Across the UK, the average room rent is £365 per month – 21.9% of the average UK net monthly income (£1,665) .
However, with flatshare rents currently rising at nearly 5% per year, compared to annual pay growth of just 2.8% , flatsharers will face spending 22.9% of their take home wage on rents next year. Based on current trends, this means renters will need to part with one third of their net income to rent a room by 2020.
Jonathan Moore, director of Easyroommate.co.uk, said:
“At a time when inflation is running wild, the cost of renting is escalating, placing a growing number of renters under financial stress.
"Flatsharing is the cheapest option for renters looking to trim their monthly outgoings, but even this section of the rental market is feeling the effects of surging demand, and rents are rising as a result.
"With the economy’s recovery looking sluggish at best, and the ongoing mortgage famine driving growing demand for limited rental space, rent increases will continue to outstrip salary growth for the foreseeable future.”
City Analysis
Flatsharing website Easyroommate.co.uk also calculated how affordable it is to rent in the 60 largest towns and cities in the UK, comparing the average rent and average monthly net earnings in each city .
Newport is the most affordable city, with monthly rents 30% (£85 pcm) cheaper than the national average – meaning rents cost just 18.2% of the local monthly net salary cheque.
However, Yorkshire is perhaps the cheapest county for tenants, with five cities in the top ten most affordable.
Hull and Huddersfield are the second and third most affordable, with rents of just 18.6% and 18.7% of average net income respectively, while Leeds (19%), Sheffield (19.4%) and York (20.4%) also feature.
Ten Most Affordable UK Rental Towns
Poole is the least affordable city with 27% of the average income being spent on rent – 5% higher than the national average. London is the second most unaffordable city.
Despite having rents of £520 pcm, the highest in the UK, Londoners enjoy higher average wages (£1,985 per month). This meant that 26% of the average income was spent on rent.
Jonathan Moore comments:
“A clear affordability gap has emerged between London and the South East and the rest of the country, with six towns featuring in the ten least affordable.
"Demand for rental accommodation is highest in London and its satellite towns, where house prices are inflated and out of the reach of first-timers.
"But although renters in London face by far the steepest rents, this is cushioned somewhat by higher personal incomes. Flatsharers in Poole are not so lucky, and face above average rents with below average net incomes."
