Compare the Long-Term Financial Impact of Renting Versus Buying in Your City

Everyone has an opinion about whether you should buy. Most of those opinions are not based on your specific numbers. This runs the comparison properly: monthly costs, opportunity cost of the deposit, break-even horizon, and the assumptions that matter most. It does not tell you what to do, but it gives you the analysis rather than the anecdote.

Help me think through the rent-versus-buy decision for my situation. The key figures: property price in my target area is approximately {PROPERTY_PRICE}, monthly rent for a comparable property is {MONTHLY_RENT}, and I have {DEPOSIT_AVAILABLE} available as a deposit.

Run a comparison across:
1. The monthly cost of owning (mortgage at current rates, assuming [25-year] term, plus maintenance estimate of [1% of property value per year], insurance, and ground rent or service charge if leasehold) versus renting
2. The opportunity cost of the deposit: what the deposit would generate if invested at [6%] annually over [10] years instead
3. The break-even horizon: at what point does buying become cheaper than renting, assuming [3%] annual house price growth and [2%] annual rent increases
4. The factors this comparison does NOT capture that matter for the decision

Note where assumptions are significant and what changing them would do to the output. Do not tell me which is better: give me the numbers and name the assumptions.