Percentage of total monthly household income spent on private rent, by country and by regions of England, financial years ending 2013 to 2023.

Monthly data showing the proportion of gross income spent on rent for new tenancies across the UK, from Dataloft Rental Market Analytics (DRMA). These are official statistics in development. Source: Dataloft. Dataloft is a PriceHubble company.

The average agreed rent for new tenancies in the UK ranged from *** British pounds to ***** British pounds, depending on the region. On average, renters outside of London paid ***** British pounds, whereas in London, this figure amounted to ***** British pounds. Rents have been on the rise for many years, but the period after the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend. Since 2015, the average rent in the UK increased by about ** percent, with about half of that gain achieved in the period after the pandemic. Why have UK rents increased so much? One of the main reasons driving up rental prices is the declining affordability of homeownership. Historically, house prices grew faster than rents, making renting more financially feasible than buying. In 2022, when the house price to rent ratio index peaked, house prices had outgrown rents by nearly ** percent since 2015. As house prices peaked in 2022, home buying slowed, exacerbating demand for rental properties and leading to soaring rental prices. How expensive is too expensive? Although there is no official requirement about the proportion of income spent on rent for it to be considered affordable, a popular rule is that rent should not exceed more than ** percent of income. In 2024, most renters in the UK exceeded that threshold, with the southern regions significantly more likely to spend upward of ** percent of their income on rent. Rental affordability has sparked a move away from the capital to other regions in the UK, such as the South East (Brighton and Southampton), the West Midlands (Birmingham) and the North West (Liverpool, Manchester, Blackpool and Preston).

Since 2015, the gap between the cost of buying a home and renting has grown, with homeownership becoming increasingly less affordable. In the ***** ******* of 2024, the house price to rent ratio in the UK stood at *****. That meant that house price growth has outpaced rental growth by nearly ** percent between 2015 and 2024. The UK's house price to rent ratio was slightly below the average Euro area ratio. House price to income ratio in the UK Another indicator for housing affordability is the house price to income ratio, which is calculated by dividing nominal house prices by the nominal disposable income per head. The ratio saw an overall increase between 2015, which was the base year, and 2022. After that, the index declined, but remained close to the average for the Euro area. Is it more affordable to rent or buy? There are many things to be considered when comparing buying to renting, such as the ability to qualify for a mortgage and whether prospective homebuyers have sufficient savings for a deposit. Generally, purchasing a home is more affordable than renting one. However, the average monthly savings first-time buyers can achieve have been on the decline. In East of England, where house prices have increased rapidly over the past few years, it was cheaper to rent than to buy in 2022.

Renters in the UK spent on average 32.5 percent of their income on rent as of January 2025. Scotland and Yorkshire and Humber were the most affordable regions, with households spending less than 28 percent of their gross income on rent. Conversely, London, South West, and South East had a higher ratio. Greater London is the most expensive region for renters Greater London has a considerably higher rent than the rest of the UK regions. In 2024, the average rental cost in Greater London was more than twice higher than in the North West or West Midlands. Compared with Greater London, rent in the South East region was about 600 British pounds cheaper. London property prices continue to increase In recent years, house prices in the UK have been steadily increasing, and the period after the COVID-19 pandemic has been no exception. Prime residential property prices in Central London are forecast to continue rising until 2027. A similar trend in prime property prices is also expected in Outer London.

Number of affordable housing starts (seasonally adjusted)

How the figure is calculated:

Total reported numbers of starts under the relevant programmes within the reporting period. Because delivery is seasonal and reflects funding profiles, with more starts and completions being reported in the second six months than are reported in the first six months, the current figures are compared back to the equivalent period of the year before rather than the preceding six months.

Why is this indicator in the business plan?

These are the most timely indicators on affordable housing delivery. Increasing the supply of affordable housing is a key part of DCLG policy.

How often is it updated?

Bi-annually, approximately June and November.

Where does the data come from?

Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) - Investment Management System and other programme information. Published figures are at http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/housing-statistics.

Greater London Authority (GLA) - Investment Management System and other programme information. Published figures are at http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/housing-land/increasing-housing-supply/gla-affordable-housing-statistics.

What area does the headline figure cover?

England

Are further breakdowns of the data available?

Yes, can be split by type (social rent, affordable rent, intermediate rent, Low Cost Home Ownership) and by local authority area.

What does a change in this indicator show?

An increase in this indicator is good and shows more new affordable houses are being started through the HCA and GLA.

Time Lag

Published within two months of the end of the reporting period.

Next available update

June 2015.

Type of Data

Official Statistics.

Robustness and data limitations

• Does not include all affordable housing starts and completions because some will be delivered outside the HCA and GLA roles.
• Delivery is seasonal and reflects funding profiles. Delivery tends to be lower in the first six months than the last six months of the year and therefore comparisons with the previous six-monthly period are not usually appropriate.
• A small number of the affordable housing starts reported by the HCA over this period are actually located in London (the Get Britain Building programme in London is administered by the HCA on behalf of the GLA).

