New data from tenant and landlord services provider Canopy has revealed that the average UK renter spent £10,580 on rent in 2025 – equivalent to 41% of their net income.
This marks a significant rise from 2024, when renters spent an average of 36% of their take-home pay on rent. The personal share of rent paid by each tenant increased by £684 (6.9%), while average net income rose only modestly from £27,710 to £28,810.
The index analyses data from over 119,000 individual renters, measuring the percentage of their salary spent on rent by comparing the average take-home salary of employed tenants to their share of rental costs, to create a rent-to-income ratio.
Typically, spending 40% of take-home salary is considered the very outer limit of affordability, meaning the majority of tenants are currently at the edge of what is considered financially feasible or ‘comfortable’.
Several regions now exceed the 40% affordability benchmark, with London remaining the least affordable region at 48%, despite having the highest average income at £37,600. Following close behind is the South East, with a 44% rent-to-income ratio.
The North East offers the most affordable rent, with an average rent-to-income ratio being a third of their take-home salary (34%), and Yorkshire and The Humber is just above at 35%.
Wales, Scotland and the North West of England all sit at 37%, while the East and West Midlands both have a ratio of 38%. The South West is at 41%, with the East of England slightly higher at 42%.
The rent-to-income ratio of each region has either increased or stayed the same, showing a trend that 2025 renting has become more unaffordable UK-wide.
London continues to face the most severe rental affordability pressures in the UK. The average London renter spent £15,684 on rent in 2025 – a 10% increase from the £14,248 average in 2024. The average rent-to-income ratio reached 48%, significantly higher than the national average.
Every borough exceeded the 40% affordability threshold, and 12 boroughs saw tenants spending more than half their income on rent, compared with just three boroughs the previous year. Outside London, Brighton has overtaken Bournemouth as the least affordable city, with renters spending 47% of their income on rent.
In contrast, northern cities continue to offer the most manageable rent-to-income ratios. Durham, Doncaster and Hull top the list as the most affordable places to rent, with tenants spending just 32% of their income on rent. However, affordability pressures are now spreading northwards, with Edinburgh and Manchester entering the top 10 least affordable cities.
Pressure is also growing on younger renters. According to the data, renters aged 18-25 are spending 50% of their take-home pay on rent, leaving little room for other essential costs and making saving for a house deposit increasingly difficult.
On the other hand, rent-to-income ratios improve for those aged 26-45, but still sit at 40%, pushing the limits of affordability.
"Rental affordability has remained a challenge for most tenants in the year of 2025, with our data highlighting how the percentage of take-home salary being spent on rent has increased across the nation," Charlotte Benson, customer operations manager at Canopy, said.
She added: "Unfortunately, with high demand, limited supply, and stagnant wage growth, rental affordability has not improved in the past year, particularly in the southern and highly urban areas."
"A third of London Boroughs are seeing renters pay over half of their salary towards rent, even before other essential payments are accounted for – creating an unsustainable situation. Despite these challenges, renting remains the only viable option for many who are priced out of homeownership."
"The positive light coming out of 2025 is the Renters’ Rights Act, with key changes set to come into effect from 1st May 2026. The aim to make rent fairer and more accessible, as rental bidding above the asking price becomes a thing of the past and landlords will only be able to raise rents once per year, and only in line with the market rate."
"After a tough 2025, these changes will hopefully see improvements in rental affordability across the UK in 2026."
