In Newcastle tenants have the hardest time finding a property based on the average cost of renting, research by Zero deposit has revealed.
Just 9% of all current rental properties listed on the market in Newcastle have an asking price of £700 per month or less, close to the city’s current average rental cost of £681 per month.
It’s Sheffield where tenants have the best chance of securing a property around or below the average cost of renting in the city.
The current average cost of renting in Sheffield sits at £717 per month and the research shows that there are currently some 1,739 rental properties listed with an asking rent of up to £800. This equates to a huge 68% of total rental stock currently listed across the city.
Sam Reynolds, chief executive of Zero Deposit, said: “Today’s rental market is a perfect storm for tenants and for many, successfully navigating the rental market to find their perfect property is an impossibly tough task. The biggest obstacle remains the cost of securing a property.
“Doing your research is always key, but especially today as tenants are being forced to heavily compromise and reset expectations to find an acceptable property. The compromises span the number of bedrooms, outside space and increasingly, the location of the property. Average salaries, while improving, aren’t keeping pace with the rental market.
“Statistics on rental market affordability will often focus around the ‘average’ cost of renting in a given area and while this is useful information to have, it won’t necessarily provide you with a realistic benchmark of how affordable a given area is.
“For example, less than one in 10 rental properties in Newcastle currently command an asking rent at or below the city’s average, which demonstrates the challenge renters face when it comes to their hunt for a rental home.”