Free calculator
Rent vs buy calculator
Compare the illustrative money cost of renting versus buying the same home over a chosen number of years — mortgage interest, buying and selling costs and upkeep against rent and the return your deposit could have earned instead. A money-only comparison on adjustable assumptions, not a verdict.
Enter a home you'd buy and the rent for something similar, then tweak the assumptions — growth, returns and costs are all rough guesses you can change. We'll picture the total money each path costs over the years you'd stay. It's an illustration, not a verdict, and it clears when you leave the page.
This calculator, the result and the breakdown are free for everyone, no account needed.
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How it works
- 1Enter the price of the home you'd buy, your deposit, the mortgage rate and term, and the rent for something similar.
- 2Choose how many years to compare over — the picture changes a lot with the horizon.
- 3Adjust the assumptions if you like: house-price growth, the return on money invested instead, upkeep, and rent growth. These are illustrative defaults you can change.
- 4The calculator totals the money out on each path and shows which cost more on those assumptions — a comparison, not a recommendation.
Worked example
A £300,000 home with a £30,000 deposit and a 4.5% mortgage over 25 years, versus £1,400 a month rent, compared over 10 years on the default assumptions. The calculator totals the cost of each path and shows the difference and which was cheaper on those assumptions.
This is a money-only illustration, and the result swings with the assumptions — especially house-price growth, investment return and the horizon. It doesn't weigh the non-money reasons people rent or buy, and it isn't a recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to rent or buy?
It depends heavily on the price, deposit, rates, how long you stay and the assumptions about growth. This calculator totals the money on each path over your chosen horizon so you can compare — it doesn't tell you which to do.
What does the calculator count as the cost of buying?
Mortgage interest, one-off buying and selling costs and upkeep, offset by the equity you gain if the home grows in value. It doesn't count the capital you repay as a cost, since that stays as equity.
Why does renting include an opportunity cost?
Because if you rent, the deposit and buying costs you didn't spend could be invested. The calculator includes the assumed return on that money so both paths are compared fairly.
Does the result mean I should rent or buy?
No. It's a money-only illustration on assumptions you can change, not advice or a verdict. There are important non-money reasons to rent or buy that it doesn't try to weigh.