The average cost of buying a home in Scotland is 6% lower than the average rental cost, according to research from Bank of Scotland (BoS).
The average monthly costs associated with buying a three-bedroom house stood at £524 in December 2012, £34 lower than the typical monthly rent of £558 paid on the same property type.
Over the course of a year this is equivalent to a saving of £408.
The gap between the average costs of buying and renting has widened by £19 per month over the past year. At the end of 2011, the monthly costs associated with home buying were £15 (3%) lower than renting. Over the past year, buying costs have remained the same while the cost of renting has increased by 3%.
The report does not include a breakdown of Scottish regions, but takes an average of all house prices throughout Scotland, where prices vary widely. Average monthly costs of buying a house were cheaper than renting in all 12 UK regions. Average homebuyers in London paid 15% (£193) a month less than the average renter (£1,101 against £1,294).
Nitesh Patel, housing economist at BoS, said: "In the past few years, the sharp decline in home-buying costs, combined with an increase in rents, has greatly improved the financial attractiveness of buying a home. This shift has contributed to the increase in the number of house purchases in Scotland in 2012.
"Despite this pick-up, home-buying levels are still only half the level at the height of the boom. Concerns over job security and raising a deposit are the main obstacles to people buying their own home. However, it is worth noting that once homebuyers are on the first rung of the ladder, their monthly costs are notably lower."
The average monthly house price in Scotland has been cheaper than the average rental price since 2011. In contrast, in 2008 average home-buying costs (£851) were 49% (or £278) higher than the average monthly rent paid (£573).
This is largely due to a 38% decline in home-buying costs over the past four years, according to BoS. The majority of this fall occurred in 2009 due to a drop in both house prices and mortgage rates.
The average monthly cost of renting has risen by 4% (£22) over the past two years from £536 in December 2010 to £558 in December 2012. Respondents to the BoS housing confidence survey cited concerns about job security (66%) and raising a deposit (46%) as the main barriers to buying a home.
