New research on rental prices shows that someone on the average salary would struggle to afford a 1-bedroom flat in 10 out of 56 major UK cities (18%).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the London rental market is by far the worst offender when it comes to affordability. The average yearly salary in London is £43,629 but you’d need over £20,000 more to comfortably rent a 1-bedroom flat and meet daily living costs – a salary of £64,930 a year.
Brighton comes in second place, with the average salary of £34,860 nowhere near enough to afford the average 1-bed flat at £1,300 plus living costs. Instead, the typical Brit would need a yearly salary of £41,010 to afford renting alone in Brighton.
The city of St Albans comes in third place, despite relatively high salaries, due to eye-watering rental prices. The average 1-bedroom flat costs £1,425 a month, meaning that you’d need a salary of £42,492 a year to live here, £5,000 more than the current average salary in the area.
To find out the salary needed to rent a 1-bedroom apartment in each city, as well as covering other typical living costs and savings, personal finance comparison website finder.com analysed the average salary, rent for a 1-bedroom flat and other monthly outgoings in each location.
The findings were used to create a cost of living calculator, which shows a comparison of rental prices between major cities in the UK, as well as the salary you would need in each city to rent the average 1-bedroom flat.
9 of the 10 unaffordable cities for renters are in the south of England
The analysis also found that all but one of the cities where it was unaffordable to rent a 1-bedroom flat were in the south of England.
University cities Oxford and Cambridge make up the top 5, with monthly rent for a 1-bed flat at £1,390 and £1,500 respectively. Someone in Oxford would need a salary of £43,798 a year to afford rent in the city, over £4,500 more than the average annual salary. Meanwhile, someone in Cambridge would need a yearly salary of £45,581 to afford the average 1-bed flat, over £4,300 more than the average salary.
Other cities where a single person would struggle to rent a 1-bedroom flat on the average salary include Bath and Bristol in the South West and Chelmsford and Southend in Essex.
One more surprising entry to the leaderboard is Salford – the only city in the north of the UK. This city in Greater Manchester has seen rents increasing rapidly in recent years, with the average rent for a 1-bedroom flat now at £1,100.
You can view the full lists of the top 10 least and most affordable cities below.
Least affordable cities to rent based on the average salary
| City | Rent (1-bed flat) | Yearly salary needed for rent and living costs | Difference from average salary | |
| 1 | London | £2,250 | £64,930 | +£21,307 |
| 2 | Brighton | £1,300 | £41,010 | +£6,150 |
| 3 | St Albans | £1,425 | £42,492 | +£5,208 |
| 4 | Oxford | £1,390 | £43,798 | +£4,549 |
| 5 | Cambridge | £1,500 | £45,581 | +£4,355 |
| 6 | Bath | £1,250 | £38,998 | +£3,766 |
| 7 | Salford | £1,100 | £36,175 | +£1,819 |
| 8 | Bristol | £1,200 | £38,451 | +£1,575 |
| 9 | Chelmsford | £1,125 | £36,792 | +£1,524 |
| 10 | Southend | £925 | £32,539 | +£895 |
Most affordable cities to rent based on the average salary
| City | Rent (1-bed flat) | Yearly salary needed for rent and living costs | Difference from average salary | |
| 1 | Aberdeen | £550 | £27,987 | -£12,573 |
| 2 | Coventry | £695 | £29,980 | -£11,516 |
| 3 | Carlisle | £475 | £25,304 | -£9,892 |
| 4 | Chester | £750 | £24,060 | -£9,516 |
| 5 | Derby | £600 | £29,910 | -£9,414 |
| 6 | Belfast | £700 | £28,463 | -£7,927 |
| 7 | Dundee | £625 | £27,598 | -£7,790 |
| 8 | Hull | £575 | £24,245 | -£7,423 |
| 9 | Wakefield | £625 | £27,739 | -£6,413 |
| 10 | Derry | £550 | £26,045 | -£6,179 |
Kate Steere, housing expert at finder.com, comments:
“There seems to be no slowing down of the UK’s rental crisis, with average UK private rents rising by 9.2% in the 12 months to March 2024. The situation is even more stark in London, where rents increased by 11.2% in the same period, the highest annual change since 2006.
“Our research highlights how these rent hikes are pricing the average person out of a number of UK cities, including those with good career opportunities. While couples can get around this by sharing a 1-bed flat, the current rental market is making it unaffordable for Brits to rent alone in many cities. This is yet another example of the ‘single tax’ – where people are penalised for living alone and priced out of many areas of the UK.”
To use the cost of living calculator and view the research, visit: https://www.finder.com/uk/banking/cost-of-living-calculator
