CONCERNS have been raised over the soaring cost of renting a home.

New figures show the cost of renting a property for a lifetime – 50 years – can be up to three times higher than its value.

And the worrying stats have led to claims that families in parts of Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire are being priced out of the rental market.

An online tool created by home improvements firm Thomas Sanderson revealed that renting the average home in Johnstone for 50 years would cost 143 per cent more than buying the property.

And the figure is even worse in the Ferguslie Park area of Paisley, where rental costs for half a century would be £305,400 – a massive 187 per cent more than the purchase price.

Meanwhile, in East Renfrewshire, the average property in Barrhead costs 167 per cent more to rent for a lifetime than to purchase.

Maurice Golden, who represents both Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire as part of his West Scotland remit as a Conservative MSP, has expressed his concern over the findings and called for more to be done to make renting more affordable.

He said: “Rents are rising at an extortionate rate and this is partly down to a lack of action when it comes to building affordable housing.

“We need to have a much more ambitious strategy when it comes to delivering housing.”

His worries were supported by Shelter Scotland, which says more should be done to introduce secure, affordable homes for social rent.

Graeme Brown, director at the homelessness charity, added: “With a significant increase in houses for social rent and reform of the private renting sector, we can ensure renting is seen as a good option and people have the chance to save for a deposit to buy if it becomes viable.”

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said the government was committed to delivering affordable homes.

He added: “Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire councils have had a total of more than £95million allocated for affordable homes over this Parliament. This is part of £3billion we are investing in our Affordable Housing Supply Programme to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes, including 35,000 homes for social rent across Scotland.”