A new PropTech tool tells users how much it would cost to rent a house in various areas for a ‘lifetime of renting’ – that is, 50 years. 

It also compares the average cost of buying a property now against the lifetime renting costs.

The tool lets users enter their chosen postcode or city, then calculates how much it would cost to rent a house in that area for a total of 50 years. It also shows the 10 most expensive locations for renting as well as the 10 most affordable.

The tool, created by furnishing company Thomas Sanderson, gives no details of how it sources the information but does list the five most expensive renting locations as:

    1    Virginia Water, Surrey – £2,426,400 (average cost of renting for 50 years)

    2    Cobham, Surrey – £2,322,000

    3    Esher, Surrey– £2,300,400  

    4    Ascot, Berkshire – £1,993,800

    5    Windlesham, Surrey – £1,938,000

Likewise, the top five most affordable locations were found to be:

    1    Darvel, East Ayrshire – £187,200 (average cost of renting for 50 years)

    2    Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway – £188,400

    3    Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway – £194,400

    4    Halkirk, Caithness – £198,000

    5    Annan, Dumfries and Galloway – £200,400

You can see the tool here.