The Surrey towns where being single hurts you the most in the housing market

The cost of renting a home is on the rise in Surrey, with single-income households in Spelthorne feeling the pinch in particular. The average cost of renting a home in Spelthorne has risen by £166 a month over the last year, with typical rents now standing at £1,567 a month.

Finding that extra money each month can be a tough ask for any renters, but it’s particularly hard for those with just a single income coming in. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics earlier this month showed that 33% of the average household income in Spelthorne goes on rent.

However, household income takes into account all salaries coming into the household, so for couples where both of them work, this will be two salaries. It means things are much tougher for those having to survive on a single income, be that on their own or as part of a couple.

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Spelthorne’s average rent now works out as 46% of the average individual full-time worker’s salary. That’s above the national average of 42% and is one of the highest rates of any local authority in the country.

Things are a little better for those with a one-bed property, with their average rent working out as 33% of the average full-time salary, while a two-bed is 43%.

Epsom and Ewell is the next least affordable place to live in Surrey. The average rent there works out as 45% of the average full-time salary of someone living in the area.

In Elmbridge and Tandridge the proportion is 44%, while in Guildford it’s 43% and in Woking it’s 42%. Waverley is the most affordable place to rent in Surrey with rents in the area taking up 34% of the average local salary.

London, as you might expect, is the most unaffordable to rent when on a single income. The average rent in the capital takes up 58% of the average full-time income of someone that lives there.

That increases to 79% in Kensington and Chelsea though, 74% in Westminster, 69% in Camden and 65% in both Brent and Hammersmith and Fulham.

Brighton and Hove is the least affordable place to rent outside of the capital. The average rent there takes up 55% of the average local full-time salary. In Bristol it’s 54% and in Oxford it’s 52%.

Manchester is the North of England’s least affordable place to rent. The average rent there makes up 46% of the average full-time salary.

Even a one-bed property there, though, takes up just over a third (34%) of the average income. That's the same as in Bristol, and only just behind Brighton (35%) and Oxford (36%).

You can see how much average rents compare to full-time salaries in your local authority by using our interactive map.

Cumberland and Powys are the most affordable places to rent in the country. The average rent in both local authorities works out as 19% of the typical full-time salary for someone who lives there.

For those just after a one-bed property, the rent works out as 14%, which is also the joint most affordable in the country. North East Lincolnshire, Northumberland, Hartlepool and Neath Port Talbot are the other areas where a one-bed home works out at 14% of the local average salary.

How about buying?

Buying a home for people living on a single income is also problematic. The average house costs £294,446 to buy in Great Britain, according to the latest official figures. That’s 7.8-times the average salary for someone working full-time.

Given lenders will traditionally offer an amount between four and five times your income, someone on the average full-time salary would need a deposit of between £106,841 and £144,362 in order to buy the average home.

The average home in Elmbridge costs 13.7-times the local average full-time salary. That’s the highest income to house price ratio in Surrey. Tandridge has the next highest at 12.7, followed by Epsom and Ewell with 12.3 and Guildford with 11.8.

London is the least affordable place to buy a home. The average house price in Kensington and Chelsea is 22.5-times greater than the average full-time salary of people that live there. Westminster is next with the average house there costing 19.0-times the average local salary. That’s followed by Camden (18.3-times), Hammersmith and Fulham (15.4-times), and Brent (14.0-times).

Wychavon in the West Midlands is the least affordable place to buy a home outside of London and the South. The average home in the local authority costs 10.0-times the average local full-time salary. Stratford-on-Avon is next at 9.9-times the average salary, followed by Trafford in Greater Manchester at 9.8-times.