For 1 in 3 tenants renting a property in the UK, as much as 50% of their monthly take home wage is being spent on paying the rent, while this percentage rockets even further to 60% for those renting in costly areas in London and the South East.
The survey, conducted by RightMove, questioned 6,913 existing tenants to collate their results. On average, 38% of a tenant’s wage is spent on paying the rent, but for 1 in 3, this figure rises to 50% of their monthly salary.
The highest rental take was recorded in London and the South East where 16% of tenants were found to allocating as much as 60% or more in some cases, of their monthly wage to rent, while 19% of those living in the South East, a commutable distance from London, were forking out the same percentage of their salary on rent.
While London and the South East were recorded as the most expensive areas to rent a property, Scotland and the North East were found to be among the least expensive regions to be a tenant.
Despite the high cost of renting in the UK, demand for rental properties continues to be high. According to RightMove, search activity is up by a massive 43% compared to this time last year. The economic downturn has been cited as one of the main reasons for the rise in demand for rental properties as first time buyers are forced to stay in rented accommodation for longer as they need to save for longer to have a large enough deposit to obtain a mortgage on a house.
