"The fact that over a quarter of under 30s flatsharing have relied on their parents to be able to start renting on the first place shows just how hard it is to leave home at all."
- Matt Hutchinson, director at SpareRoom
On average, room rent in Twickenham now outstrips flatsharers’ budget by £152pm, resulting in renters needing to find an additional £1,827 annually to live there. In Barnet, the average room rent is now £899pm, which is £1,361 higher than the average renter’s yearly budget.
This problem isn’t isolated to the outskirts of London with Stourbridge in the West Midlands also seeing rents pull ahead of budgets by £119pm.
Londonderry, Edinburgh, and York have the biggest affordability gaps. At £823pm, Edinburgh is now the second most expensive city in which to rent, after London, but the average flatsharer can only afford £716pm.
West London is the most unaffordable for renters in the capital, with average rent at £1,040pm - £60pm more expensive that the £980pm London average.
Earlier this month, SpareRoom reported that 19% of flatsharers had used their overdrafts to pay rent. 18% had taken out a loan, 14% worked a second job, 13% used credit cards, and 6% had either used a payday loans provider or a ‘buy now pay later’ provider.
Plummeting affordability has led to over half of flatsharers (51%) relying on some form of loan, credit, advance, or secondary income to afford rent in the last twelve months.
“Rents have been stabilising over the past year which is masking the huge problems people are facing around affordability. Flatsharers’ budgets simply aren’t meeting asking prices set by agents and landlords in many parts of the UK.
“That means people are having to lean on parents and relatives, take on second jobs and explore various ways of borrowing to be able to pay their rent each month.
“The fact that over a quarter of under 30s flatsharing have relied on their parents to be able to start renting on the first place shows just how hard it is to leave home at all,” explained Matt Hutchinson, director at SpareRoom.
