Buying your own home is attractive for a number of reasons:

Investment
Assuming you pay off your mortgage, buying a house should mean you end up with a valuable asset. If you make clever choices with the size, location, and any improvements you make to the property, you could end up making a tidy profit.

Freedom
Owning your own home means the freedom to make any changes you fancy (so long as they don't breach property regulations). If something needs fixing, you don't have to rely on a landlord or agency to get it sorted. You can have pets, park your car, dig up the garden and party as late as you like.

Security
While there are undoubtedly financial risks involved in property purchase, having a roof over you head does not depend on the whims of your landlord or letting agents. As long as you don't get yourself in financial trouble, there's no risk that you'll be chucked out when your rental contract isn't renewed.

The downsides of home ownership include:

Cost
The financial costs of buying a property are daunting both in scale and complexity. Moving alone will normally set you back in excess of £5,000. Then there's the insurance, household bills, maintenance, home improvements… gulp!

Inflexibility
Buying a property means a big commitment. If you're in the habit of changing jobs or getting itchy feet in one area then it may not be for you. In a rented property, a month's notice will normally see you free to move, but negotiating the costs and complexities of a sale generally takes a lot longer.

Negative equity
When you buy a house there's always the risk that prices will fall later on. In this case you end up paying more than the value of the property.

If the decision between buying and renting is proving too baffling, why not go for a happy medium? A new form of property agreement called a lease option gives tenants the option of buying at an agreed price at the end of a given rental period, normally three to six years. This avoids the hassles that come with buying property on the open market and makes financial planning easier. However, a lease option only saves buyers money while property prices are rising.

The Financial Times Buy vs Rent calculator offers a helping hand to those struggling with their figures. Go to the online calculator here and you can find out the price of the property you could afford if you spent your rent on a mortgage instead. It will also show you how much you could gain if house prices continue to rise.

The CML advise taking a realistic view of the costs of home ownership in light of growing financial hurdles. They argue that, if you are buying, the wisest move may be to take out a fixed-rate deal for payment in the next few years and make sure you are protected against any changes in personal circumstance.

Buying a house is arguably the most significant financial commitment you will make in your lifetime, so it's definitely worth putting in some thorough research. The ups and downs depend on your personal circumstances, but try not to let the emotional draw of owning a home get the better of you. The evidence suggests that there's not much harm in taking your time to get it right.