324,035.78£400,146.77£76,110.99
19£354,052.51£128,935.07£398,085.22£95,094.58£302,990.65£354,052.51£431,925.72£77,873.21
20£386,427.52£142,360.77£404,056.50£81,000.07£323,056.43£386,427.52£465,417.20£78,989.69
21£421,349.03£156,860.53£410,117.35£66,246.31£343,871.04£421,349.03£500,731.57£79,382.53
22£459,020.35£172,520.27£416,269.11£50,802.47£365,466.64£459,020.35£537,986.91£78,966.57
23£499,661.00£189,432.79£422,513.15£34,636.26£387,876.89£499,661.00£577,309.68£77,648.69
24£543,508.09£207,698.31£428,850.84£17,713.89£411,136.95£543,508.09£618,835.27£75,327.18
25£590,817.69£227,425.08£435,283.61£0.00£435,283.61£590,817.69£662,708.68£71,890.99

Guidance & Assumptions

This tool was created after a friend of mine sent me a YouTube video which discussed the advantages of renting a property and investing any spare money vs purchasing a property. I was interested to see the maths in action for differing circumstances.

Please note that there are many advantages of renting a property vs purchasing a property which are not captured in a calculator such as this, and you should always consider your own personal circumstances. Some high-level concepts to think about are:

Renting Advantages

  • Flexibility to move for work or lifestyle changes without selling costs
  • No responsibility for major repairs or maintenance
  • Lower upfront costs (no deposit, stamp duty, or legal fees)
  • No exposure to property market downturns
  • Ability to invest the difference in diversified assets
  • Predictable monthly costs (no unexpected repair bills)
  • Access to areas where buying is unaffordable

Purchasing Advantages

  • Building equity over time rather than paying a landlord
  • Stability and security of tenure
  • Freedom to modify and improve your property
  • Protection against rent increases
  • Potential for property value appreciation
  • Mortgage payments eventually end, rent does not
  • Can be passed on to family as inheritance
  • Leverage allows greater exposure to property market gains

The following items have not been factored into any calculations:

  • Inflation. I believe inflation would affect all calculations to a similar degree, but if anyone is more knowledgeable about this please reach out.
  • Council Tax. This would be payable by the occupant in 99% of cases and thus can be ignored.
  • Contents Insurance. This would be payable by the occupant in 99% of cases and thus can be ignored.
  • TV Licence. No one should pay this anyway or watch the BBC!
  • Late Rent Fees. Impossible to factor in without advanced modelling.
  • Tenancy Changes. Impossible to factor in without advanced modelling.
  • Early Termination Fees. Impossible to factor in without advanced modelling.