The cost of owning a property over a 25-year period is higher than renting in some areas of the country, Abbey has said.

Abbey’s annual Rent vs Buy report showed the biggest savings for private tenants can be found in Wales, where people could save £27,416 by renting over 25 years compared to buying. However, this does not take into account the fact that people who have bought will own a property at the end of their mortgage term.

Sue Hayes, director of Abbey’s product marketing said: “In the short term, a private tenant might be up to £1,000 a year better off than someone who had bought a property in areas such as Wales and the South West. However, in the long term, paying rent is simply lining landlords’ pockets and tenants wouldn’t even have a property to show for it.”

Additionally, the report showed that homeowners were better off than renters on average by £24,372, as the average cost of buying a property over 25 years is £379,341 compared with £403,713 for renting.

The biggest savings for buyers can be found in East Scotland, saving £81,157, and West Scotland, saving £69,779.

The most expensive area to buy is Greater London and the most expensive area to rent is the South East, narrowly beating Greater London. The cheapest area to buy is West Scotland and the cheapest area to rent is Northern Ireland.