The amount of income required to cover the cost of renting has increased 16% in the last decade, a lettings agent has said, to an average of 45.5% nationally. 

Twenty years ago, the average rent accounted for 28.7% of the average income in England. This was, of course, higher in London where 41.1% of income was required to cover your rent, with the south east (31.2%) and south west (29.4%) also amongst some of the highest of all regions. 

Now, rent accounts for 74.8% of the average salary in London, having jumped a third since the year 2000, the research by Benham and Reeves has revealed. 

London has seen the most drastic increase over the past 20 years. 

The east of England has seen the second largest increase in that time, up 18.7%, while the south east has seen the third largest increase, up 18.6% – and is currently home to the second largest income to rent ratio at 49.8%.  

The north east has the smallest increase, of just 7.4% since 2000. People living there will pay around 32% of their income on rent. 

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, said while there’s been plenty of positive changes to the rental market in the last 20 years, one thing this can’t address is the huge demand for rental properties and the resulting increase in the cost of renting as a result.

“With wage growth failing to keep pace, the proportion of our earnings required to cover rent has spiked notably since the turn of the millennium,” he said.