People can save nearly twice as much by buying their own home rather than renting following the recent fall in house prices, according to research.

Major lender Abbey said despite rising mortgage rates, people would pay out an average of £10,500 less if they bought a property over 25 years rather than rented one.

The group estimates that people who buy their own home will pay out a total of £426,303 on mortgage repayments and maintenance over 25 years, compared with the £436,789 that those who rent a similar home would part with.

The difference is nearly double the £5,800 that buyers would have saved over renters at the end of last year, shortly after house prices hit their peak.

The group said the situation marked a sharp about-turn from the trend seen in recent years, when the cost of renting was converging with the cost of buying as house prices became increasingly unaffordable.

The latest change is being driven by the housing market downturn, with falling property prices making it cheaper to buy a home.

At the same time, potential buyers are putting moving decisions on hold until the outlook for the market becomes clearer, stoking demand for rental accommodation and driving up rents.

Phil Cliff, director of Abbey Mortgages, said: "The housing market has changed. Despite increased mortgage rates, falling house prices as well as increased rent in comparative terms mean that a person is better off, in terms of the payment cost, by getting on the property ladder in all but three of the UK's regions."

In some areas of the UK it is significantly cheaper to buy a home than to rent one, even discounting the fact that buyers will own a property outright at the end of the period.

The biggest difference is in East Scotland, where people who choose to buy a property will have paid out £91,000 less over 25 years compared with those who rent, while people who take the home ownership route in the South East will be nearly £60,000 better off.

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