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Is rent affordable in South East?

Average private rent in South East is £1,418 a month — that is 43.6% of a full-time gross median salary of £39,038. That is above the 30% line the ONS treats as affordable on a single-earner basis.

  • Average rent (ONS, May 2026): £1,418/month
  • One-bed average: £987/month
  • Two-bed average: £1,266/month
  • Full-time gross median salary (ONS ASHE 2024): £39,038/year (£3,253/month)
  • Rent as % of gross income: 43.6%
  • Salary needed to hit the 30% line: ~£56,720/year

South East vs the UK average

43.6%
of a full-time salary goes on rent
UK average: 44.3% (-0.7 pp)
£1,418
average monthly rent
UK average: £1,383 (+3%)
#2 of 11
least affordable UK region
(#10 of 11 most affordable)

South East is more affordable than the UK as a whole: rent takes 43.6% 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 South East?
Average private rent in South East is £1,418 a month (ONS, May 2026), which is 43.6% of a full-time gross median salary of £39,038 (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 South East?
To keep South East's average rent of £1,418 at the 30% affordability line, a single full-time earner would need a gross salary of about £56,720 a year. The region's actual full-time gross median is £39,038 (ONS ASHE 2024).
How does rent in South East compare with the UK average?
South East's average private rent of £1,418 a month is 3% higher than the UK average of £1,383 (ONS PIPR, May 2026). As a share of a full-time gross median salary it takes 43.6%, which is 0.7 percentage points below the UK-wide 44.3% — making it more affordable than the country as a whole on this measure.
Where does South East rank for rent affordability in the UK?
South East is the 2nd least affordable of 11 UK regions in this analysis (equivalently, the 10th 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.

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