Imofolio

Southampton · report

Buy or rent in Southampton

Owning the average home costs less each month than renting it. Owning counts interest, running costs and the return the deposit could earn, at the average sale price; rent is the average of all private tenancies. Repaying the loan is saving, so it is left out.

Rent per month
£1,261
Owning per month
£1,110

Try your own numbers

Starting from the average sale price of £235,729 and the average private rent of £1,261 a month in Southampton, and a mortgage rate of 4.6%.

Assumptions
4.6
1
Buildings insurance, maintenance, and any service charge and ground rent. Council tax is paid by tenants too, so it is left out.
3
What the deposit and purchase costs could earn if invested instead.
7
Stamp duty (land transaction tax in Wales, LBTT in Scotland), conveyancing, survey and lender's fees, paid once.

Owning costs less each month than renting.

Rent a month
£1,261
Owning a month, not recovered
£1,110
Interest
£813
Running costs
£196
Return given up
£100
Cash out a month, if buying
£1,284

Gross rental yield in Southampton

A year's rent as a share of the average sale price, month by month. Higher means rent is dear compared with buying.

Show the numbers
PeriodSouthampton
Aug 20266.4%
Jul 20266.4%
Jun 20266.4%
May 20266.4%
Apr 20266.4%
Mar 20266.4%
Feb 20266.4%
Jan 20266.4%
Dec 20256.3%
Nov 20256.4%
Oct 20256.3%
Sep 20256.2%
Aug 20256.2%
Jul 20256.3%
Jun 20256.2%
May 20256.1%
Apr 20256.1%
Mar 20256.2%
Feb 20256.1%
Jan 20255.9%
Dec 20245.9%
Nov 20245.9%
Oct 20246.0%
Sep 20245.9%
Aug 20245.9%
Jul 20245.9%
Jun 20245.9%
May 20245.8%
Apr 20245.9%
Mar 20245.9%
Feb 20245.9%
Jan 20245.8%
Dec 20235.7%
Nov 20235.5%
Oct 20235.4%
Sep 20235.4%
Aug 20235.3%
Jul 20235.2%
Jun 20235.2%
May 20235.2%
Apr 20235.2%
Mar 20235.1%
Feb 20235.0%
Jan 20234.9%
Dec 20224.9%
Nov 20224.9%
Oct 20224.9%
Sep 20224.9%
Aug 20224.9%
Jul 20225.0%
Jun 20225.0%
May 20225.0%
Apr 20225.0%
Mar 20225.0%
Feb 20225.0%
Jan 20225.0%
Dec 20215.0%
Nov 20215.0%
Oct 20215.1%
Sep 20215.1%
Aug 20215.1%
Jul 20215.2%
Jun 20215.2%
May 20215.2%
Apr 20215.2%
Mar 20215.2%
Feb 20215.3%
Jan 20215.3%
Dec 20205.3%
Nov 20205.3%
Oct 20205.3%
Sep 20205.3%
Aug 20205.3%
Jul 20205.3%
Jun 20205.2%
May 20205.3%
Apr 20205.3%
Mar 20205.4%
Feb 20205.4%
Jan 20205.4%
Dec 20195.4%
Nov 20195.4%
Oct 20195.3%
Sep 20195.3%
Aug 20195.4%
Jul 20195.4%
Jun 20195.4%
May 20195.4%
Apr 20195.4%
Mar 20195.3%
Feb 20195.3%
Jan 20195.2%
Dec 20185.2%
Nov 20185.2%
Oct 20185.2%
Sep 20185.2%
Aug 20185.2%
Jul 20185.2%
Jun 20185.2%
May 20185.3%
Apr 20185.3%
Mar 20185.2%
Feb 20185.2%
Jan 20185.2%
Dec 20175.2%
Nov 20175.2%
Oct 20175.1%
Sep 20175.2%
Aug 20175.2%
Jul 20175.3%
Jun 20175.3%
May 20175.4%
Apr 20175.4%
Mar 20175.5%
Feb 20175.4%
Jan 20175.4%
Dec 20165.4%
Nov 20165.4%
Oct 20165.4%
Sep 20165.4%
Aug 20165.4%
Jul 20165.4%
Jun 20165.4%
May 20165.4%
Apr 20165.6%
Mar 20165.6%
Feb 20165.6%
Jan 20165.5%
Dec 20155.5%
Nov 20155.5%
Oct 20155.6%
Sep 20155.6%
Aug 20155.7%
Jul 20155.7%
Jun 20155.8%
May 20155.8%
Apr 20155.7%
Mar 20155.7%
Feb 20155.7%
Jan 20155.8%

The comparison counts only the costs of owning you never get back: interest, running costs and what the deposit and purchase costs could earn elsewhere. Loan repayments build equity, so they are left out. So is any rise in the home's value, because nobody knows it in advance. Rents here are ONS's average of all private tenancies, new and continuing, which runs below what a new tenant pays; Scotland's are mostly advertised new lets, and its councils and Northern Ireland's take their nation's figure.

Other reports for Southampton

Sale prices have an 80% chance of landing between £230,234 and £254,032 by August 2027.

Expected, August 2027
£242,133
Chance of a rise
75%

At the average sale price, a home costs £235,729. With 10% down and a 30-year mortgage, the payment is £1,088 a month. The UK sets no cap on the payment; no more than 15% of new mortgages may lend over 4.5 times income.

Payment, two incomes
18%
Payment, one income
35%

42.7% fewer homes were started in the last 12 months than in an average year of the past decade.

Started, 12 months
160
Per 1,000 residents
0.6

Figures for United Kingdom: Southampton has no reliable figures of its own.

Buyers living abroad bought 1.8% of the homes sold here in the four quarters to Q1 2025.

Bought by buyers abroad, 12 months
1.8%

Sale prices have fallen by 3% or more 4 times since 1995. The deepest began in November 2007.

Deepest fall
−20.2%
Recovery from the low
65 months

In 2025 the population fell by 1,328 while 400 homes were finished.

Homes finished, 2025
400
Population change, 2025
−1,328

5.1% of the 108,105 homes counted in the 2021 census had nobody usually living in them.

Empty, 2021 census
5.1%
Empty homes
5,500

In 2025, 47% of the homes added came from existing buildings rather than new ones.

Homes from existing buildings, 2025
47%