Brighton and Hove has some of the least affordable rents in the whole country, according to recently released official figures.
And local campaigners said that the government’s recent Renters (Reform) Bill had failed to offer any hope of rent controls to help private tenants.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that a private sector tenant earning an average wage would be likely to spend about 43 per cent of their income on rent.
This was the highest figure in the south east and the second highest outside the capital – after Bristol – as well proportionately more expensive than more than half of the boroughs in London.
The 2023-24 figure was broadly the same as the year before although it was below the recent peak of more than 52 per cent recorded by the ONS before the coronavirus pandemic.
The average across the south east was about 30 per cent – the level considered affordable – and across England it was 36.3 per cent.
Rent affordability in the areas neighbouring Brighton and Hove were all close to the south east average.
David Gibson, co-ordinator of the Living Rent Campaign in Brighton and Hove, said: “The Living Rent Campaign has, for the last 10 years been campaigning for rent controls in private rented housing for areas where rents are really unaffordable like Brighton and Hove.”
Mr Gibson said that the latest ONS figures showed that rents had again rising faster than incomes and made Brighton and Hove one of the least affordable places outside London.
He said: “More landlords are selling up and the remaining ones are exploiting the shortage of rented accommodation to hike rents faster than wages.
“Struggling to pay extortionate rents puts families under huge strain, forcing some to choose between heating, eating and paying the rent.
“Some are forced to move away from the city that has been their home. This is unacceptable in the sixth-richest country in the world and the government needs to act
“With a new government and with the Renters (Reform) Bill, we had a golden opportunity to pass laws allowing councils to bring in rent controls in areas like ours. We were so disappointed they did nothing to control rents.
“As well as lobbying local Labour MPs in government, we will keep pushing the council to speak up for residents in the city and persuade their colleagues in government to side with tenants on rents.
“As a campaign, we will also continue to press the council to buy and build more desperately needed social housing at living rents to alleviate the shortage of affordable housing.”
If rent controls were brought in there would be no private sector rental housing left. The remaining private landlords would just sell. Private landlords have already sold in their hundreds in the city in response to the removal of section 21 and most would rather sell or keep their properties empty if they are working overseas or elsewhere in the country. A shortage of supply means higher rents. Anyway if Reform get elected and they start deporting all foreigners that are not earning enough to live here without taxpayer subsidy it will free up huge amounts of housing.
The evidence suggests the picture is more complicated than “rent controls drive landlords away.” In countries where rent regulation exists, like Germany or parts of Ireland, private rental markets haven’t disappeared; they’ve just become more stable.
Also, landlords selling up doesn’t actually reduce the overall supply of housing; it often just shifts those homes into the owner-occupier market. The real issue is that the number of rental homes hasn’t kept pace with demand, and wages haven’t kept pace with rents.
Finally, Brighton has always been a city that welcomes people from different backgrounds, and that diversity is part of what makes it such a good place to live. Racism will never have a place here, Francis.
What should we call you, Francis? Francis the racist landlord?
My advice is move to poor-tslade
Hove is for professionals
Hove is for professionals , typical Hove posh bellend
Sadly different areas demand different rents
Best advice. Live where you can afford
If you want to live in Brighton or Hove work hard to be able to afford it
If you don’t earn enough live somewhere like Portslade or burgess hill
The ONS figures show the average tenant here spends 43% of their income on rent, which is way above the 30% considered affordable. It’s not a question of working hard. The reality is that wages simply haven’t kept up. Telling people to move to Burgess Hill or Portslade doesn’t really solve the problem either; it just displaces the problem without addressing the core issue.
“If you want to live in Brighton or Hove work hard to be able to afford it” – So you believe that people can’t afford to live in Brighton and Hove because they don’t work hard enough? Bit of an unfair assessment. I know people that are working their backsides off to be able to live in rented accommodation in Brighton. This country needs to change the way of it’s thinking, not assume that people are not working hard enough to be able to afford rent. Everyone who works should have the right to pay affordable rents. Let’s stop pretending it is people’s fault and start looking toward politicians and greed who allowed rent to become so unaffordable. Not all people who get poorly paid are lazy
Here here. Far too many Tories not affected by rent getting involved in this debate. Push up, don’t punch down
If you can’t afford to live somewhere. Move
Peacehaven. Portslade. Whitehawk. Hangleton. All cheap
Witness the recent grant of permission to build flats at the gasworks Kemptown. It took 5 years. High rents are simply a function of supply and demand. If councils delay developments rents and sale prices will remain high.
As we’ve discussed before, Mike, it is not a simple function of supply and demand. Reality of the housing market doesn’t work that way. Brighton already has thousands of homes tied up in AirBnB, second homes and high-end flats that don’t meet local needs an example of this. Without targeted affordable housing and controls on speculative demand, supply alone won’t fix rents.
I’ve definitely explained this to you before.
Stop it Benji get some help
Leave him alone .
You wouldn’t know how to put up a shelf let alone build a home .
When I lived in the US I didn’t rent in New York as was too expensive against my income
When I lived in London I didn’t rent in Mayfair as was too expensive against my income
If Brighton too expensive live somewhere you can afford
People can’t just pull poor me card and expect everything to be cheap as they can’t afford it.
It’s supply and demand
The problem is the relationship between wages and rent in a given area. If I moved from my current home to somewhere cheaper, my commute to work would be unsustainable (it’s already pretty far). So I’d have to get a job near my new home, which would pay less. Do you see the problem?
Chris, are firefighters, paramedics and nurses allowed to live near their workplaces?
Completely agree! Well said!
Can my mortgage be cheap too so I can afford it please. Also affordable jimmy choo and fine dining as well please. Ha!
High rents and high mortgage costs punish renters and homeowners.
Most homeowners could not afford the rental market rate for their property. You understand this though.
Hopefully soon we can all buy in Brighton. Angela Rayner managed it and she is working class. Hope for us all
Would you be happier in Epping?
Upon reflection, please don’t answer that.
Her mortgage might be under review, her income status has changed since purchase
As long as politicians in Parliament with housing portfolios are allowed to vote on or decide on housing then expect no help from that direction.
I am sure Labour will sort it out. Right?
They are behind the working class. Nonsense they are spending more on immigrants than locals
Citation needed.
They are for working class people like us. Keer starmer, Angela rayner and dianne abbot all superb
Could you quantity your spending point, with citations, please?
Do you mean quantify? I’ll take a look. Ta
Buy a house. Is cheaper. I only pay 1200 for a 4 bed house. Has taken quite a few hard years but worth it. Renting must be awful. Feel for youngsters
t’s a perversely circular system in which individuals are denied access to a mortgage on the grounds that they cannot demonstrate affordability, even though they are already managing to pay rent at a higher, less affordable rate, ironically proving that the supposedly “unaffordable” mortgage would in fact reduce their outgoings and make their housing situation more affordable.
The deposit is the problem. I was lucky my parents leant to a large deposit. Hopefully Labour will bring back 100% mortgage. It’s so much cheaper owning. Renting sucks. Feel awful for people who can’t buy until they are in their 30s 🙁