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Questions, awkwardly answered.

Money · Rent affordability check

Rent Affordability Checker

Enter your take-home pay and monthly rent to get a ratio verdict — with thresholds adjusted for London, major cities, and the rest of the UK.

Instant result Plain-English why Copyable takeaway
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Rent affordability check

Use your per-person share of rent if you live with others.

What this means

This tool calculates your rent-to-income ratio and compares it against location-adjusted affordability thresholds to give a green, amber, or red verdict.

Formula used

Rent affordability ratio = (per-person monthly rent ÷ monthly take-home pay) × 100. Thresholds: London 35% / 50%, major cities 30% / 45%, elsewhere 30% / 40%.

Worked example

Take-home £2,200/month. Rent £750/month. Ratio: 34%. In a major city that's amber — above the 30% guideline but below the stress threshold. In London it would be green.

Common questions

What is the 30% rule?
The standard guideline is that rent should not exceed 30% of gross income. On take-home pay the effective threshold is slightly higher. This tool uses take-home pay and adjusts thresholds by location, since rents in London and major cities run significantly higher.

Should I include bills in my rent figure?
If your rent includes bills, your actual outgoing on housing is the rent figure. If bills are on top, your true housing cost is rent plus bills. The tool flags which you've entered so you can interpret the result accordingly.

Plain-English summary

Enter your figures to see what share of your take-home pay goes on rent and whether that's affordable for where you live.

This section translates the result into a short, direct takeaway rather than leaving the page at a bare number.

Disclaimer: This tool is for illustrative purposes only. Affordability depends on your full costs picture — bills, food, transport, debt — not rent alone. Not financial advice.

Read the guide

How much of your income should rent cost — and what the 30% rule actually means

The 30% rule is a starting point, not a law. Here's what it means, where it comes from, and why location and bills change the calculation.

Read the guide

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