Average rents are not “affordable” in 30% of local authorities across England and Wales, official figures for the year to the end of March 2023 show.
It means that, in these locations, tenants on a median household income would have to spend more than 30% of this to cover the average private rent, according to the Office for National Statistics.
However, the number of councils in which average private rental costs meet the definition of “affordable” was at the highest level since 2015 at 233 out of 334 local authorities (70%).
Across England, tenants on a median household income would need to spend 34.2% of this in order to cover the average private rent.
The average monthly rent for tenants in privately-let homes across England is £1,178, compared to an average monthly household income of £3,448, according to the data.
In Wales, affordability is better, with average private rents at 27.2% of average household income.
Monthly rents for privately-let homes in Wales are on average £667, compared to an average monthly household income of £2,452.
The figures paint a somewhat confusing picture as average rent in England is above the level deemed affordable at 34.2%, despite the fact that the majority of local authorities across England and Wales have average rents that are deemed affordable.
ONS statisticians explain that this is in part because of the huge variation in the size and population of different local authorities.
London also skews the national average.
In the capital, average rents were 39.8% of income in the latest set of data, but have fluctuated between this figure and as much as 57.2% since 2015.
In other regions, rents have remained above 20% of income but rarely exceeded 35%.
The ONS says that although private rents have increased over the past decade across England and Wales, incomes have increased at a faster rate, leaving affordability ratios at a broadly similar level in the latest data where they stood in 2015.
For the first time in the latest data the ONS is able to estimate private-rental affordability at a local authority level.
It found that North Lincolnshire is the most affordable authority area with rents making up only 18.8% of income.
The least affordable authority area is Kensington and Chelsea, where average rents are 52.2% of median income.
The LAs with the least “affordable” median rents in each region in 2023 were those in urban centres such as London, Manchester, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, and Bath.
