{"id":143241,"date":"2024-10-29T12:52:31","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T12:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/?p=143241"},"modified":"2024-10-29T12:52:31","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T12:52:31","slug":"rent-is-unaffordable-in-30-of-local-authorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/data\/2024\/10\/29\/rent-is-unaffordable-in-30-of-local-authorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Rent is “unaffordable” in 30% of local authorities"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Office for National Statistics<\/a> (ONS) has released new data on private rental affordability in England and Wales, revealing that less than 70% of local authorities had a median rent considered \u201caffordable\u201d for the financial year ending March 2023. Private renters in England spent 34.2% of their income on rent, compared to 27.2% in Wales. The ONS defines affordable rent as being less than 30% of income.<\/span><\/p>\n

In London, average rents have ranged between 39.8% and 57.2% of incomes since 2015, while in other regions they have remained above 20% but rarely exceeded 35%. In the West Midlands, only Solihull<\/a> was deemed \u201cunaffordable\u201d, with 96.7% of authorities in the region meeting the affordability criteria.<\/span><\/p>\n

Conversely, only 18.8% of London authorities had a median rent considered \u201caffordable\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>The six London authorities that met the affordability criteria were Bexley<\/a>,\u00a0Bromley<\/a>,\u00a0Croydon<\/a>,\u00a0Havering<\/a>,\u00a0Hillingdon<\/a>, and\u00a0Sutton<\/a>. The East Midlands and North East regions also ranked highly for the percentage of local authorities considered \u201caffordable\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

This report marks the first time the ONS has estimated rental affordability at the local authority level. <\/span>North Lincolnshire<\/a>, where median rent accounted for 18.8% of income, was identified as the most affordable area in 2022\/23. Close behind were Staffordshire Moorlands<\/a>,\u00a0Stoke-on-Trent<\/a>, and\u00a0Copeland<\/a>, each at 19.1%. On the other hand, Kensington and Chelsea<\/a> were identified as the least affordable at 52.2%, followed by Manchester<\/a>\u00a0(45.6%),\u00a0Westminster<\/a>\u00a0(45.3%), and\u00a0Brighton and Hove<\/a>\u00a0(44.7%).<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the increase in private rents since 2015, the overall incomes of private-renting households have increased at a faster rate, leaving affordability at broadly similar levels to those in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

To learn more about the situation in your area, see the map below. Created by\u00a0Polimapper<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 
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