True cost of rent as many people spend half their salary on it
The survey by tenant and landlord services provider Canopy revealed one in 20 renters are forced to pay more than 80% of their salary each month on housing. Typically, spending 40% of take-home salary is considered the very upper limit of affordability, with many facing this financial predicament.
On average, tenants now spend £846 per month on their share of the rent - up from £822 this time last year. In the first three months of 2025, tenants spent 5% more of their salary on rent than this time in 2024, with rental affordability apparently rising across the country.
Canopy analysed data from nearly 100,000 individual renters, measuring average take-home salary of employed tenants against their share of rental costs creating a rent-to-income ratio. London topped the list of priciest places to live with the average Londoner spending 47.3% of their salary on rent.
Five London boroughs see the average tenant spending more than 50% of their take-home wage on rental payments. Enfield (55.5%) is the least affordable London borough, with Haringey (52.9%), Brent (51.5%), Redbridge (51.5%), and Barking and Dagenham (50.8%) all similarly pricey.
Hot on London's heels was Brighton with 46.2% followed by Oxford with 45.2%. At the other end of the scale, and country, Doncaster is crowned the city with the best rental affordability, with tenants spending less than a third (31.8%) on accommodation.
Hull (32.2%) and Durham (32.3%) slugged it out for the next coveted spot - being ranked second and third respectively. While Doncaster is the cheapest city, the cheapest local authority area is Chesterfield in the East Midlands.
Tenants there spend just 29.1% of their take-home salary on the rent, leaving more than 70% of their money free for other essentials and fun. Gen Z are taking the biggest hit to their wallets, with the average younger tenant spending almost half (48%) of their wage on rent.
Chris Hutchinson, CEO at Canopy, said: "Our latest index shows that rent affordability continues to elude many, with a large portion of UK renters now spending more than 40% of their take-home salary on rent. Wage growth continues to be slow and those spending a higher proportion of their salary on rent can be expected to struggle to pay essential bills and have little left to spend on hobbies and leisure time.
"The problem is that rising interest rates, increased regulation and a growing tax burden are all making property investment less attractive. This makes it more likely that more landlords will exit the market altogether.
"The more landlords that leave the market will also make it more likely that rental affordability will worsen, with fewer properties to meet demand."
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