Anecdotally I pay over 200% the cost of my father's mortgage to rent a home in a lower cost of living area.

I think most of the people disagreeing with the post are from the USA, which has completely different costs/taxes/prices etc.

In the UK (as the original post is), it depends where you live - our mortgage is about £350 per month (5 bed terrace), but if would have been almost £500 a month without the deposit. Rent in the area is about £600 - £1500 per month, for similar or smaller properties.

Note that this is in Northern UK, in the sort of town sometimes described as "a bit of a shithole". I could get a train to a town an hour away and the prices would literally double - but the ratio between mortgage and rent would be pretty much the same.

Even with the cost of repairs, and a tiny bit on insurance etc, it's a significant saving. Also, the repairs actually get done, which was not the experience I had in rented accommodation.

Definitely not as low as £500… but mortgages are generally cheaper, sometimes much cheaper than rent. Example: we own a 5-bedroom house with a mortgage of $1,900, my step-son just moved into a 2-bedroom apartment for $2,200 rent.

£100,000 over 30 years at 4.5% would be £506 a month. That plus the stipulated £25,000 deposit will get you a bungalow or terraced house near me as of about 18 months ago. Rent in my area starts at around £700 for a house outside of town or a single room in town.

So yes, £500 mortgage is possible. Rent being twice the cost of a mortgage for a similar property is fairly common. Banks and landlords being shitheads is guaranteed.