Saving for a deposit just got easier as Zoopla reveals renting has become more affordable
Emphasis on the 'more' affordable
If you are stuck renting, desperately trying to scrape together a deposit we have some good news. A new report has revealed that there is now more affordable rent across the UK.
Related: Phil Spencer says everyone should be negotiating on their rent
Zoopla has revealed in its Rental Market Report that rents are becoming more affordable with rental costs rising at half the level of earnings in the past year.
However, we do emphasise the use of 'more' affordable rent. Average rents have still increased over the last 12 months by 2 per cent. So the average rent overall stands at £876. Still, average weekly earnings have gone up by 4 per cent in the same period.
This means that a typical renter is not spending 31.8 per cent of there wage on rent. Rather than the 33.3 per cent average renters were spending in 2016. It might not be much, but that is still extra money that you can bank as you save toward a deposit. Rejoice!
Still, it's not all good news. While renters might find themselves a little better off, the rate at which rents has increased has rocketed to a three year high. Last year, rents increased by just 1.3 per cent, whereas this year they were up 2 per cent.
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Cities such as London and Oxford still hold the titles for the least affordable places to rent. In London, on average rent will take up 46 per cent of a person's wages. While in Oxford a tenant will typically spend 44 per cent of their earnings on rent.
At the other end of the spectrum, Hull offers the most affordable rent, with rent only accounting for 19 per cent of a person's salary. This was followed closely by Bradfods were tenants only need to fork out an average of 19.5 per cent on their rent.
However, based on the average cost of rent alone, Middlesbrough had the cheapest average rent, costing just £467.
'Renting is more affordable today than the 10-year average,' says Richard Donnell, director of research and insights at Zoopla. 'This follows weak rental growth over the last three years and an acceleration in the growth of average earnings.'
Related: Rents in THESE Northern cities are rising faster than the rest of the UK
Just try to resist spending the extra cash you have leftover after you pay the rent on celebratory bubbles...Now a celebratory cushion, that we can get on board with.
Rebecca Knight has been the Deputy Editor on the Ideal Home Website since 2022. She graduated with a Masters degree in magazine journalism from City, University of London in 2018, before starting her journalism career as a staff writer on women's weekly magazines. She fell into the world of homes and interiors after joining the Ideal Home website team in 2019 as a Digital Writer. In 2020 she moved into position of Homes News Editor working across Homes & Gardens, LivingEtc, Real Homes, Gardeningetc and Ideal Home covering everything from the latest viral cleaning hack to the next big interior trend.
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