The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has mapped out rental affordability in England, revealing some big regional differences.

The study compared the median pre-tax income of privately renting households with median private rents across nine English regions. Properties were judged as affordable if a household could rent them for 30% or less of its income.

The least affordable region was, unsurprisingly, London. On average, London households spent 37.7% of their income on rent, and only the top 25% of households by income could rent affordably in the capital. 

However, tenants on median incomes could find affordable properties in all other English regions. On average, households in the private rented sector could expect to spend 23% of their income on rent in 2020 – the lowest rate since the ONS began this study in 2012.

For lower-income households (the poorest 25% by household income), the picture is a little less positive. The study found that they would not be able to find affordable properties in seven out of nine English regions, and would only be able to afford the cheapest rental properties in the East Midlands or North West.

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