Rents are becoming 'unaffordable'

As people looking for cheap mortgages struggle to get on the property ladder, rents across England have increased exponentially.

New research from Shelter revealed that average private rents are unaffordable for ordinary working families in over half of local authorities in England.

Typical rents are now a third of average take-home pay, the usual indicator of affordability.

The organisation found that rents increased at one and a half times the rate of incomes in the period of 1997 to 2007.

"Over recent years we have seen more and more people forced into renting, as high house prices and a lack of social housing have made it the only option for thousands of ordinary families. What we're seeing now is that renting is no longer the easy, cheap alternative to home ownership," said Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter.

However, new statistics from Santander have revealed that Brits are saving more each month than they were this time last year.

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2011-10-13 13:51:28 © Moneyextra.com