Work out the true cost of renting: total rent paid, deposit, other costs, and how your savings could grow if you invest the money not tied up in a deposit. Use it alongside the Buying Calculator or the Rent vs Buy Calculator to compare your options.
Rent
Stay length
Capital / Savings
Do you have capital or savings invested and generating interest? For example, your would-be mortgage deposit.
Investment growth after 5 years: £8,501
Monthly investment
Will you be investing additional money after paying your rent every month?
Total invested after 5 years: £6,000
Investment growth after 5 years: £801
Additional Renting Costs
These are the costs on top of rent, such as the initial deposit and any other one-off costs you want to include.
£300
Save this calculation to return to it later, or to compare two scenarios side by side. Calculations are stored in this browser only. What does this mean?
Quick summary
Explained
You start with £30,000* as your investment capital, and it grows to £38,501, which is an increase of £8,501.
In addition, you also invested £100 per month, which grew to £6,801 after 5 years, which is an increase of £801.
In total, your investments increased to £15,301.
During this time, you paid £19,892 in rent and spent £0 on other costs, but got £300 back from your initial deposit.
Overall, you come out at -£4,291.
*The initial investment capital is not included, because we are calculating the net increase/decrease for both scenarios.
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Renting
- Initial capital
£30,000
Your would-be mortgage deposit
- Investment growth from initial capital
£30,000 with 5% growth rate after 5 years = £8,501
Capital with X Growth rate after X Years.
More details available with our compound interest calculator
- Total monthly investments
£6,000
£100 per month x 60 months (5 years)
- Investment growth from monthly investments
£801
Monthly £100 investment with 5% return rate after 5 years
More details available with our compound interest calculator
- Rent paid
Year 1 £3,600 Year 2 £3,780 Year 3 £3,969 Year 4 £4,167 Year 5 £4,376 Total £19,892 5 years of rent paid with 5% year on year increase
- Deposit returned
£300 x 1 = £300
Monthly rent x Renting deposit months
- Other costs
£0
Optional one-off extra renter-paid costs
- Net gain/loss
£8,501 + £6,000 + £801 + £300 - £0 - £19,892
= -£4,291Investment growth from initial capital + Total monthly investments + Investment growth from monthly investments + Deposit returned - Other costs - Rent paid
= Net gain/loss
- What does the renting calculator work out?
- It totals the full cost of renting over your stay: all the rent you'll pay (adjusted for annual increases), your deposit, and any other costs. It also models what could happen if you invest your savings during that period, so you can see the complete financial picture, not just the monthly rent.
- How is this different from the rent vs buy calculator?
- The Rent vs Buy Calculator puts renting and buying side by side on the same property to show which leaves you better off. This calculator focuses purely on the renting side. Use it when you've already decided to rent and want to model specific scenarios: how rent increases affect your total, what different investment return rates do to your savings, or how other costs and deposit months add up.
- What's the investment section for?
- When you rent, the money you'd otherwise lock up in a property deposit stays accessible. Enter it as capital / savings to see what it could grow to over your stay. You can also add monthly contributions to model ongoing investing. Over a longer stay, that growth directly offsets what you've paid out in rent.
- What does the total cost of renting include?
- Total rent paid over your stay (with annual rent growth applied), the deposit (one to three months' rent is typical), and any other costs. The calculator also shows your investment growth separately so you can see how much you're getting back against what you've paid out. It does not include council tax, bills, or contents insurance.
- Why does the monthly investment total look so high?
The total includes both your contributions and the growth earned on them. For example, if you invest £100/month for 5 years at 5%, the total is around £6,800 – of which £6,000 is what you put in and roughly £800 is investment growth.
The longer the period and the higher the return rate, the bigger the gap between what you contributed and the final total. Check the breakdown section to see contributions and growth separated out.
- Where is my saved data stored?
- Your saved calculations are stored in your browser's local storage. They stay on this device only and are not uploaded anywhere. If you clear your browser data or switch to a different device or browser, they will be gone. Use the share URL to keep a copy you can reopen later.
Use the share URL section to copy a link that includes all your current inputs. Anyone who opens that link will see the same inputs pre-filled. The page URL in your browser's address bar does not update automatically, so make sure to use the share link rather than copying the address bar.
The calculator's methodology may be updated over time, so results for the same inputs could change slightly in the future. See our FAQ if a saved link no longer matches what you expected.
- Does this work for buying too?
- No. For buying costs, mortgage payments, stamp duty, and property price growth, use the Buying Calculator. To compare both options directly, use the Rent vs Buy Calculator.