The average British tenant is now spending more than 28% of their pre-tax earnings on rent, marking the highest level in a decade, according to new figures. Data from property portal Zoopla showed that rent has been soaring faster than earnings for nearly two years and now accounts for 28.3% of pre-tax earnings.
This is up from a 10-year average of 27%. The data reveals that rental affordability is at its worst for 10 years across seven of the 12 regions in the UK.
Average rental costs for new lets surged by 10.4% year-on-year across the UK in April, or by 9.1% excluding London. Its latest UK market rental report revealed there are signs of stress emerging among tenants, given that more than half have been hit by an increase in the past six months.
