Campaign groups have urged the Government to take further action on the cost of renting after new analysis shows private tenants in England are now reaching “cost of rent day”.

Generation Rent and the Renters’ Reform Coalition say the milestone marks the point in the year when the equivalent of all income earned so far has effectively been spent on rent.

Stretched affordability

Using Office for National Statistics data, the groups have calculated that renters on a median household income spend around 36% of their earnings on rent, meaning the average ‘cost of rent day’ falls in mid-May.

The data shows affordability is most stretched in Kensington and Chelsea, where renters will not reach that milestone until 26th September. The average in London is 2nd June, while in Bristol it is 13th June.

Renters in York and Exeter, however, reached their cost of rent day on 4th May, while Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, and Stratford-on-Avon reached it on 8th May.

Generation Rent Chief Executive Ben Twomey (main picture) says high rents are leaving tenants struggling to cover essentials and has called for metro mayors to be given powers to limit rent increases.

It’s not right that over four months of our income every year is being swallowed up by landlords.”

He told the Independent: “It’s not right that over four months of our income every year is being swallowed up by landlords.”

Twomey’s call to ‘slam on the brakes’ on rents comes just as the Renters’ Rights Act comes into force, limiting rent increases to once a year and giving stronger powers for tenants to challenge rises they believe are unfair.

Clara Collingwood, Director at the Renters’ Reform Coalition, says, however, that unaffordable rent increases can still force tenants out of their homes.