Renting homes in England is becoming increasing unaffordable, according to official figures that show tenants pay an average of 36.3% of their income on rent, a figure that rises to 41.6% in London.
People earning a median salary spent 36.3% of their income on an average-priced rented home in England in 2024, up from 34.2% in 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The figures for the financial year show that the price of renting a home in England is moving further beyond a 30% rent to income threshold that the ONS considers to be affordable. The new data has fuelled calls for rent regulation to end a growing affordability crisis for renters.
London was the least affordable region with rents of £1,957 per month, meaning tenants had to pay on average 41.6% of their income on housing.
The top 10 least affordable council areas were all in London, topped by Kensington and Chelsea where those on median incomes had to pay 74.3% of their gross earnings on rent. The next worst were: Westminster (55.8%), Wandsworth (54%), Camden (51.7%), Hammersmith and Fulham (51.3%), Haringey (48.3%), Lambeth (47.1%), Merton (46.8%), Islington (45.5%) and Richmond (45.3%).
All 32 council areas in London have been above the 30% affordability threshold for eight of the nine financial years ending 2016 to 2024, the ONS bulletin said.
Outside London, the least affordable areas based on the percentage of salary paid on rent were: Bristol (44.6%), Bath and North East Somerset (42.7%), Brighton (42.7%) and Trafford (41.3%), as well as Sevenoaks (42%) and Watford (41%), which have a high number of London commuters.
The figures showed that rents last year rose faster than incomes in England. Faster rising wages meant the ratios of rent to income briefly dipped in 2022-23, but since then the ratio has worsened and rents look set to continue to outstrip rises in incomes.
In some regions of England and in Wales and Northern Ireland, rents were found to be still affordable, according to the ONS metric. The most affordable region in England was the north-east, with average rents of £641 per month, or 19.8% of income.
In Wales, all but two of the 24 council areas had average rents that were below the 30% affordability threshold. Only in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan was it above this level.
In Northern Ireland, rents were relatively flat with the ratio ticking up to 25.3% from 25.1% from the previous year.
Tom Darling, the director at the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said: “These figures show that the biggest issue facing renters – the cost of their rent – isn’t going away any time soon.
“Though the government’s renters’ rights bill will introduce crucial improvements to security and standards, it won’t put a lid on the affordability crisis. While millions are forced to spend less on essentials like groceries to afford their rent, the government will have a hard time making the case at the next election that they’ve delivered for renters.”
Darling added: “The government should establish a national rental affordability commission to look at ways to bring rents down relative to incomes – including investigating different types of rent regulation.”
Sarah Coles, the head of personal finance for Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Renters faced a horrible squeeze on their incomes, and there’s every sign it has got worse since. Landlords are continuing to sell up – concerned about higher costs from more regulation and more tax.
“It means more tenants chasing dwindling numbers of properties, so rents are continuing to rise. At the same time, although wages have risen impressively, they have been consistently outpaced by private rental increases.”
Joseph Elliott, the lead analyst at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “High rents are locking people out of secure homes and driving poverty and homelessness.
“The government needs to tackle the root causes of the housing crisis – unaffordable rents, frozen housing support, and a chronic shortage of social housing.”