THREE Scottish cities have topped a list of UK cities where it is more cost-effective to buy a home than rent one.

Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow would see someone who had bought a property better off after up to two years than if they had rented it.

Property website Zoopla found the cost of a repayment mortgage for someone with 10 per cent equity in their house is about £316 a month more expensive than renting. While on average in the UK, it takes about five years for a bought home to be more cost-effective than renting one.

However in Aberdeen, which topped the index, a buyer would typically be better off after only one year and in Dundee and Glasgow after two years. Buying a home in Hull would also pay off in two years.

The website found tenants would still pay out less each month and potentially have more spare cash for savings, but the rising amount of equity in a buyer's home as the mortgage is paid down would soon start to outweigh initial buying costs and would also outstrip the interest earned if the deposit had been left in a savings account.