Poole 'least affordable for rent'

Poole has beaten London to be named as the UK's least affordable place to rent a room, while Newport in south Wales is the least expensive, when compared with take home pay.

Flat sharing website Easyroommate.co.uk found that across the UK, the typical room rent is £365 per calendar month - 21.9% of the average UK net monthly income of £1,665.

Typical rents in Newport stand at £280, £85 cheaper than the national average and costing just over 18% of take home pay.

Flat sharers in Poole, Dorset, face forking out £398 every month, representing 26.8% of their salaries, while Londoners pay an average of £520, or 26.2% of their net monthly income.

Blackpool in Lancashire came fourth on the "least affordable" towns and cities list, with typical rents standing at £325 - swallowing up a quarter of incomes.

Yorkshire could be considered the cheapest county for tenants, with cities including York, Leeds and Sheffield making the top 10.

Jonathan Moore, director of Easyroommate.co.uk, said: "With the economy's recovery looking sluggish at best, and the ongoing mortgage famine driving growing demand for limited rental space, rent increases will continue to outstrip salary growth for the foreseeable future."

The survey, which used Office for National Statistics data and 15,000 room adverts listed on the Easyroommate website, found that flat share rents are rising at nearly 5% per year.

This compared with annual pay growth of 2.8%, meaning flat sharers face spending 22.9% of their take home wage on rents next year.

Renters could be forced to part with a third of their income by 2020 if current trends continue, the report found.

Here are the 10 most affordable UK rental towns and cities according to Easyroommate.co.uk:

Average monthly net income/ Average flat share rent per calendar month/ Affordability (rent as a percentage of income)

1. Newport £1,539 £280 18.2%

2. Hull £1,373 £255 18.6%

3. Huddersfield £1,600 £300 18.7%

4. Leeds £1,586 £301 19.0%

5. Bolton £1,465 £280 19.1%

6. Sheffield £1,599 £311 19.4%

7. Dundee £1,500 £300 20.0%

8. Coventry £1,518 £305 20.1%

9. Liverpool £1,598 £325 20.3%

10. York £1,617 £330 20.4%

And here are the least affordable:

1. Poole £1,482 £398 26.8%

2. London £1,985 £520 26.2%

3. Norwich £1,554 £395 25.4%

4. Blackpool £1,300 £325 25.0%

5. Gloucester £1,449 £360 24.9%

6. West Bromwich £1,428 £350 24.5%

7. Oxford £1,710 £419 24.5%

8. Brighton £1,737 £420 24.2%

9. Slough £1,671 £400 23.9%

10. Bournemouth £1,552 £370 23.8%

UK average £1,665 £365 21.9%

PA