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Is rent affordable in London?

Average private rent in London is £2,294 a month — that is 58% of a full-time gross median salary of £47,455. That is above the 30% line the ONS treats as affordable on a single-earner basis.

  • Average rent (ONS, May 2026): £2,294/month
  • One-bed average: £1,733/month
  • Two-bed average: £2,196/month
  • Full-time gross median salary (ONS ASHE 2024): £47,455/year (£3,955/month)
  • Rent as % of gross income: 58%
  • Salary needed to hit the 30% line: ~£91,760/year

London vs the UK average

58%
of a full-time salary goes on rent
UK average: 44.3% (+13.7 pp)
£2,294
average monthly rent
UK average: £1,383 (+66%)
#1 of 11
least affordable UK region
(#11 of 11 most affordable)

London is less affordable than the UK as a whole: rent takes 58% of a full-time gross median salary here versus 44.3% UK-wide. Ranking is across 11 UK regions by average private rent as a share of full-time gross median earnings (ONS PIPR May 2026 over ONS ASHE 2024).

Frequently asked questions

Is rent affordable in London?
Average private rent in London is £2,294 a month (ONS, May 2026), which is 58% of a full-time gross median salary of £47,455 (ONS ASHE 2024). That is above the 30% line ONS treats as affordable on a single-earner basis.
What salary do you need to afford rent in London?
To keep London's average rent of £2,294 at the 30% affordability line, a single full-time earner would need a gross salary of about £91,760 a year. The region's actual full-time gross median is £47,455 (ONS ASHE 2024).
How does rent in London compare with the UK average?
London's average private rent of £2,294 a month is 66% higher than the UK average of £1,383 (ONS PIPR, May 2026). As a share of a full-time gross median salary it takes 58%, which is 13.7 percentage points above the UK-wide 44.3% — making it less affordable than the country as a whole on this measure.
Where does London rank for rent affordability in the UK?
London is the 1st least affordable of 11 UK regions in this analysis (equivalently, the 11th most affordable), ranked by average private rent as a percentage of full-time gross median earnings (ONS PIPR May 2026 over ONS ASHE 2024).

← All UK regions ranked by rent affordability

Nearby regions by rent affordability

How other UK regions compare — average private rent as a share of a full-time gross median salary (ONS). Lower is more affordable.

More GeraRent area data

Free, official area data for anyone deciding where to live — each built to be cited.