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RENTERS are paying up to 18 per cent more each month than those who own their own homes, according to research.
The gap is greatest in London where tenants pay an average of £1,689 rent for a three-bedroom home, £311 more than the £1,378 paid by first-time buyers — an annual difference of £3,727, finds Halifax.
In Yorkshire and Humber the gap is narrowest at just three per cent. Homes cost £564 a month to buy and £544 to rent — an annual difference of £235.
Low mortgage rates have reversed the results from 2009 when Halifax conducted similar research and found buying was more expensive than renting.
Halifax’s managing director Russell Galley said buyers in two-thirds of regions are saving more than £1,000 a year.
In the south-east of England the gap is 17 per cent, a difference of £2,475. In the south-west, it is 16 per cent, or £1,796. In Scotland the difference equated to 16 per cent, or £1,224 over a year. Mr Galley said: ‘The overall gap between home buying and renting is at its smallest margin for ten years, but this masks some significant regional variations where home owners are making considerable savings on monthly costs.
‘While Londoners stand to save the most, buyers in the south-east and south-west of England and in Scotland are also reaping the benefits.’
■ WOMEN are beating men on to the property ladder, according to Barclays bank. The average female first-time homeowner is aged 31, compared to 32 for men, with the age of first-time buyers edging down. The bank helped nearly a third more people get their first mortgage last year than in 2018, as more used Help to Buy and shared ownership schemes.
Stormzy’s Vossi Bake …free Greggs for life
STORMZY says his career has ‘peaked’ — after Greggs gave him a VIP card entitling him to free food for life.
The grime artist — best male solo artist at the Brit Awards — posted a tweet showing the baker’s first ever ‘concierge card’, which means he can order unlimited supplies of Greggs products free of charge, anywhere, any time.
Stormzy, who was also sent a pair of slippers following his choice of footwear for a BBC Breakfast appearance, tweeted: ‘Are you mad the first Greggs black card @GreggsOfficial. I have peaked this is brilliant.’
One Twitter user responded: ‘Don’t fancy sending me a steak bake do you?’
Manufacturing ‘shows signs of a turnaround’
FACTORY orders have hit a six-month high, figures show.
Manufacturing reported early signs of a turnaround as political certainty improved, the Confederation of British Industry said. Its industrial trends survey found orders for the sector reached a reading of minus 18 this month, from minus 22 in January.
Output fell for a fifth month. Just 15 per cent of firms had above normal order books while 33 per cent were below.
CBI lead economist Alpesh Paleja cautioned it was ‘still too early to say whether we’ve seen the end of the slowdown’.
BUSINESS BITES
■ LLOYDS saw profits tumble after it was hit with a £2.5billion PPI bill. The bank lowered its targets for this year and cut boss Antonio Horta-Osorio’s pay after pre-tax profits slumped by 26 per cent to £4.39billion for 2019.
■ CLIMATE reporting by companies and auditors is to be examined by accounting watchdog, the Financial Reporting Council. It will assess ‘how the corporate world is responding to the challenge of climate change’.
■ ROYAL Mail has offered staff a six per cent three-year pay deal in a bid to avoid strike action. But the Commun- ication Workers’ Union must agree to accelerate ‘turnaround’ plans including further automation of parcel hubs.
■ BAE Systems hailed a ‘year of significant progress’ after profits grew 18 per cent to nearly £1.9billion. The defence giant signed a deal to delivery the Typhoon fighter jet and Hawk training aircraft to Qatar.
■ MONEYSUPERMARKET boss Mark Lewis is bowing out on a high as pre-tax profits rose 8.5 per cent to £116million last year. Mr Lewis plans to leave the comparison website when a new chief executive is found.
