Rent or buy?

How we calculate

The comparison goes wrong if the whole ownership outlay is stacked against the rent, because part of the outlay is amortisation: money that moves from your account into the home and is still yours. The honest cost comparison is interest after the tax deduction plus fee and running costs against the rent. Amortisation is shown separately, as saving.

What tips the scales

Three assumptions drive almost everything: value growth, the rate and what your saved money would have earned instead. At zero or negative growth the purchase carries its transaction costs for a long time, and renting can win the whole horizon. At a couple of per cent a year, owning often overtakes within a few years. Move the sliders and find your own tipping point, it is more sensitive than most people think.

What the calculator includes that is often missed

The owner column carries the purchase costs (stamp duty and mortgage deeds for a house) and an assumed selling cost when wealth is measured, so early years look honestly heavy. The renter column lets the down payment and every monthly difference earn a return. That is what a fair comparison has to do.