Many tenants spend more than half of their take-home pay on rent – new statistics

Around one in five British tenants spend more than half of their net salary on rent. This is what tenant and landlord service provider Canopy says.

The company’s index analyzes data from more than 60,000 individual tenants, comparing the average net salary of working tenants against their share of rental costs to create a rent-to-income ratio, i.e. what percentage of their salary goes to rent is spent.

Typically, spending 40% of the net salary is considered the ultimate limit of affordability.

The latest Canopy reports show that the average renter actually spends 36% of take-home pay on rent payments, but tenants in several parts of the country, including every single borough of London, spend more than 40%.

Those in the North East pay the lowest rents in the country, just £573 per month. This amounts to 33.7% of the average net salary, which is approximately 2% less than the national average.

Although rents are cheapest in the North East, a higher average salary in Northern Ireland means they have the most affordable rents in Britain, with the average renter here spending less than a third (32.9%) of their salary on rent payments. .

In London, tenants pay an average of £1,183 on their personal share of the rent, which typically amounts to almost half (44.5%) of the average paycheck. This is almost 12% more than Northern Ireland, and around 8% more than the national average.

In three London boroughs, the majority of tenants spend more than half of their take-home pay on rent payments.

In Enfield (53.4%), Barnet (52.8%) and Haringey (51.2%), most tenants are left with less than half of their income for bills and general expenses once rent has been deducted from their bank account

Newham is the most affordable borough in London, with the average renter spending 39.1% of their salary on rent payments. However, this is still approximately 3.5% more than the national average.

Perhaps surprisingly, London isn’t actually the most unaffordable city in the country; it even ranked fourth in the table.

Workers in London typically earn much more than the average British renter (£35,915 versus £27,627), but the high average monthly rental cost of £1,183 means those in the capital spend an average of 44.5% of their take-home pay on rent. .

When exploring the least affordable cities, renters in Bournemouth spend the most of their salary on rent (47.2%), followed by Oxford (46.4%) and Brighton (46.0%).

Bath (43.7%) is also in the top five most unaffordable cities for renters, with Edinburgh (40.3%) the only city outside southern England to feature in the top ten.

Halifax, away from the big cities and looking towards all parts of Britain, is the most affordable area to rent. The average renter in Halifax spends 31.2% of their salary on paying rent – ​​typically around £564 per month. This is approximately 5.5% less than the national average.

Canopy chief executive Chris Hutchinson said: “The rental market is in a fragile state. While it is encouraging to see efforts being made to ease the pressure on tenants, any regulatory changes could inadvertently push landlords out of the market, reducing the supply of housing.

“Most landlords are already adhering to the spirit of the Renters Rights Bill, but the full impact remains uncertain. The government must tread carefully to avoid further discouraging landlords, which could ultimately lead to additional pressure on rents, exacerbating the affordability crisis.”