Is Renting Actually Cheaper Than Buying Right Now in Liverpool?

Renting a home in Liverpool has edged out buying on monthly outgoings for the first time since 2013, with average renters in the city centre now paying around £1,045 per month, compared to buyers forking out over £1,150 in mortgage payments on a typical starter flat.

The costs have flipped as a direct result of steep interest rate hikes over the past two years. Bank of England data shows the base rate holding at 5.5%, its highest level in more than a decade. For thousands of Scousers weighing their next move this summer, the old wisdom that 'buying is always cheaper in the long run' no longer holds true, at least for the first few years of ownership.

City Centre vs Suburbs: Where the Numbers Bite

The trend is most pronounced in the city’s heart. In the Baltic Triangle and Ropewalks, letting agents at Redwing Living and City Residential reported rents for one-bedroom flats at an average of £1,045 in June. Meanwhile, a first-time buyer purchasing a similar-sized property on Duke Street, putting down a minimum 10% deposit, will face repayments of over £1,156 per month on a 25-year mortgage at current rates.

Over in West Derby and Childwall, the difference narrows, the average monthly mortgage bill still slightly outpaces median rents, but only by £38 to £60, according to figures supplied by Liverpool City Council’s Strategic Housing team. Factoring in service charges and insurance, the scales tip further in favour of renting for urban dwellers. Mortgage brokers on Bold Street say buyers today are forced to factor in £150-200 extra every month compared with their counterparts in 2022, when the base rate hovered at just 2.0%.

Crunching the 2026 Numbers

Data compiled by Zoopla for May shows Liverpool’s median rent up by 8.9% year-on-year, while Halifax puts the average first-time buyer purchase at £186,300. With a standard 90% mortgage at today’s rates, buyers newly on the ladder pay £1,156 per month (excluding maintenance or council tax), £111 more than the median rent. That gap widens for apartments in the L1 and L2 postcodes, where landlord demand keeps pace with graduate arrivals from the University of Liverpool.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said applicants for its First Homes scheme, which offers discounts for locals, are higher than ever, but supply is limited, and long waiting lists persist. Meanwhile, demand for rental flats in developments like One Park West at Liverpool ONE has resulted in bidding wars and up-front payment requests, straining tenants’ budgets but still undercutting many mortgage costs.

So what now for those caught between renting and buying? Local financial advisers urge prospective buyers to calculate their break-even point: if interest rates dip by even a percentage point or house prices stagnate, monthly ownership costs could come back down in reach. For now, stagflation and limited new-build stock mean that in much of Liverpool, tenants can still boast the upper hand on monthly affordability-even if they’re mindful that deposits and steady wages remain just as out of reach as ever.