London dominates the list of least affordable rents in England, but Sevenoaks and Brighton top the list outside of the capital, while Manchester is far less affordable than its Northern counterparts.
Kensington and Chelsea is the least affordable place to rent a property in the whole of England.
The average monthly rent in the London borough is £2,300, according to the latest figures from the Valuation Office Agency.
That’s compared to an average wage of £3,132 before tax.
That gives a rent-to-income ratio of 73%.
Westminster has the next highest ratio at 69%. The Kent area of Sevenoaks is next at 63%, followed by the London boroughs of Merton (61%), Newham (60%), Camden (60%), and Southwark (59%).
You can see how your local area compares using our interactive map:
There’s a small red blob in the north of that map - Manchester.
Rents in the city are far less affordable than in any of its Northern counterparts.
The average property in Manchester costs £875 a month to rent, according to the data.
The average income, meanwhile, works out at £2,008 a month, before tax.
It gives a rent to income ratio of 44%, which is the highest proportion of any local authority outside of London and the South.
In fact, it’s either equal to or higher than six London boroughs.
The rent to income ratio in the city is also at least eight percentage points higher than any of the surrounding Greater Manchester boroughs, 11 points higher than Leeds, 12 higher than Newcastle, and 17 higher than Liverpool.
Middlesbrough is the most affordable place to rent in England.
Properties cost an average of £450 a month to rent there, which is the cheapest in the country.
It works out as just 21% of the average salary in the area.
Allerdale and County Durham are next at 22% each.
They’re followed jointly by seven areas at 23% - Hartlepool, Hull, North East Lincolnshire, Burnley, Darlington, Copeland, and Carlisle.
Greater Manchester rent affordability
Local authority: Rent-to-income ratio
Manchester: 44%
Trafford: 36%
Salford: 34%
Stockport: 33%
Tameside: 31%
Oldham: 31%
Bury: 30%
Bolton: 29%
Rochdale: 28%
Wigan: 26%
