Forget London, Oxford is the UK’s worst place to rent
The latest data on the cost of renting from the Office for National Statistics was released last week showing that rents in England have increased to their highest level on record.
While the average rent in London is double that of the national average, the latest research by lettings and estate agent Barrows and Forrester has found that London isn’t the least affordable rental market when it comes to rent as a percentage of income.
Based on the latest data, their research shows that the average UK tenant is spending 47% of their monthly net income (£2,039) to cover the average cost of £959 in rent.
At a regional UK level, tenants in London are paying the most, with 62% of the average London salary required to cover the monthly cost of renting. In contrast, tenants in Wales and the South East are paying less than half that (30%).
However, when breaking the UK down on a local level London takes a back seat to Oxford where the issue of rental affordability is concerned.
With a monthly net salary of £1,946 and rental costs coming in at an average of £1,588 per month, tenants in Oxford are spending 82% of their monthly income on renting.
There are a further 17 areas of the UK where the average rent accounts for 60% or more of the average monthly income, with the capital accounting for 14 of these least affordable rental markets.
Hackney is the least affordable of all London boroughs and second least affordable behind Oxford, with 78% of the average income spent on rent.
Outside of London, Exeter (67%) Brighton and Hove (66%) and Epping Forest (60%) also make the list of least affordable rental markets.
|
Location
|
Average rent (pm)
|
Net salary (pm)
|
Rent as % of net salary
|
|
London
|
£1,644
|
£2,639
|
62%
|
|
South East
|
£999
|
£2,251
|
44%
|
|
South West
|
£818
|
£1,866
|
44%
|
|
East of England
|
£862
|
£2,124
|
41%
|
|
Scotland
|
£748
|
£1,944
|
38%
|
|
West Midlands
|
£671
|
£1,894
|
35%
|
|
Northern Ireland
|
£627
|
£1,798
|
35%
|
|
East Midlands
|
£639
|
£1,884
|
34%
|
|
Yorkshire and the Humber
|
£614
|
£1,831
|
34%
|
|
North West
|
£629
|
£1,885
|
33%
|
|
North East
|
£542
|
£1,799
|
30%
|
|
Wales
|
£539
|
£1,792
|
30%
|
|
United Kingdom
|
£959
|
£2,039
|
47%
|
|
Least affordable rental markets
|
|||
|
Location
|
Average rent (pm)
|
Net salary (pm)
|
Rent as % of net salary
|
|
Oxford
|
£1,588
|
£1,946
|
82%
|
|
Hackney
|
£1,842
|
£2,360
|
78%
|
|
Westminster
|
£3,046
|
£4,038
|
75%
|
|
Lambeth
|
£1,908
|
£2,565
|
74%
|
|
Newham
|
£1,453
|
£2,007
|
72%
|
|
Haringey
|
£1,669
|
£2,350
|
71%
|
|
Camden
|
£2,302
|
£3,387
|
68%
|
|
Brent
|
£1,502
|
£2,217
|
68%
|
|
Exeter
|
£1,201
|
£1,801
|
67%
|
|
Barking and Dagenham
|
£1,208
|
£1,816
|
67%
|
|
Brighton and Hove
|
£1,360
|
£2,054
|
66%
|
|
Hammersmith and Fulham
|
£2,117
|
£3,209
|
66%
|
|
Ealing
|
£1,569
|
£2,431
|
65%
|
|
Southwark
|
£1,718
|
£2,717
|
63%
|
|
Islington
|
£2,003
|
£3,195
|
63%
|
|
Enfield
|
£1,292
|
£2,114.96
|
61%
|
|
Epping Forest
|
£1,369
|
£2,261.61
|
61%
|
|
Barnet
|
£1,499
|
£2,498.08
|
60%
|
|
Least affordable rental markets excluding London
|
|||
|
Location
|
Average rent (pm)
|
Net salary (pm)
|
Rent as % of net salary
|
|
Oxford
|
£1,588
|
£1,946
|
82%
|
|
Exeter
|
£1,201
|
£1,801
|
67%
|
|
Brighton and Hove
|
£1,360
|
£2,054
|
66%
|
|
Epping Forest
|
£1,369
|
£2,262
|
61%
|
|
Bath and North East Somerset
|
£1,223
|
£2,050
|
60%
|
|
Bristol
|
£1,175
|
£1,974
|
60%
|
|
Midlothian
|
£1,084
|
£1,887
|
57%
|
|
Cambridge
|
£1,250
|
£2,186
|
57%
|
|
East Lothian
|
£1,084
|
£1,949
|
56%
|
|
Three Rivers
|
£1,280
|
£2,347
|
55%
|
|
Mole Valley
|
£1,268
|
£2,327
|
54%
|
|
West Oxfordshire
|
£1,108
|
£2,038
|
54%
|
|
Harlow
|
£1,006
|
£1,853
|
54%
|
|
Crawley
|
£1,004
|
£1,856
|
54%
|
|
Chiltern
|
£1,455
|
£2,744
|
53%
|
You May Also Enjoy
Non-standard home insurance cover and how to get it right
Should you change mortgage lender?
Property chains cost movers £2,000 in unexpected costs
Rental demand remains resilient in 2026
Buy-to-let lending growth matches FTBs and homemovers
