Scottish homeowners are £424 better off annually than renters, Bank of Scotland has warned. Home-owning monthly costs £953, compared to £988 for renters, the latest study from Halifax - which is part of the same group as Bank of Scotland - revealed.
In Scotland, monthly home-owning costs have risen 93 per cent, compared to 74 per cent for renting, over the last decade. The latest analysis, based on the housing costs associated with a mortgage on a three-bed home compared to the average monthly rent of the same property type, found that monthly rental costs in 2023 grew by 8% to £988, while homeowning costs grew by 29 per cent to £953.
Since 2013, the monthly home-owning costs have risen 93 per cent with the comparable renting costs up 74 per cent. Graham Blair, Mortgages Director, Bank of Scotland, said: “First-time homeowners in Scotland are savings hundreds of pounds every year - £424 to be precise - compared to those renting in the country.
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“Getting on the property ladder is a major life goal for so many people and it's a big priority for us to help them get there. However, there are quite a few barriers to making the long-term investment in a property, including higher borrowing costs, alongside less homes available to buy.
"We're big supporters and participants in the Scottish Government’s affordable home ownership schemes, including shared ownership and the mortgage guarantee scheme, as we want as many first-time buyers as possible to secure a place to call their own.”
Scotland is one of only three UK nations or regions where owning a first home is cheaper than renting. In 2023, the average costs of a home for Scottish first-time buyers was £196,998, with average deposits around 19 per cent of the purchase price, one of the lowest of all UK nations or regions.
