Compare the full cost of renting against buying — mortgage, stamp duty, maintenance, buying and selling fees, rising rents — and find the break-even year where buying's net worth overtakes renting and investing. A calculation based on your inputs, not financial advice.
Fill in the renting details (your monthly rent and how fast it rises), the buying details (property price, deposit, mortgage, one-off buying costs, maintenance, service charge and insurance, selling costs), and the assumptions (house-price growth, investment return, horizon). Click Calculate to see the break-even year — the first year when a buyer's net worth would exceed the wealth a renter could build by investing the money the buyer spent, plus a year-by-year chart of both paths.
The buyer's net worth is measured on a sold-today basis: the property's value net of selling costs, minus the outstanding mortgage, plus any surplus the buyer invested in years when owning cost less than renting. The renter's net worth is an invested portfolio that starts with everything the buyer paid upfront — deposit, stamp duty, and buying fees. Each year, whichever side pays less invests the difference at your chosen investment return. This symmetric treatment matters: once the mortgage is paid off (or rents have risen past the cost of owning), the buyer becomes the one with spare cash to invest.
If the calculator shows "year 7", it means that on these inputs a buyer would accumulate more net worth than a renter from year 7 onwards. Before year 7 in this example, the renter's invested portfolio outperforms the buyer's position — the buyer starts behind because stamp duty, buying fees, and selling costs are sunk from day one. The break-even year shifts with rent levels, mortgage rates, ownership costs, house-price growth, and investment returns — there is no universally correct answer.
If buying never overtakes renting within your chosen horizon, the calculator reports that too. This commonly happens when house-price growth is modest but investment returns are high, or when rent is well below the full cost of owning so the renter compounds a large surplus every year.
House-price growth, rent growth, and investment returns are applied annually as constant rates — real outcomes vary year to year. The mortgage is a repayment mortgage amortised monthly; payments stop automatically once the balance reaches zero, so horizons longer than the term correctly show the mortgage-free years. Maintenance is charged as a percentage of the property's current value, so it rises as the property appreciates. Service charge and insurance rise at the same rate as rents. Stamp duty uses UK SDLT rates for England and Northern Ireland from 1 April 2025.
No inflation adjustment is applied — all figures are in nominal pounds. No tax is applied to investment returns: if your investments are outside a tax-sheltered account such as an ISA, the effective after-tax return may be lower. Council tax and utilities are excluded as broadly similar for renters and owners of comparable homes.
The calculator shows a break-even year based on your inputs — the year when a buyer's net worth (house value after selling costs, minus the remaining mortgage, plus any invested surplus) overtakes the wealth a renter could build by investing the money a buyer spends upfront. Whether renting or buying works out better depends on your local rent level, mortgage rate, ongoing ownership costs, how fast rents and house prices grow, and how long you plan to stay. There is no universal answer; the numbers on your inputs tell the story for your specific situation.
The buyer side includes the deposit, stamp duty land tax (SDLT) at current UK rates, one-off buying costs (conveyancing, survey, lender fees), monthly repayment mortgage payments that stop when the mortgage is paid off, annual maintenance as a percentage of the property's value, service charge and buildings insurance, and selling costs (estate agent and legal fees) deducted from the property's value. The renter side includes rent that rises each year at your chosen rate. Whichever side pays less in a given year invests the difference at your chosen investment return. Not included: rental deposits, moving costs, council tax and utilities (broadly similar for both), or tax on investment returns outside an ISA.
Yes. The calculator uses UK stamp duty land tax (SDLT) rates from 1 April 2025 for England and Northern Ireland. First-time buyers pay 0% on properties up to £300,000 and 5% on the portion between £300,000 and £500,000 (no relief above £500,000). Standard buyers pay 0% up to £125,000, 2% to £250,000, then 5% above that. Additional-property buyers pay a 5% surcharge on top of the standard bands. The SDLT is treated as an upfront cost that the renter avoids — and can invest instead.
A common rule of thumb is around 1% of the property's value per year, averaged over the long run — some years cost almost nothing, then a roof or boiler arrives all at once. Older properties, leasehold flats with major-works bills, and houses with gardens tend to run higher; newer builds lower. The calculator applies your chosen percentage to the property's current value each year, so the cost grows as the house appreciates. Try 0.5% and 1.5% to see how sensitive the break-even year is.
For a cash savings account the return is close to the current interest rate, which varies with the Bank of England base rate. For a stocks-and-shares ISA or general investment account, long-run UK equity returns have historically averaged around 5–8% per year in nominal terms, but past performance is not a reliable guide to future results and the value of investments can fall as well as rise. Try a range of values — the break-even year is sensitive to this assumption, especially over longer horizons.
UK house prices have grown at a long-run average of roughly 4–6% per year nominally, and rents around 3–4%, but there is wide regional variation and periods of decline in both. The calculator applies constant rates throughout the horizon; real changes vary year to year and are impossible to predict. Trying a low, middle, and high value for each gives you a range of scenarios rather than a single number to rely on.
Planning a purchase? The mortgage calculator works out your monthly repayment, and the stamp duty calculator shows the exact SDLT you'll owe. If you overpay your mortgage, the mortgage overpayment calculator shows the interest saved and years cut from your term. To model the renter's side — investing monthly savings — use our compound interest calculator or the ISA calculator to project tax-free growth within your annual allowance.
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