New research has revealed that lone renters in London spend on average two-thirds of their income on living essentials – not including food.

According to the ONS, (Source) a property is deemed affordable if a household spends 30% or less of their income on rent but lone renters in London are spending around 55% of their income on their rent alone.

There are currently over 7,899,000 people living in lone households across the UK, and this number is projected to soar to 10.7 million by 2039 (Source).

Brits living alone, particularly in a city centre, are far more likely to be renting. Many in this position have reported feeling less financially secure than couples without children because they have to spend a greater proportion of their income on rent and essential housing costs.

The wider picture is that lone renters have less opportunity to accumulate wealth through purchasing a home and paying off their mortgage, and also report lower levels of happiness and higher levels of anxiety than those living with a partner and no children.

Consumer Finance Experts at CashLady.com have conducted research into the average cost of living for lone renters across ten leading cities in the UK to rank the most unaffordable cities for this demographic.

Cost of living calculations were based on the average post-tax salary in each city against the average cost of a 1-bed in the city centre, a Council Tax Band A charge as well as electricity, water and internet costs.

The cities were then ranked from one to ten in terms of the cost of living, with one being ranked most expensive and ten being ranked the cheapest.