Buying is on average 16 per cent cheaper than renting in 42 of Britain’s 50 largest towns. This is despite the recent easing in the pace of growth of rents. Zoopla, the property website, reports that the gap is widest in London, where the average asking price for a two-bedroom flat is £452,387. It would cost an average of £2,422 a month to rent this property, close to 30 per cent more than the repayments on a 5 per cent interest-only mortgage of 100 per cent of the flat’s value. (3/5)
Rents dipped last month as more tenants considered buying property to catch the end of the stamp duty holiday, according to the latest buy-to-let index from LSL Property Services. The average rent in England and Wales fell by 0.6 per cent to £707 per month, following a rise in January. Despite the monthly drop, rents continue to rise on an annual basis: the increase of 3.5 per cent represented a £24 rise in the past year. (3/5)
UK house prices rose on average by 0.2 per cent in the year to January 2012, according to the new CLG house price index. However, these figures masked significant regional variations, from London, where prices rose by 3.1 per cent, down to the North West, where they fell by 3.5 per cent. (3/5)
Expectations for house prices were more optimistic in February as transaction levels continued to rise, according to a RICS survey. The average number of sales per surveyor rose to 16, up 4 per cent from last month’s figure of 15.7. (5/5)