What else coukld you buy in London for top rents?

We all know how pricey London can be – after all, it’s one of the most expensive cities in the world. With Hamptons International confirming this week that average rents are up by 2% since last August, everyone living in the capital must sometimes wonder how much more they could get for their money if they lived elsewhere. Property experts FastSaleHomes.co.uk decided to have some fun with this. They have surveyed London’s rental properties to find out just how much money renters in the capital’s poshest areas actually spend on their properties.

The research is a real eye-opener. Here’s what you could buy with the money you would have to spend on renting these properties for a year. The average UK house price is around £240,000, so with the £260,000 you would have to pay every month to rent a penthouse flat in Mayfair, you could BUY a three-bedroom house in Southampton. Or, a car enthusiast could buy a McLaren 720S supercar (which starts at £208,000). Alternatively, your month’s rent could sail two people around the world on a 112-night cruise - with spending money to spare. With the roughly £3M in rent payments for the next 11 months, you could invest in a four-bedroom, four-bathroom house in Florida.

Or with just one year’s rent, you could buy around 16 properties in the East Midlands. Two months’ rent on that Mayfair flat comes in at a whopping £520,000, but if you fancy moving to Manchester instead, that’s enough to buy you a new and luxurious three-bedroom flat in the city centre. If you want to set your sights a tad lower, a flat in Hans Place - only a stone’s throw from Harrods - would cost you £97,500 monthly rent. The property comes with luxury amenities including a cinema room and 24-hour uniformed security and concierge services.

However, if you could live without that, two or three months’ worth of rent and you’re already looking at making a big property investment outside of London. That £300,000 will buy you a four-bed, two-bathroom house in Edinburgh. Or if you feel like splashing your cash, you could just buy a luxury car such as the Lotus Exige 3.5 Sport, or even an entry-level yacht, for only a month’s rent. A year’s rent in this part of Knightsbridge equates to around £1.1 million – which could net you up to seven properties in Yorkshire and the Humber. Of course, for most of us, this is all just pie in the sky. The average monthly cost of renting in London is around £1737 pcm. But with three years’ rent you could buy a terraced house in Middlesborough or Blackpool. And if you're happy to continue renting, you could save yourself around £700 pcm by moving to Manchester and up to £1000 pcm by considering Leeds or Huddersfield.

So if you are thinking about leaving London behind – and don’t need to commute back into town every day - why not look further afield. There is life – and property – outside the capital that could be worth considering. Why not check out the sales and lettings on our LifebyRingley website to find out more.