Renting or buying: the cheaper one depends on how long you stay. Rent vs buy in Ireland: compare the true cost of renting and buying over the years you'd stay, with buying and selling costs, interest, upkeep and price growth. See when buying starts to win.
Costs on top of the price
€7,000
Any buyer ·
What do you want to work out?
Whether renting or buying works out cheaper over the years you'd stay.
Over 7 years, buying works out cheaper by about
Rent paid
€147,119True cost of buying
€61,006Home worth in 7 years
€430,456Interest paid
€66,886Buying and selling costs
€17,902Yours after selling
€194,171True cost of buying = buying costs, interest, upkeep and selling costs, plus what your €94,500 deposit and costs could have earned as savings, minus the rise in the home's value. Mortgage repayments that pay off the loan aren't a cost: they come back to you when you sell. Assumes prices rise 3.0% and rents 3.0% a year (over past 5-year periods, prices in Ireland typically rose 6.3% a year; we cap our starting figure at 3% to stay cautious); change these under "Rates, price growth and upkeep".
An illustration, not financial advice. Prices can fall as well as rise, and rates, rents and taxes change.
From PropValue Calculator
Advertise here
Reach people working out the cost of buying in IrelandFor lawyers, brokers, surveyors and agents serving Ireland. Shown only on these pages, labelled as sponsored.Where are you buying?
Tap a country to load its taxes, regions and buyer types.
Next steps
Partner links: we may earn a fee if you use them, at no cost to you. They never change your result, and we don't recommend any lender or adviser.
Questions
It depends mostly on how long you stay. With our starting figures for a €350,000 home, buying works out cheaper over 7 years. Buying and selling costs are paid once, so the longer you stay, the more buying tends to win. Change the rent, years and growth above to test your own case.
Any buyer: stamp duty is about €3,500. All buying costs together come to about €7,000, or 2.0% of the price. Change the price or buyer type above to see your own figure.
No. Foreign buyers pay the same purchase taxes as local buyers in Ireland. Some rules on who can buy, or which rate applies, can still depend on where you live.
No limits on foreign buyers, and the same stamp duty.
An Irish solicitor. A PPS number if you'll take an Irish mortgage.
We last updated the figures on 14 Oct 2026 and checked them against official sources on 23 Oct 2026. We check every country every week, and show a warning if a check is overdue.
Guides
Looking for a bargain?
CasaAlpha Deals checks and rates thousands of repossessions, auctions and price-cut homes every night. Free to join.
We use essential cookies to make the site work. With your permission we'd also use advertising cookies so Google can show ads that keep the site free. We count visits without cookies. Cookie policy · Privacy