According to data from Statista, the gender pay gap is still in full force and as of 2021 the difference between average hourly earnings for men and women in the United Kingdom was 15.4 per cent.

To uncover whether the gap extended to men and women’s capability to buy and rent property, lettings platform, Mashroom, conducted a further survey of 2,000 adults across the UK, questioning them on all things property related.

The research revealed that 17 per cent of women strongly believe that they have struggled to rent or buy a property, compared to 13 per cent of men.

Data via the Women’s Budget Group has shown that the average rent across England takes 43% of the average women’s earnings and 28% of the average man’s. This essentially means there isn’t a single region in England that is affordable for a woman on an average salary to rent alone today.

In terms of buying property, other research from Online Mortgage Advisor reported that there are 10 per cent more properties available to buy within a man’s budget compared to a woman’s.

According to the responses collected in Mashroom’s survey, over a quarter of women (28 per cent) believe they can only afford to borrow less than £100,000 for their mortgage while less than one fifth of men (17 per cent) believe the same.

On average, women believe they could borrow £194,000.50 for their mortgage compared to £285,983 for men.

Furthermore, the average amount women saved for their deposit or to move to a new property was £14,875.10, however men saved on average £15,841.70.

It was also discovered that although women are paid less, they spend the most on everyday essentials.

The average price for a haircut for a woman is £31.99, however it is £12.17 on average for men. Moreover, the average price a woman pays for sanitary products in her lifetime is £5,000, men do not have this financial outlay.

Mashroom’s COO, Naveen Jaspal, said: “It was eye opening, comparing men and women’s property buying experiences and whether the pay gap extends to the property market and from looking at the results, it clearly does.

“It was shocking to find out that women believe they could only borrow £194,000.50 for their mortgage, whereas men say they think they can borrow £285,983, It’s a major difference.

“We hope that our findings can draw attention to the issues that women face when buying a property compared to men.”

Gender pay gap in property sector

In the property sector, gender pay gap reporting has also revealed disparities between the salaries of men and women.

The most recent figures from Countrywide for 2020 showed that women earned 77p for every £1 that men earned when comparing median hourly wages. Their median hourly wage was 23 per cent lower than male colleagues.

Across Savills, women were paid 37% less than men with an even bigger bonus gap at 69 per cent in 2018.

Read more about the gender pay gap here.