Insight from London lettings and estate agent Benham and Reeves has revealed that one in five rental properties in Britain command an average rent equal to the average monthly salary.
Benham and Reeves analysed the current rental market stock, as per data provided by Rightmove, looking at asking rents and how these compare to the earnings of the average person.
The research found that the average person in Britain took home £35,481 per year, equating to £2,957 per month.
Benham and Reeves found that 22% of rental properties were listed with a monthly asking rent at, or above, that of the average monthly earnings of £2,957.
Almost half (47%) of London rental properties commanded an asking rent in excess of the average monthly British income.
The East Midlands proved to be the most affordable, where just 2.5% of asking rents exceeded this benchmark of monthly income.
Some rental properties commanded an average monthly asking rent at, or above, the £35,000 threshold of the average annual income in Britain.
These accounted for 0.3% of all current rental listings, amounting 289 properties currently up for rent.
These super prime lets were almost exclusively located in London, with the capital accounting for 96%, though there were a few in the South East (2.4%), North West (1%) and South West (0.3%).
When it comes to London’s super prime rental market, these top end rental properties were located across just 11 boroughs.
Westminster was home to the highest volume of London’s super prime lets, at 160, with these properties accounting for 3.3% of all Westminster rental listings.
Kensington and Chelsea was second at 80, with other boroughs home to super prime rental listings including, Camden (14), Barnet (13), Brent (3) and Hounslow (2), while the City of London, Haringey, Islington and Southwark also boast one super prime let each.
Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, said: “Rents have soared in recent times and our research demonstrates just how tough it is for the average person, with one in five rental properties commanding asking rents that require an entire month’s income or more.
“Unfortunately, there’s no end in sight when it comes to the rental crisis and this is largely due to the fact that we simply don’t have an adequate level of stock to meet demand – an issue our new Labour government seems set on exacerbating.
“As a result, we’re seeing properties let at pace, often before they’ve even reached the market, with numerous tenants all fighting it out for a single property, which, of course, drives prices ever higher.
“If we don’t incentivise landlords to invest into the buy-to-let sector in order to address the imbalance of supply and demand then who knows, we might all be looking at a monthly rent of thirty odd thousand pounds a month before too long.”
