According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average private sector renter paid a sum that was considered unaffordable given a typical earnings in England.
According to the ONS, paying rent that exceeds 30% of income is deemed unaffordable.
Nonetheless, in the year ending March 2023—the most recent year for which statistics is available—residents in London spent close to 40% of their income on rent.
According to the ONS, more regions had unaffordable rents than a year ago. The South East and North West joined London in having rent costs that exceed 30% of incomes, at 31.9% and 31.6% of incomes, respectively.
The ONS stated that there hasn’t been a significant shift in affordability in spite of this.
Since the publication of these figures in 2015, rentals in England have generally been unaffordable.
In contrast, Wales has had reasonably priced rent over the eight years that the data is available, with median rent accounting for 27.2% of median income.
According to ONS data, the number of local areas in England and Wales with unaffordable rents was over 100, the lowest since such records were first kept in 2015.
