A survey of more than 7,000 tenants conducted by Rightmove found that one in three renters spends more than 50% of their monthly salary on rent.
On average, tenants pay 38% of their income to their landlord, and 61% expect their rent to be even higher in 12 months’ time.
As a percentage of take home pay, rents are highest in the South East and London at 41% and 40%, respectively. The lowest is in Scotland at 35% and the North East at 35%.
“There is unique evidence of a rental squeeze that may be leaving some tenants with little or no headroom,” said Rightmove director, Miles Shipside.
“Our research raises some interesting questions about how high the affordability ceiling is and how close we might be to it.”
The research concluded that the buy-to-let boom is not likely to dissipate, but that, in some areas, tenants are at breaking point, with more forced to move home or squeeze more people into smaller spaces.
Shipside warned:”Our research suggests that landlords should perhaps be careful not to squeeze existing tenants too hard. Demanding too much could result in voids and a situation where the replacement tenant is less willing to pay the rents demanded.
“The challenge for landlords is to provide a suitable quality of accommodation at an acceptable rent that will keep tenants hooked for longer,” he said.