A lettings agency admits that the cost of renting has hit 75 per cent of income in some places.

Benham and Reeves says the proportion has risen by 16.8 per cent in the last two decades to 45.5 per cent nationally.

But it now accounts for 74.8 per cent of the average salary in London having jumped 33.7 per cent since the turn of the millennium.

In the year 2000, the average rent accounted for 28.7 per cent of the average income in England.

This was, of course, higher in London where 41.1 per cent of income was required to cover rent, with the South East (31.2 per cent) and South West (29.4 per cent) also amongst some of the highest of all regions.

“There’s been plenty of positive changes to the rental market in the last 20 years with better codes of practice and improvements through technology allowing for a fairer, more transparent process for both landlords and tenants” explains the director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr.

“Unfortunately, the one thing this can’t address is the huge demand for rental properties and the resulting increase in the cost of renting as a result and with wage growth failing to keep pace, the proportion of our earnings required to cover rent has spiked notably since the turn of the millennium.”

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