Renters turn to parents as rents outpace budgets

Rents are outpacing tenants’ budgets as they turn to parents to help with costs, claims a flat-share website.

Data by SpareRoom reveals half of UK renters have relied on some form of loan, credit, advance or a second income stream to help them pay their rent in the past 12 months.

The figures show Twickenham has the biggest affordability gap in the country. The average rent there now outstrips the average budget by £152 per month, meaning renters need to find an additional £1,827 a year to live in the area.

West London has become the most unaffordable area of the capital for renters

In another London borough, Barnet, the average room rent is now £899 per month, or £1,361 per year, higher than the average renter’s budget.

West London has become the most unaffordable area of the capital for renters. An average budget of £978 might be close to the London average rent of £980, but it falls short in this part of town, where average room rents have risen into four figures at £1,040 per month.

The affordability problem is not only confined to the capital. In the Midlands, market town Stourbridge, which is well connected to Birmingham by rail, is also seeing rents pull ahead of budgets by £119 per month.

Elsewhere, Londonderry, Edinburgh and York are among the cities with the biggest gaps between average budgets and rents.

At £823 per month, Edinburgh is now the second most expensive city in which to rent, after London, but the average flatsharer only has £716 per month to spend.

Affordability pressures have led many renters to rely on extra financial support

According to SpareRoom, UK rents in Q2 2025 were 24% higher than the same period in 2019, as demand continues to outstrip supply.

Despite many renters sharing costs by living together, a survey of 6,524 flatsharers found that three-quarters are now spending more than 30% of their take-home pay on rent, and 26% are spending more than half.

In London, the affordability issue is considerably worse, with eight in 10 spending more than 30% of their pay on rent and 28% spending more than half. The same survey found that 42% of UK renters considered their rent unaffordable, rising to 49% in London.

Affordability pressures have led many renters to rely on extra financial support. More than half of flatsharers (51%) have used loans, credit, salary advances, or a second income to help cover rent in the past 12 months.

In an August 2025 survey of 3,775 flatsharers, 19% had used overdrafts, 18% had taken a loan, 14% had taken on a second job, and 13% had used credit cards to pay their rent.

Reliance on parents to help with costs

Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, also reveals the extent of renters’ reliance on parents and relatives to help with costs.

He said: “Rents have been stabilising over the past year which is masking the huge problems people are facing around affordability. Flatsharers’ budgets simply aren’t meeting asking prices set by agents and landlords in many parts of the UK. That means people are having to lean on parents and relatives, take on second jobs and explore various ways of borrowing to be able to pay their rent each month.

“The fact that over a quarter of under-30s now flatsharing have relied on their parents to be able to start renting in the first place – i.e. with a deposit loan – shows just how hard it is to leave home at all.”