The average UK rent outside London is now £761, with London’s average being £1,879 – meaning tenants across the country now spend over half their disposable income on rent. 

Average rent outside London account for 52 per cent of the average disposable income of £1,471 for those living outside of the capital; meanwhile in London almost 89 per cent of disposable income is spent on rent, now standing at an average of £1,879 per month.

Data from specialist lender Landbay show that if London workers are willing to move further afield to save money, they can expect to spend a far lower percentage of their disposable income on rent. 

Average rents in the South East now stand at £1,053, which is 58 per cent of the average disposable income of £1,817 of those living in the region, whilst another option is East England, where average rents are 55 per cent of take-home pay.

On the other end of the spectrum, those working and living in North East see the lowest percentage of their salary going towards rent, where just 41 per cent of the average disposable income of £1,350 is handed over to the landlord each month.

“Rents have continued to rise over the last five years, increasing by nine per cent across the UK since March 2013 and by seven per cent in London” says John Goodall, chief executive and founder of Landbay.

“There has been much speculation about the long-term future of the buy to let sector from an investment perspective, however, demand remains strong as brokers would attest. Not a day goes by when there isn’t more news about the supply-demand mismatch in the UK housing sector and until this is resolved, tenants will continue to rely on the private rented sector to support them. With the right property and the right location, there are attractive yields to be had, and consistent rental demand will drive returns in the long-term” he adds.