Renters pay around 10% a month more for their homes than buyers with a mortgage making letting a home more expensive than buying the same property in 80% of large towns and cities across the UK.Milton Keynes is the worst place to rent – with monthly differentials between buying and letting a two bedroom flat varying by 43%.

According to online property portal Zoopla, renters are £2,964 a year out of pocket compared with homebuyers.

The worst place to buy is Poole, Dorset, where renters are 27% better off than buyersl, which adds up to £3,240 a year.

Even though London has the highest average property prices, a two-bed flat sells for around £431,000, but the average renter is 16% or £4,080 worse off than a buyer.

Average rents in the capital £2,137 a month compared to mortgage repayments of £1,797 a month at a rate of 5% on an interest only mortgage.

Nicholas Leeming, business development director of Zoopla, said: “The relative cost of renting as opposed to buying has increased over the past 12 months as rents have risen and house prices and interest rates have remained flat.

“Almost 750,000 would-be first-time buyers have reluctantly ended up as renters over the past three years as a result of being unable to get a mortgage.

“With current house prices and interest rates where they are and with rents on the rise, for those who can get a mortgage, there may never have been a better time to buy.”

The Zoopla rental survey is based on comparing the average cost of renting a two-bedroom flat with  monthly repayments on a 5% interest only mortgage on the same property

Click here for a full list of the top 50 rent v buying locations [Opens in new window]