Howsy compared average annual rent to the average house price in each area of the UK, ranking them by the lowest percentage ratio to highlight the sought-after homeowning hotspots offering the lowest rental barriers and therefore an alternative take on the best value for money.
Not only does this allow you to rent more affordably in a high-end area but it also provides the lowest financial hurdle when making that transition to homeowner, with more room to save for that all-important deposit.
The area of the UK home to the lowest rent as a proportion of house price is Kensington and Chelsea, where the average annual rent of £38,076 is just 2.63% of the average house price (£1.4m). For those that can afford to rent in the prime London borough, it offers the best value to rent while faking the high-class homeowner lifestyle.
Suffolk Coastal, an area of outstanding beauty, has an average annual rent of £8,000, just 2.86% of the current average house price of £285,00. The second-best spot for a disproportionally low rental cost when compared to the wider market.
Chiltern (2.88%), St Albans (2.94%) and Waverly (2.97%), the City of London (3.00%), Chichester (3.01%), the Isles of Scilly (3.01%), Uttlesford (3.03%) and Hammersmith and Fulham (3.03%) also rank in the top 10 for rental value as a proportion of the average home buying cost.
Calum Brannan, Founder and CEO of Howsy, commented: “The affordability of living anywhere in the UK is always relative to the place itself, the wage on offer and the cost of living and of course these tend to be higher in more desirable areas.
However, this research highlights that there are some very nice parts of the UK property market that offer a proportionally low rental hurdle compared to the cost of buying, and while top line affordability of rental costs is still required, they enable you to enjoy the same lifestyle at a fraction of the cost.
Not only do they represent some of the best value across the UK rental sector but for those living there, the lower rental costs should enable them to squirrel more away for that all-important deposit.”
