Is Renting Actually Cheaper Than Buying?

Most people assume renting is the expensive option and that buying is how you escape it.

The truth is more complicated than that, and if you’re renting right now, there’s a risk buried in the numbers that most people haven’t properly thought through.

Right now, renting is technically cheaper than buying in most of the UK. The average monthly rent is £1,547. A typical new mortgage payment is £1,670. That’s a difference of £123 a month in the renter’s favour. So no, buying is not automatically the cheaper option today.

But that comparison has a significant flaw.

Rent rises. Mortgages (mostly) don’t.

Private rents in the UK rose 3.5% in the 12 months to April 2026, according to the ONS. That sounds modest. But over ten, twenty, thirty years, it compounds into a number most renters haven’t sat down to calculate.

A mortgage fixes a significant chunk of your housing cost in place. Your 2026 payment is roughly your 2036 payment. In a decade, when rents have risen again, the person who bought is effectively living more cheaply in real terms, even if buying looked more expensive at the start.

And then, at some point, the mortgage ends. Probably in their 60s, the buyer’s housing cost drops close to zero. The lifelong renter is still paying market rent at 70, 75, and into retirement.

Renting isn’t wrong. But it needs a plan.

Buying doesn’t guarantee a low cost of living. There are maintenance costs, interest rate risk, and the possibility that property values fall. It isn’t a simple win.

But what buying does give you is a housing cost that is fixed and eventually ends, and ownership of an asset that has historically risen in value over the long term.

Not buying is a legitimate choice. What it isn’t is a cost-free one. Renting long-term means your housing costs don’t go away in retirement. To make that work, you need to be building wealth elsewhere aggressively enough to cover a perpetual housing cost alongside everything else.

Most people renting in their 20s and 30s aren’t thinking about that yet. The monthly saving feels real and immediate. The retirement housing cost feels abstract and distant. But the two are connected.

To learn more, check out our video Is Renting Actually Cheaper?

The question worth asking

It’s not really “should I buy?” That depends on your income, your location, your life plans, and a dozen other things that are personal to you.

The more useful question is: if I don’t buy, what does my housing cost look like at 65? And what is my plan for covering it?

If you have a clear answer to that, renting can absolutely be the right call. If you don’t, it’s worth working it out now rather than at 60.

You can run the numbers for your own situation using the rent vs buy calculator. It’s free and takes about five minutes.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute personal financial advice. Property values can fall as well as rise. Your individual circumstances will affect what is right for you. Speak to an FCA-regulated financial adviser or mortgage broker before making property or investment decisions.
Sources: Rightmove rent vs mortgage data, April 2026 | ONS Price Index of Private Rents, April 2026