Belfast rent takes 49% of income according to UK cities affordability study
The gap between what workers earn and what they pay to keep a roof over their heads remains one of the defining financial challenges facing renters across the UK. While pay packets have grown in recent years, rental costs have continued to outpace many household budgets, particularly in some of the country's most desirable cities.
According to the latest Office for National Statistics data, median annual earnings for full-time workers stood at £39,039 in April 2025, while average private rents reached £1,335 per month. That equates to more than £16,000 a year spent on rent for the average tenant, roughly 41% of a typical full-time salary.
To find out where renters face the biggest squeeze, Mortgage Lane compared local earnings and rental costs across 58 UK cities, revealing where housing takes the largest bite out of pay packets.
Belfast ranks ninth out of 58 UK cities, with renters spending around 49% of their median annual income on housing costs. With average annual rent at £13,560 and median earnings at £27,595, just over half of income remains once rent is paid.
Despite having some of the lowest rental costs in absolute terms among the top 10, lower average earnings place Belfast alongside higher-cost southern cities in terms of affordability pressure. This combination keeps the city within the group where rent takes close to half of typical income.
Belfast shares the 49% rent-to-salary ratio with Chichester, even though the two cities differ significantly in both earnings and rental levels. Above Belfast are cities such as Bristol, London and Oxford, where rent takes a larger share of income.
At the lower end of the ranking, cities such as Kingston upon Hull, Doncaster and Preston see renters spending closer to a quarter of their income on rent, underlining the variation across the UK housing market.
Top 10 UK cities where rent takes the biggest share of salaries
Bath - Median annual income: £35,880 | Average annual rent: £22,512 | Rent-to-salary ratio: 63%
Brighton and Hove - Median annual income: £36,250 | Average annual rent: £21,912 | Rent-to-salary ratio: 60%
Oxford - Median annual income: £39,715 | Average annual rent: £23,424 | Rent-to-salary ratio: 59%
St Albans - Median annual income: £39,163 | Average annual rent: £22,944 | Rent-to-salary ratio: 59%
London - Median annual income: £45,994 | Average annual rent: £26,292 | Rent-to-salary ratio: 57%
Bristol - Median annual income: £40,210 | Average annual rent: £22,656 | Rent-to-salary ratio: 56%
Cambridge - Median annual income: £42,053 | Average annual rent: £21,540 | Rent-to-salary ratio: 51%
Chichester - Median annual income: £32,074 | Average annual rent: £15,828 | Rent-to-salary ratio: 49%
Belfast - Median annual income: £27,595 | Average annual rent: £13,560 | Rent-to-salary ratio: 49%
Exeter - Median annual income: £32,842 | Average annual rent: £15,744 | Rent-to-salary ratio: 48%