With effect from 1 April 2014, affordable housing starts on site include the starts on site for new build homes purchased at completion. These have not been reported historically

Links to Further Information

http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/housing-statistics

http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/housing-land/increasing-housing-supply/gla-affordable-housing-statistics

Contact Details

CorporatePerformance@communities.gsi.gov.uk

In January 2025, the average monthly rent in Greater London reached 2,227 British pounds, confirming its position as the most expensive area for private tenants. Rental prices across England stood at 1,375 British pounds, while the average for Great Britain was recorded at 1,332 British pounds. The North East remains the most affordable region, with rents at 710 British pounds. According to the UK Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR), rental growth has accelerated since 2021, with the cost of rental properties rising by nearly nine percent annually in January 2025.

Additional affordable dwellings by local authority district, England 1991-92 to 2016-17

This dataset describes the additions to the stock of affordable housing from the period 1991-92 to 2016-17, broken down by local authority district. Note that over that period, there have been numerous changes to the structure of local government, therefore some districts do not have values for the full series of years, only for those years when the corresponding local authority was in operation. Affordable housing is the sum of affordable rent, social rent, intermediate rent and affordable home ownership. Affordable homes are defined in line with the National Planning Policy Framework, published 27 March 2012, as housing units (or traveller pitches and bed spaces when describing a shared dwelling such as a hostel) provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Eligibility may be determined with regard to local authority allocations policies, local incomes and local house prices depending on the type of affordable housing. Affordable housing should include provisions to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision. Affordable rented housing is a new form of social housing, introduced in 2011 as the main type of affordable housing supply. It may only be delivered with grant through the Affordable Homes Programme 2011-17 and other associated and subsequent programmes or without grant by local authority and other providers, where a contract or confirmation of the ability to charge an affordable rent is in place. Affordable rented homes are let by local authorities or private registered providers of social housing to households who are eligible for social rented housing. Affordable rent is subject to rent controls that require a rent of up to 80 per cent of the local market rent (including service charges, where applicable). Social rented housing is rented housing owned and managed by local authorities and private registered providers, for which target rents are determined through the national rent regime. It may also include rented housing managed by other persons and provided under equivalent rental arrangements to the above. Intermediate affordable housing is housing at prices and rents above those of social rent but below market price or rents, and which meet the criteria as set out in the definition for affordable housing. These can include equity loan products, shared ownership and intermediate rent. The data in this dataset were derived from Tables 1006C, 1006aC, 1007C and 1008C of the DCLG 'Live statistical tables', available in the form of Excel spreadsheets here. For further guidance see the Affordable Housing Supply: April 2016 to March 2017 England Statistical Release.

Number of affordable housing completions (seasonally adjusted)

How the figure is calculated:

Total reported numbers of completions under the relevant programmes within the reporting period. Because delivery is seasonal and reflects funding profiles, with more starts and completions being reported in the second six months than are reported in the first six months, the current figures are compared back to the equivalent period of the year before rather than the preceding six months.

Why is this indicator in the business plan?

These are the most timely indicators on affordable housing delivery. Increasing the supply of affordable housing is a key part of DCLG policy.

How often is it updated?

Bi-annually, approximately June and November.

Where does the data come from?

Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) - Investment Management System and other programme information. Published figures are at http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/housing-statistics.

Greater London Authority (GLA) - Investment Management System and other programme information. Published figures are at http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/housing-land/increasing-housing-supply/gla-affordable-housing-statistics.

What area does the headline figure cover?

England

Are further breakdowns of the data available?

Yes, can be split by type (social rent, affordable rent, intermediate rent, Low Cost Home Ownership) and by local authority area.

What does a change in this indicator show?

An increase in this indicator is good and shows more new affordable houses are being completed through the HCA and GLA.

Time Lag

Published within two months of the end of the reporting period.

Next available update

June 2015.

Type of Data

Official Statistics.

Robustness and data limitations

• Does not include all affordable housing starts and completions because some will be delivered outside the HCA and GLA roles.
• Delivery is seasonal and reflects funding profiles. Delivery tends to be lower in the first six months than the last six months of the year and therefore comparisons with the previous six-monthly period are not usually appropriate.
• A small number of the affordable housing starts reported by the HCA over this period are actually located in London (the Get Britain Building programme in London is administered by the HCA on behalf of the GLA).

Links to Further Information

http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/housing-statistics

http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/housing-land/increasing-housing-supply/gla-affordable-housing-statistics

Contact Details

CorporatePerformance@communities.gsi.gov.uk

• The CORE lettings data include information on the characteristics of both private registered providers and local authority new social housing tenants and the homes they rent. For each year, data is structured into four datasets based on type of letting (social rent general needs and supported needs, and affordable rent general needs and supported needs). It is a regulatory requirement for providers registered with the Homes and Communities Agency to supply the data. For those who are not registered, submissions are voluntary. Local authorities have participated in CORE since 2004-5 on a voluntary basis. Weighting is applied to adjust for non-response by local authorities for social rent datasets, and imputation is also carried out to address item-level non-response of key data on tenant characteristics for both local authorities and privately registered providers. The three datasets for affordable rent are not weighted or imputed.
• The CORE sales data include information on sales of local authority dwellings and some summary details on sales of registered provider stock (previously known as Registered Social Landlords or housing associations). Collecting these data allows for a better understanding of the socio-economic and demographic make-up of affordable housing customers and local housing markets and products. The sales dataset is imputed, with more information on the imputations within the data dictionary.

