Renting taking up more income outside London

Rents outside London now cost £750 per month, while take-home pay outside the capital has fallen by 2% in 2016 to £1,425 per month.

Renting taking up more income outside London

A typical rental property outside London now costs half of tenants’ income according to the Landbay Rental Index.

Rents outside London now cost £750 per month, while take-home pay outside the capital has fallen by 2% in 2016 to £1,425 per month.

Those living in a one bed property spend 42% of their take-home pay in rent.

There are significant regional disparities, as average rents are £1,220 in England, £721 in Scotland and £634 in Wales.

John Goodall, chief executive and founder of Landbay, said: “Outside the capital, rents continued to grow across the country in 2016, a trend we expect to continue into the coming year.

“Demand for rented accommodation will remain robust, as the myriad threats of rising house prices, falling real incomes and rising inflation affect the ability of aspiring homeowners to get their foot on the housing ladder and save for a deposit.

“The government may have just committed £7bn to building an additional 200,000 affordable starter homes, but supply across all tenures is still too low.

“The buy-to-let market has become a ‘catch all’ for a forgotten generation of house hunters, for those who cannot, or choose not to, buy a property outright.

“All eyes will now be on the upcoming Housing White Paper, which may be the best opportunity we’ve had in recent years for significant change.”