How much of your earnings goes straight to a landlord? (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

Ready for another instalment of ‘living in London is so expensive we keep questioning why we’re doing this to ourselves’?

‘Course you are.

If the recent Northern editions of What I Rent haven’t sufficiently hammered home the despair of high rents in the capital, take a look at this infographic, which shows what percentage of people’s salaries goes on rent in different areas of London.

Using data from gov.uk and ONS, rental site Howsy took a look at the average salary earned by residents of different boroughs of London, then compared this to the average spent on rent in the area.




To be clear, the salary average is based on where people live, not where they work. People in Enfield might be working in Kensington, for example.

But the percentage of salary that goes on rent is a fairly haunting statistic, especially considering the old-school rule of dedicating just 30% of your monthly income to renting a property.

Not one borough in London has an average that meets that 30% recommendation.

You can click on this image to make it bigger (Picture: Howsy)

The closest are Bromley and Bexley, which both see renters spending an average of 46% of their paycheck on rent. That’s thanks to a combination of a fairly standard monthly salary of £2,729 for residents of Bromley and £2,240 for residents of Bexley, combined with comparatively low rent – £1,250 a month and £1,026, respectively.

The borough where people are paid the least have a higher percentage of their money going on rent, as you’d expect.

The average monthly salary in Barking and Dagenham is £1,834, but the average rent is £1,193, meaning 65% of people’s pay is going straight to renting property.

That budget isn’t as shocking as in Hackney, though, where on average renters are spending 83% of their salary to rent a place in the area.

The highest earning and spending borough is Westminster, earning £4,485 a month and spending £2,709 on rent.

We could really do with knowing where to work to earn the most, we reckon. If we can work there and live in Bexley we’d be able to bring our percentage way down.

Average salary and rent in areas of London: Bromley

Average monthly salary: £2,729

Average monthly rent: £1,250

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 46% Bexley

Average monthly salary: £2,240

Average monthly rent: £1,026

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 46% Croydon

Average monthly salary: £2,265

Average monthly rent: £1,133

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 50% Sutton

Average monthly salary: £2,202

Average monthly rent: £1,114

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 51% Kingston upon Thames

Average monthly salary: £2,644

Average monthly rent: £1,355

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 51% Greenwich

Average monthly salary: £2,667

Average monthly rent: £1,392

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 52% Havering

Average monthly salary: £2,133

Average monthly rent: £1,135

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 53% Wandsworth

Average monthly salary: £3,477

Average monthly rent: £1,855

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 53% Merton

Average monthly salary: £2,865

Average monthly rent: £1,576

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 55% Lewisham

Average monthly salary: £2,303

Average monthly rent: £1,289

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 56% Redbridge

Average monthly salary: £2,278

Average monthly rent: £1,267

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 56% Richmond upon Thames

Average monthly salary: £3,521

Average monthly rent: £2,000

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 57% Islington

Average monthly salary: £3,289

Average monthly rent: £1,904

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 58% Harrow

Average monthly salary: £2,318

Average monthly rent: £1,359

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 59% Camden

Average monthly salary: £3,602

Average monthly rent: £2,117

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 59% Hounslow

Average monthly salary: £2,146

Average monthly rent: £1,296

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 60% Westminster

Average monthly salary: £4,485

Average monthly rent: £2,709

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 60% Tower Hamlets

Average monthly salary: £2,899

Average monthly rent: £1,762

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 61% Hammersmith and Fulham

Average monthly salary: £3,276

Average monthly rent: £2,005

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 61% Waltham Forest

Average monthly salary: £2,470

Average monthly rent: £1,532

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 61% Ealing

Average monthly salary: £2,470

Average monthly rent: £1,532

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 62% Lambeth

Average monthly salary: £2,689

Average monthly rent: £1,670

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 62% Hillingdon

Average monthly salary: £2,004

Average monthly rent: £1,245

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 62% Barnet

Average monthly salary: £2,436

Average monthly rent: £1,535

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 63% Enfield

Average monthly salary: £2,110

Average monthly rent: £1,357

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 64% Barking and Dagenham

Average monthly salary: £1,834

Average monthly rent: £1,193

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 65% Haringey

Average monthly salary: £2,279

Average monthly rent: £1,520

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 67% Southwark

Average monthly salary: £2,433

Average monthly rent: £1,705

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 70% Newham

Average monthly salary: £1,895

Average monthly rent: £1,413

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 75% Brent

Average monthly salary: £2,059

Average monthly rent: £1,582

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 77% Hackney

Average monthly salary: £2,225

Average monthly rent: £1,856

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 83% Kensington and Chelsea

Excluded due to lack of current salary data City of London

Average monthly salary: £3,345

Average monthly rent: £2,189

Percentage of salary spent on rent: 65%

MORE: How I Save: The 33-year-old journalist in London who earns £29k a year and has £1,141 saved

MORE: What I Rent: Billie, £800 a month for a one-bedroom flat in Walthamstow

MORE: What I Rent: Claudia and Steve, £1,260 a month for a two-bedroom flat in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey

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