I suspect rents rise to where it is just about tolerable for most people in any particular renting cohort, where the cohort is matched to the type & quality of

I suspect rents rise to where it is just about tolerable for most people in any particular renting cohort, where the cohort is matched to the type & quality of housing. When it's not tolerable, people leave the cohort and move down a grade, to lower quality and therefore cheaper housing. Obviously it's not tolerable if you don't have enough money left for food & essential bills. Not sure why iPhone & Netflix come into this, because they are so extraordinarily cheap compared with rent, food and bills. But of course a phone is essential, and an iPhone very useful, cheap (on contract) and arguably essential these days - for some people it's their only access to the internet. People would not find it tolerable if they couldn't afford a few nice, cheap things, such as Netflix. When you account for rent, food, bills and a few nice things, as far as I can tell that does take up all the income for many. Have you noticed that a lot of people aren't saving anything? Of those who are saving, mostly they are saving for a deposit on a mortgage, and/or a pension.