The Centre for Progressive Policy (CPP) has analysed the varied impact of the cost-of-living crisis across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The report found that high housing costs were adding pressure in cities across the three nations.
Private rents were found to cost the equivalent to 39.7% of median take-home pay in Midlothian, 34.5% in Glasgow, and 31.3% in Edinburgh.
The rental market in Northern Ireland was the most overheated of all four nations, with rents rising 9.9% in the year to March 2023.
Large numbers of households in cities in Scotland and Wales also had high mortgage burdens.
In Scotland, Edinburgh was most susceptible to financial strain, with 32.7% (or 4,423 households) of mortgages taken out between 2018 and 2021 having ratios four times their income.
In Wales, Cardiff was named as the area most exposed to this trend, with 29.7% of all recent mortgage borrowers, or 3,742 households, in this position.
In an effort to tackle these housing issues, the CPP recommended that future cost-of-living funds delivered in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should give councils flexibility to respond to local pressures, similar to the Household Support Fund available to English local authorities.
It also advocated for local poverty statistics to be produced more regularly, suggesting they should align definitions across borders so that policy solutions can be better designed to meet the needs of different places.
