People spend more than a third of their disposable income on rent across large parts of England, a BBC investigation has found.
The BBC England data unit analysed the average rents for different types of property in each local authority area and the median weekly wage for those areas, using figures published by the Office for National Statistics. These figures were then analysed against guidance that spending more than a third of your disposable income on rent or a mortgage means you may not be able to afford other basic needs.
The reporting team spoke to the Residential Landlords Associaton, the National Housing Federation, Shelter, the Generation Rent campaign, a lettings agency in Cumbria (which came out as one of the most 'affordable' places to live), and the Department of Communities and Local Government, and interviewed people struggling to get on the housing ladder.
- A Google spreadsheet on rent prices across England at the end of July 2016
- Office for National Statistics: Earnings for UK employees by local authority level
- Bar chart: the most expensive places to rent (shown above top)
- Numbers box: Average wages vs average rent
- Bar chart: where average pay goes furthest
The story included an interactive widget where users could search for their local authority and find out how affordable rent was in their area. The widget was also used in this story about fewer homes being available for rent as landlords moved to Airbnb