The Price of Renting

A year's rent takes up every penny earned by full-time workers until the first week of May, analysis by BBC News reveals.

Someone earning £22,900 after tax in England would have to work 86 days just to cover rent, five more than in 2011.

In Scotland and Wales, the number of working days needed to cover their rent fell to 79 and 71 days respectively.

Rising property prices have made it harder for millions of people to buy a home and the number of households renting privately has reached a 30-year high, according to the English Housing Survey.

Analysing the median annual rent for two-bedroom properties and the median income of full-time workers in Great Britain the BBC England Data Unit found:

• If the typical full-time worker in England, living alone, spent everything they earned after tax and national insurance on their rent, they would have made enough money by 3 May.
• Similar workers in Scotland would have earned enough money to pay their rent by 24 April and in Wales, workers would be rent-free by 12 April.
• Nearly half of local authority areas in Great Britain have seen annual rents for two-bed properties increase faster than the average take-home pay.
• In London, the cost of rent eats up 15 more days' pay than it did in 2011. In London, even renting a room in a shared property takes a full-time worker until 27 March. A middle-earning worker makes £27,150 in the capital, after tax and National Insurance. Renting a room at an average of £7,200 they would have to work 67 days just to cover the rent. That is nearly three weeks longer than in 2011.

The workers squeezed the most by rents rising faster than pay are in the south of England. A private tenant in London would have to work 165 days to earn enough to cover the rent on a two-bed property, compared to 66 days for a worker in the North East.

Almost one in 10 councillors in London either work for property businesses or have received gifts or hospitality from them, a Guardian investigation into the depth of links between town halls and the property industry has revealed. Nearly 100 councillors in the capital work for property companies or lobbying and communications consultancies involved in planning, according to declarations of interest made by elected representatives. Some of them also sit on planning committees making decisions over major developments, including volumes of affordable housing.

Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the committee on standards in public life, claimed the extent of the overlap between the property industry and councillors “undermines trust” and potentially “the important national objective of increasing affordable housing”.

“These networks have the capacity to help property companies default on their responsibility to build affordable housing,” he said. “We should place restrictions on council members who are also employed by property companies and make it a legal requirement that they must stand down when decisions on planning issues are discussed which they may have an issue in.”

Some of the councils with the highest levels of hospitality or declared interests in property companies are producing levels of affordable housing that fall short of the London mayor’s 35% target in the capital. In Wandsworth, where 17 councillors declared interests or entertainment with property companies, 19% of new homes built between 2013 and 2016 were affordable. In the City of London, where 12 councillors declared interests, only 3% were affordable.