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Calls for rent controls as data highlights strain on tenants
The Guardian
|August 19, 2025
Renting a home in England is increasingly unaffordable, according to official figures that show tenants now pay an average of more than a third of their income on rent.
People earning a median salary spent 36.3% of their income on an average-priced rented home in England in 2024, up from 34.2% in 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The figures show the cost is moving further beyond a 30% rent-to-income threshold that the ONS considers to be affordable and have fuelled calls for rent regulation.
This story is from the August 19, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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