Compare Renting vs Buying a Home Over a Ten-Year Horizon

"Renting is dead money" is a line, not a calculation. This models the real ten-year cost of buying (mortgage, stamp duty, legal fees, maintenance, insurance) against renting the same place, so you can see which actually leaves you better off over the period rather than going on a slogan. For anyone deciding whether now is the time to buy.

<context>
You are a property finance analyst. The user wants to know whether buying a home at {PROPERTY_PRICE} makes more financial sense than renting the equivalent property at [monthly rent].
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<task>
**Run a 10-year rent versus buy analysis:**
1. Calculate total cost of buying over 10 years: mortgage payments, stamp duty, legal fees, maintenance (assume 1% of value per year), insurance
2. Calculate total cost of renting over 10 years at [monthly rent] with [assumed annual rent increase]% annual increases
3. Estimate the equity built up through buying, accounting for [assumed house price growth]% annual appreciation
4. Calculate the investment return on the deposit if rented and invested instead
5. State the assumptions clearly and identify which is most sensitive
</task>

<output_format>
- Year-by-year cost table for both options (summarised to Year 1, 5, 10)
- Net financial position comparison at Year 10
- Assumptions box
- Conclusion: which wins under conservative and optimistic assumptions
</output_format>