Person needs £40k salary to rent alone in London

A new online estate agency based in London says that to rent the recommended space for a single person in the capital, he or she must earn a gross salary of at least £39,876.84p a year to cover accommodation and living costs.

The agency Nested - which has established an index looking at rental costs in all 33 London boroughs, 15 UK cities and 72 cities worldwide - says the single person’s salary works out at a gross £3,323.07p per month.

A family living in London must earn an average of £6,305.31 per month to cover rent plus living costs. That equates to a gross salary of £75,663.72 per year.

Nested’s methodology calculated the price per square metre based upon current market listings with the minimum space as laid out in guidelines from the Greater London Authority.

The agency’s calculations reveal that the least affordable borough to rent in London is Kensington and Chelsea, where rent per square metre is £72.40 per month; to afford to rent alone and cover additional living costs in Kensington and Chelsea, an individual needs an income of £9,736.55 per month, or £116,838.60 per year.

To afford the rent for the minimum space recommended for a family of four in Kensington and Chelsea, a monthly income of £18,474.48 is needed. This is equal to an annual income of £221,693.76.

At the other end of the scale, the most affordable borough to rent in London is Bexley, where rent per square metre is £13.30 per month. To afford to rent alone and cover additional living costs here, an individual must earn an income of £1,788.62 per month, or £21,463.44 per year. A family of four requires a monthly income of £3,393.79, equal to an annual income of £40,725.48.