Advice: Buying vs Renting in major city

Trying to decide whether to buy or rent in London.

Buy:

Average price: A nice 1 bedroom flat costs around £800k on average

stamp duty: £30k on an £800k property

Ground rent: on average around £1,000 per year for London

Service charge: on average around £6,000 per year in London

Total (excluding other fees like real estate agent commission, council tax etc): £830k plus £7k per year

Rent:

Average price: A nice 1 bedroom flat costs around £18,000 per year

Net of the service charge & ground rent, renting works out to be about £11,000 per year. Compare this with the interest on the mortgage and the opportunity cost of putting in a large deposit alongside other costs of owning a home.. is buying really worth it or are renters the winners in expensive cities like London?

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