• For the standard End User Licence (EUL) version (SNs 9237 and 9238), the geographic level of the data is set at Government Office Region (GOR). Letting and voiding dates are provided at month and year only; age variables are top-coded at 90 years; income, benefits, earnings, charge and shortfall variables are banded to disguise unique values; landlords are grouped into coded categories.
• For the Special Licence access (SL) version (SNs 9239 and 9240), geographic level is set at Local Authority. The SL data have more restrictive access conditions than those made available under the standard EUL. Prospective users of the SL version will need to complete an extra application form and demonstrate to the data owners exactly why they need access to the additional variables in order to get permission to use that version.
• For Secure Access (SNs 9241 and 9242), the full CORE datasets are available, with some key variables recoded. Prospective users of the Secure Access version will need to fulfil additional requirements, including completion of face-to-face training and agreement to further stringent access conditions.

SN 9240: Continuous Recording of Social Housing Sales (CORE):

This study contains the SL-level CORE Sales data only. The SL CORE Lettings data are held under SN 9239.

This is the proportion of stock owned by the local authority as at 31st March, that is classed as affordable rent. This is the number of local authority owned affordable rent dwellings divided by the total local authority owned dwellings including PFI & Shared Ownership multiplied by 100. This indicator is from the Local Authority Housing Statistics data returns (LAHS) Section A - Dwelling StockData is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.

Portugal, Canada, and the United States were the countries with the highest house price to income ratio in 2024. In all three countries, the index exceeded 130 index points, while the average for all OECD countries stood at 116.2 index points. The index measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing nominal house price by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 set as a base year when the index amounted to 100. An index value of 120, for example, would mean that house price growth has outpaced income growth by 20 percent since 2015. How have house prices worldwide changed since the COVID-19 pandemic? House prices started to rise gradually after the global financial crisis (2007–2008), but this trend accelerated with the pandemic. The countries with advanced economies, which usually have mature housing markets, experienced stronger growth than countries with emerging economies. Real house price growth (accounting for inflation) peaked in 2022 and has since lost some of the gain. Although, many countries experienced a decline in house prices, the global house price index shows that property prices in 2023 were still substantially higher than before COVID-19. Renting vs. buying In the past, house prices have grown faster than rents. However, the home affordability has been declining notably, with a direct impact on rental prices. As people struggle to buy a property of their own, they often turn to rental accommodation. This has resulted in a growing demand for rental apartments and soaring rental prices.

Affordable rent dwellings are the principal product of the Homes and Communities Agency's 2011-15 Affordable Homes Programme. The indicator shows the average agreed grant for each affordable rent dwelling funded by the HCA as stated within the original agreed offer.

How the figure is calculated:

The figure is calculated as the total grant agreed by the HCA for affordable rent dwellings divided by the number of HCA Affordable Rent dwellings. The start date is as of 1 October 2011 under the agreed offers.

Why is this indicator in the business plan?

The payment per dwelling represents the capital cost to Government of the supply of new affordable rent homes and will indicate the level of consistency with the rate of funding agreed with providers at the onset of the 2011-15 Programme.

How often is it updated

Data is updated quarterly.

Where does the data come from?

The Homes and Communities Agency collect this information through its Investment Management System.

What area does the headline figure cover?

England except for the area covered by the Greater London Authority (GLA).

Are further breakdowns of the data available?

The HCA publish figures by HCA operating area.

What does a change in this indicator show?

The payment per dwelling should be consistent with the rate of funding agreed with providers at the onset of the 2011-15 Programme.

Time Lag

Approximately 8 weeks after end of 3-month period, broadly in line with HCA National Housing Statistics publication.

Next available update

April 2015.

Type of Data

Management Information

Robustness and data limitations

The indicator applies to Affordable Rent dwellings under the 2011-2015 Affordable Homes Programme. It excludes committed units from the previous programme. Based on provider offers and following negotiation and agreement of a framework contract, a rate for new HCA funding per Affordable Rent unit is agreed for each provider, in the majority of cases is paid 50% at start on site and 50% on completion (on a results basis). A provider's agreed rate of funding for each home completed will apply for the duration of the contract where delivery is largely in line with the assumptions in the initial framework contract. The HCA Investment Management System contains information provided by investment partners and so viewed as the most reliable source of data. From April 2012, the Mayor of London has had oversight of strategic housing, regeneration and economic development in London. This indicator refers only to grant payments by the HCA. The figure will include a small element of grant payments for social rent dwellings and a small proportion of acquisitions.

Links to Further Information

http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/affordable-homes

Contact Details

CorporatePerformance@communities.gsi.gov.uk

Median monthly rental prices for the private rental market in England by bedroom category, region and administrative area, calculated using data from the Valuation Office Agency and Office for National Statistics.