By Paul Day
Private renters in England continue to face the highest rental costs tin the UK, with new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing that tenants spent 36.3% of their monthly earnings on rent in 2024. This compares with 25.9% in Wales and 25.3% in Northern Ireland.
The findings, part of the ONS’s housing affordability series, show that while rental affordability has fluctuated since 2016, it has consistently remained above the 30% affordability threshold in England. In contrast, affordability ratios in Wales and Northern Ireland have stayed below that benchmark.
London remains the least affordable part of the country, with the average private rent reaching £1,957 a month, accounting for 41.6% of a household’s income. By comparison, the North East was the most affordable region, with rents of £641 a month consuming just 19.8% of income.
Since 2016, London rents have accounted for between 38.5% and 57% of household income, far higher than in other regions where the range has remained between 19% and 36%.
Among the capital’s local authorities, Kensington and Chelsea has once again topped the list as the least affordable area, with tenants paying 74.3% of their income on rent. All 32 London boroughs were classified as ‘unaffordable’ in 2024, while outside the capital, the least affordable areas included Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, Brighton, Trafford, Sevenoaks and Watford.
In fact, seven of the ten most affordable local authorities were in the North East, underlining the stark regional divide in rental pressures.
While incomes have grown faster than rents since 2016, the trend has reversed in Wales and Northern Ireland since 2021, with rents now rising more quickly than household earnings. The ONS cautioned that as the figures are based on modelled incomes, year-to-year changes should be interpreted carefully.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance for Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘Renters faced a horrible squeeze on their incomes, and there’s every sign it has got worse since. Landlords are continuing to sell up – concerned about higher costs from more regulation and more tax.
‘It means more tenants chasing dwindling numbers of properties, so rents are continuing to rise. At the same time, although wages have risen impressively, they have been consistently outpaced by private rental increases.’
Photo: Jay Wennington
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