"Parts of London have become almost unattainable, with tenants spending more than 50% of their net income on rent. This simply isn’t sustainable in the long term."
- Chris Hutchinson - Canopy
19% of UK tenants - the equivalent of one million people – are spending over half of their take-home salary on rent, according to tenant and landlord services provider Canopy, who have released their latest rental affordability index.
The index analyses data from over 60,000 individual renters, measuring the average take-home salary of employed tenants against their share of rental costs, to create a rent-to-income ratio (put simply, what percentage of their salary is spent on spent on rent).
Typically, spending 40% of take-home salary is considered the very outer limit of affordability.
The latest Canopy reports show that the average renter is actually spending 36% of net take-home salary on rental payments, yet in several areas of the country, including every single London borough bar one, tenants are spending in excess of 40%
The 2024 quarter three index reveals that the average UK tenant:
Has a take-home salary of £27,627 per year - £2,300 per month
Pays £9,867 a year in rental costs - £822 per month
Spend 35.7% of their salary on paying the rent
Has just £17,760 left for the year to pay for energy bills, utilities, groceries, and other living costs.
Tenants in London (44.5%), the South-East (44.1%) and the South-West (41.3%) are paying the highest share of their salary on rent versus the national average.
Those in the North-East pay the lowest rents in the country, at just £573 per month. This equates to 33.7% of the average take-home salary, which is around 2% less than the national average.
While rents in the Northeast are the cheapest, a higher average salary in Northern Ireland means that they have the most affordable rents in the UK, with the average tenant here spending less than a third (32.9%) of their salary on rental payments.
In London, tenants pay an average of £1,183 on their personal share of the rent, typically equating to almost half (44.5%) of the average take-home payslip. This is nearly 12% more than in Northern Ireland, and around 8% more than the national average.
In three London boroughs specifically, the majority of tenants are spending over half of their take-home salary on rental payments.
In Enfield (53.4%), Barnet (52.8%), and Haringey (51.2%), most tenants have less than half of their income leftover for bills and general spending, once rent has gone out of their bank accounts
Newham is the most affordable area in London, with the average tenant spending 39.1% of their salary on rental payments. This is still around 3.5% more than the national average though.
Despite being home to some particularly expensive boroughs, London isn’t actually the most unaffordable city in the country – in fact it came out fourth in the table.
London-based workers typically earn much more than the average UK tenant (£35,915 v £27,627), yet a high average monthly rent cost of £1,183 means that those in the capital spend 44.5% of their take-home salary on rent on average.
When exploring the least affordable cities, renters in Bournemouth spend the highest proportion of their salary on rent (47.2%), followed by Oxford (46.4%), and Brighton (46.0%).
Bath (43.7%) also makes the top five list of the most unaffordable cities for renters, with Edinburgh (40.3%) the only city outside of southern England to feature in the top ten.
Moving away from major cities and looking at every area of the UK, Halifax is the most affordable area to rent in.
The average tenant in Halifax spends 31.2% of their salary paying the rent – typically around £564 a month. This is around 5.5% less than the national average.
Chris Hutchinson, CEO at Canopy, commented: “Our latest data shows stark differences in rental affordability across the UK, with some areas facing extreme conditions. In particular, parts of London have become almost unattainable, with tenants spending more than 50% of their net income on rent. This simply isn’t sustainable in the long term.
“The rental market is in a fragile state. While it’s encouraging to see efforts being made to relieve pressure on tenants, any regulatory changes could inadvertently push landlords out of the market, shrinking the supply of properties.
“Most landlords are already adhering to the spirit of the Renter’s Reform Bill, but the full consequences remain uncertain. The Government must tread carefully, so as not to disincentivise landlords further, which could ultimately lead to additional rental price pressure, deepening the affordability crisis.”
