Where are the most and least affordable cities to rent in England, in 2019? Recent data has shown that rent is unaffordable in over half of the cities in England.
To maintain an adequate standard of living, experts advise that tenants should spend no more than 30% of their gross salary on rent.
Using average income and rental price data for cities, Durham is the most affordable English city, with just 23% of monthly salary going towards rent. The northern cities topping the affordability charts, are Lancaster and Liverpool, with an average of 24% of salary going on rent.
London, Brighton and Bath are the most expensive cities for tenants. Expect to spend 52% of income on average. In Oxford, you will spend approximately 51%.
INFOGRAPHIC:
The Rent Affordability Index 2019 (Using the available data for 49 cities.)
Open Property Group MD, Jason Harris-Cohen: “It is noteworthy that the North/South divide is highly evident, demonstrating the low rental values in all cities North of Warwick.
"I am quite surprised with the least affordable and I wouldn’t have expected Portsmouth to appear in the least affordable section."
Despite the challenging sales market, the rental market has remained buoyant and constrained availability of stock, therefore keeping prices strong. If we continue to see wage growth over the coming years and assuming that rental values remain static, we will see a decrease in the percentage of income spent on rent.
Useful resource: The Government's comprehensive
Guide to landlord obligations
