Yorkshire renters losing out on £18k a year

First time buyers in Yorkshire are saving nearly £18,000 by buying a property as opposed to renting, new figures have shown.
Embargoed to 0001 Friday February 16

File photo dated 17/02/17 of a variety of estate agent signs - Yui Mok/PA WireEmbargoed to 0001 Friday February 16

File photo dated 17/02/17 of a variety of estate agent signs - Yui Mok/PA Wire
Embargoed to 0001 Friday February 16 File photo dated 17/02/17 of a variety of estate agent signs - Yui Mok/PA Wire

New figures from Halifax show that in Yorkshire its is £589 pounds a year cheaper to own a property rather than rent, a difference of nine per cent.

The figure the lowest in the country and compares with a national figure of £27,000 as the saving home owners will see over the life-span of a 30-year mortgage.

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The gap between the cost of buying and renting is now at its highest in four years, up 44 per cent from last year’s £623 saving to £900 a year.

Unspurprisingly London was shown to be the geographic area in which mortgage payments were cheaper than that of rental figures, with a saving of £2,191 a year.

However, as a percentage, the biggest savings are made in Scotland and the South West of England, where the cost of buying is 17 per cent lower than renting.

The financial gain is most humble in the South East of England, where the cost of buying is 8 per cent lower than renting.

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Halifax said the average monthly cost of buying has dropped 22 per cent (£192) since 2008, while rental payments have jumped by the same amount.

File photo dated 07/02/17 of houses under construction on a new housing development, as the housing minister has set out plans to spend £45 million to help release council-owned land to support the building of up to 7,280 homes. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo.
Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA WireFile photo dated 07/02/17 of houses under construction on a new housing development, as the housing minister has set out plans to spend £45 million to help release council-owned land to support the building of up to 7,280 homes. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo.
Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire
File photo dated 07/02/17 of houses under construction on a new housing development, as the housing minister has set out plans to spend £45 million to help release council-owned land to support the building of up to 7,280 homes. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

The bank seized on the figures as proof of the value of owning a property and come after separate research this week showed home ownership among middle class young people to have collapsed in the last two decades.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that, in 1995/96, two in three of 25 to 34-year-olds on incomes falling into the middle 20 per cent bracket for their age group were home-owners.

But by 2015/16, just one in four of this group owned their own home.

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Russell Galley, managing director, Halifax, said: “The gap between buying and renting has widened significantly, primarily driven by a reduction in mortgage rates and a more competitive market pushing down monthly payments.

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“Meanwhile, the cost of rent, household maintenance and average deposits have remained broadly flat.

“Despite having to put down a sizeable deposit up front, homeowners are overall better off than renters in all parts of the UK. But those who are unable to get onto the property ladder because they can’t raise enough cash are paying more by renting.

“The good news is that record numbers of first-time buyers are still taking their first step on to the ladder and helping to bridge this gap thanks to a continued low-rate environment and government schemes including Help to Buy.”

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The number of first-time buyers fell from a high of 359,900 in 2007 to an all-time low of 192,300 in 2008, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (now UK Finance).

File photo dated 07/02/17 of houses under construction on a new housing development, as the housing minister has set out plans to spend £45 million to help release council-owned land to support the building of up to 7,280 homes. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo.
Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA WireFile photo dated 07/02/17 of houses under construction on a new housing development, as the housing minister has set out plans to spend £45 million to help release council-owned land to support the building of up to 7,280 homes. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo.
Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire
File photo dated 07/02/17 of houses under construction on a new housing development, as the housing minister has set out plans to spend £45 million to help release council-owned land to support the building of up to 7,280 homes. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

However the levels are back to the pre-crisis peak, having reached 365,000 in 2017 and exceeding 300,000 for the fourth consecutive year.

Average house prices are 152 per cent higher in 2015/16 than they were 20 years earlier after adjusting for inflation.

In 2015/16, 8 per cent of young adults on low incomes were home-owners compared with 64 per cent of those with high incomes.