Rent as a Percentage of Income

Rent as a Percentage of Income

Median Rent figures are easily available for Brisbane in Queensland, from the Queensland Residential Tenancies Authority.

These figures were available for the 3 months ended Sept 2010.

    Weekly Rent Property Type New Rentals
    $365.00 Two bedroom flats/units 4,303
    $380.00 3 Bedroom Houses 3,117
    $280.00 One bedroom flats/units 2,226
    $450.00 4 Bedroom Houses 1,627
    $380.00 3 Bedroom Townhouses 1,479
    $430.00 Three bedroom flats/units 893
    $350.00 Two bedroom houses 627
    $350.00 Two bedroom townhouses 315

From the above 14,000 new tenancies in that 3 month period, in the Brisbane area, we are able to get an idea of the real accommodation costs for those in rental properties.

If we then look at those costs in relation to the average wage, we see the following:

Queensland average Full Time earnings, $1,284.70 per week.

Comparing the rent of a 3 Bedroom House in Brisbane, to the average persons wage in Queensland, we see that it is 29.6% of that persons wage.

Looking at UK wages, with a source from the BBC, the average Full Time earnings in different regions of the UK were, in 2008:

    Location Annual Income
    London £46,462
    South East £32,819
    East £30,318
    Scotland £28,296
    South West £28,182
    East Midlands £28,057
    North West £28,045
    West Midlands £27,872
    Yorkshire & the Humber £27,534
    Wales £25,677
    North East £25,551
    Northern Ireland £25,550

These 2008 wages should be increased by 2.6% to use as a 2010 figure, based on this:

  • UK Average weekly income Aug 2008 £430
  • UK Average weekly income Aug 2010 £441 increase of 2.6%

Therefore, the equivalent UK weekly rentals, for a 3 bedroom House, based on the Brisbane figures, should be:

    Weekly Rent Location
    £272 London
    £192 South East
    £178 East
    £166 Scotland
    £165 South West
    £165 East Midlands
    £164 North West
    £163 West Midlands
    £161 Yorkshire & the Humber
    £151 Wales
    £150 North East
    £150 Northern Ireland

Some UK rental figures can be seen at rentright, and these show the national average rent for a 3 bedroom property as:

3 bedroom properties and flats
Average Rental Prices for October 2010: £1131 or £261 per week.

These same 3 bedroom properties, broken down by location, have average weekly rental figures of:

    Weekly Rent Location
    £520 London
    £240 Oxfordshire
    £205 Cornwall
    £198 Kent
    £144 West Midlands
    £143 Lancashire
    £141 West Yorkshire

This seems to show that some areas of the UK are comparable, in a percentage of income term, to the Brisbane rental figures. However, London is a much higher % of income, with an average rental of $520 pw or 58% of the London average full time income.

Sources:

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