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Caveat: I'm the OpenRent Founder. I would dispute the research slightly, not only is CountryWide data probably not the best out there (they'll deal with higher

Caveat: I'm the OpenRent Founder. I would dispute the research slightly, not only is CountryWide data probably not the best out there (they'll deal with higher end vs. huge non-"high street agent" market), but grouping all of London together will be massively skewed by the unbelievably high rental values in prime central london. That's not to say London isn't expensive, and a big chunk of income goes towards it, but in terms of the actual percentages - I'd take it with a pinch of salt. Most referencing companies will look for 2.5x rent -> gross salary. So if you earn 30k annual salary, you can afford 1k per month on rent. If you look at: https://listentotaxman.com/30000?plan=0 https://listentotaxman.com/30000?plan=0 You'll be taking home roughly £1,950. So that's roughly 50% of take home going on rent (54% if you're repaying student loans). Anything higher than that, and a referencing company won't pass you - so it seems odd CountryWide are suggesting their average is 57%.

UVB-76 10y ago
I should think the vast majority of twenty-somethings in London on £30k+ salaries are repaying student loans, so you'll be taking the 54% figure.
- dazbradbury 10y ago
  Of course - but I'm taking the top-end / maximum eligible rent, whereas the article is talking about averages, which are unlikely to be accurate in relation to what the majority of people are paying as a % of disposable.
  - UVB-76 10y ago
    You are assuming, of course, that landlords stick to conservative affordability limits and turn down willing tenants who fail the test, even by a small margin. I agree this dataset is not ideal for these sort of calculations, but the figures are supported by my anecdotal experience.
    - dazbradbury 10y ago
      I am not assuming - we reference more tenants than any other rental company in the UK and know how a reference decision impacts a tenancy going ahead (it has a massive impact). We also know how many landlords order references (again, nearly all). I kind of wish the data presented was more thorough, but that's probably because I'm too close to the industry - the headline is certainly catchy, and the comparison over time certainly more interesting, I just wanted give a heads up about the actual % figure not being representative.

UVB-76 10y ago

I should think the vast majority of twenty-somethings in London on £30k+ salaries are repaying student loans, so you'll be taking the 54% figure.

dazbradbury 10y ago
Of course - but I'm taking the top-end / maximum eligible rent, whereas the article is talking about averages, which are unlikely to be accurate in relation to what the majority of people are paying as a % of disposable.
- UVB-76 10y ago
  You are assuming, of course, that landlords stick to conservative affordability limits and turn down willing tenants who fail the test, even by a small margin. I agree this dataset is not ideal for these sort of calculations, but the figures are supported by my anecdotal experience.
  - dazbradbury 10y ago
    I am not assuming - we reference more tenants than any other rental company in the UK and know how a reference decision impacts a tenancy going ahead (it has a massive impact). We also know how many landlords order references (again, nearly all). I kind of wish the data presented was more thorough, but that's probably because I'm too close to the industry - the headline is certainly catchy, and the comparison over time certainly more interesting, I just wanted give a heads up about the actual % figure not being representative.