Average tenant rents for eight years before buying

The average private tenant hands over £50,000 to their landlord before they start paying a mortgage instead.

The finding comes from a survey of 2,371 adults aged 21 and over, each of whom had rented for a period before eventually getting their own mortgage and property.

The average length of time that a tenant rents is eight years, according to the survey carried out by discount website MyVoucherCodes.

Those taking part were then asked how much, on average, their rent had been per month over their period of renting. The average answer was £525 per month.
 
That means the average adult renting a property in the UK pays out £6,300 per year in rent, equating to £50,400 over the average of eight years.

When asked how they got on with saving money for their own property while renting a place, the majority (67%) said it was ‘extremely difficult’, citing the cost of their rent payments as a top reason for not being able to save all that much.

When asked how long they originally planned to rent for before buying, the average answer stated was three years – but they ended up renting for five years longer.
 
More than one in ten (13%) said they only ended up being able to buy their own place and get a mortgage due to money they had received through inheritance.