Soaring rents making life ‘unaffordable’ for private UK tenants, research shows

Exclusive: Findings come amid rising evictions, price gouging' claims and fears of homelessness emergency

Soaring rents have in effect made life unaffordable for private tenants across swathes of the UK, according to research undertaken for the Guardian.

The analysis shows asking rents on new listings are up by almost a third since 2019 - and some people are facing increases of up to 60%. Prices in 48 council areas are now classed by the Office for National Statistics as unaffordable when compared with average wages.