Hamptons analysis using data from Connells Group found that 56% of first-time buyers who purchased last month paid around 8.6% or £39 more on their monthly mortgage than their previous rent.
The share of people paying more on their mortgage than they did in rent was up from a third when compared to the same month in 2022, when rates were significantly lower. This was also higher than in July this year, when 47% of people paid more on their mortgage than they did in rent.
In September, the average monthly mortgage payment for a home buyer leaving the rental market came to £1,277, meaning that for every £1 they paid in rent, they now paid £1.09 towards their mortgage.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said that the financial case for tenants to buy as soon as they could was more straightforward when rates were lower.
“Higher mortgage rates have turned that equation on its head. Today, more than half of renters who buy took on a higher monthly payment than the rent they have left behind.
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“The long-term benefits of homeownership – building equity, greater security and eventually owning a home outright – remain, but the immediate monthly saving that once rewarded tenants for making the leap has largely disappeared.”
The average loan to value (LTV) tier for a buyer paying more for their mortgage than rent was 91%, while buyers who had lower mortgage payments were on an LTV tier of 83% on average.
Older first-time buyers were more likely to see a rise in monthly housing costs, with 67% of new homeowners in their 40s taking on mortgage payments higher than their previous monthly rent.
Hamptons said this was because older first-time buyers tended to choose larger homes to suit their needs and typically took on shorter mortgage terms, averaging 27 years compared to 31 years for buyers in their 30s and 34 years for those in their 20s.
Broken down by age, 47% of first-time buyers had a mortgage that was more costly than their rent, compared to 58% of people in their 30s.
Rental growth continues to accelerate
Hamptons recorded that the annual pace of rental growth increased for the tenth month running in September.
Newly agreed rents in Great Britain increased by 2.7% annually, the fastest rate of growth since November 2024. The average monthly rent came to £1,433, up from £1396 last year.
Rental growth was spread across the country, Hamptons said, with the South East and South West both recording annual growth above 4% for the first time since September 2024.
For existing tenants who saw their rent rise, it increased by 5.6% on average, equal to the rise seen in August. However, this was slightly up on the 5.3% increase in September last year.
Renters in Scotland saw the biggest hike in their rent, at 6.9%.
Overall, rental growth slowed for all tenants, falling from 3.9% over the 12 months to September 2025 to 1.9% this year.
Beveridge said rental growth on newly let homes continued to gather pace and “so far this year, higher rents have mainly been felt by tenants moving home”.
She added: “If growth continues to pick up, it is likely to feed through to more existing tenants in the coming months as the gap between new and existing rents widens.”
