Given the costs attached to buying a property, it can sometimes be worth renting instead, especially if you are only planning to live in your new home for a short period of time.

Fill out the form below to compare the total outlay over a set period of time involved in renting or buying a property of the same value. Hold your cursor over the various fields for a pop-up explanation of what the field value relates to. The fields are initially populated with some default values as a suggestion:

	House purchase price
	Mortgage loan amount
	Annual rent on equivalent property
	Rent reviewed every
	Buying costs
	Selling costs as a % of house price
	Annual maintenance costs:
	- as owner occupier
	- as tenant
	Average mortgage interest rate payable
	Maintenance costs inflation rate
	House price inflation rate
	Initial tenant's free capital
	Assumed net return on tenant's capital
	Calculate for		(48 max)
	Conclusion		Renting is better for the first years

Work out weekly and monthly totals for any number of people sharing.

Calculate whether you're better off to buy or rent, given a variety of costs, returns and other factors.

Calculate your monthly mortgage repayments over a set term or the whole life of a mortgage.

Get a tabular or visual idea of what your payments will be like during the term of your repayment mortgage.

The APR for a mortgage rate might be quoted, but you can still compare 2 schemes using this calculator.

Even if a remortgage offers a cheaper deal, switching costs such as early redemption penalties can make it a financially unwise move.

Examine the Return On Investment generated by rental property and the effect that mortgage borrowing has on the returns enjoyed.

Calculate how much of your income you'll have left at the end of each month once your expenses and outgoings have all been taken care of

There's no point looking at properties that you can't afford. Use this calculator to get an idea of the maximum mortgage a lender is likely to offer you.

Total up the full set of costs involved in buying and selling a property.

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