Brighton ranked as 'worst city in UK for single renters'

The research found those renting alone in the city would have the least amount of money left over after their outgoings on bills, rent and groceries, compared with other cities across the UK - including London.

On average, single renters in Brighton were found to have £149.60 left over - compared with an average of £1,526.24 for single people renting in Aberdeen.

The research used the average rent prices across all kinds of property, as well as average salaries after tax and the cost of groceries, to calculate average outgoings.

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Andy Winter, chief executive of Brighton Housing Trust said: "Yet again we have a report that tells us what we already know – that Brighton and Hove is an incredibly expensive place to live, whether you are a renter of a local person trying to get on the home ownership ladder.

“The fault lies with the government that has policies that don’t alleviate housing need but, conversely, fuel house price inflation.

“Brighton and Hove City Council must also shoulder some responsibility.

“For far too long the council has worked with large housing associations who are not delivering the low rent homes we need.

“The Preston Barracks site is a prime example of a so-called housing association securing a site but not delivering the homes we need.

“The solution is not difficult. There needs to be a massive programme of council house building and the council must work proactively with community-based housing providers rather than those organisations whose main focus is on their profits.

“We need to aim to have housing policies that recognise that housing is where people live, not merely an investment opportunity for the rich.”

Andy Winter, chief executive at Brighton Housing Trust

The average rent in Brighton for an entire property was found to be £1,466 per month, and the average salary £22,575.84, according to the study by shutters company Thomas Sanderson.

In London, the average rent was found to be £1,557.89, with an average salary of £29,480.

Councillor David Gibson, chairman of the council’s housing committee, said: “Recent Rightmove figures point to studios costing around £757 per month on average and rooms £545 per month, as opposed to the figure suggested of £1,461 per month.

“But without fairer government regulation of the private rented sector, it’s certainly the case that many single renters in our city spend far more than the 33 per cent maximum recommended by housing experts.

“Private rents are too high and in many cases can price people out of the city. To address this we are committed to delivering more council homes and more affordable homes in the city."

Cllr Gibson said the council is working to maximise its delivery of additional council homes, and aims to build nearly 200 new council homes in 2021 and 2022.

These include 42 new council homes in Victoria Road in Portslade, with building work starting this spring.

He added: “Some 90 homes are to be brought back under the council’s buy-back scheme.

“At the Preston Barracks site, developers Optivo are providing 245 homes affordable homes – 51 rented and 194 shared ownership.

“Homes for Brighton and Hove, the council’s development partnership with Hyde Housing, will deliver 178 homes for the council to rent at the government’s social rent level.

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“Separately, Hyde’s development in School Road, Hove, is delivering 60 homes at social rent levels.

“We are also expecting to deliver more than 1,000 homes in partnership with registered developers in the next couple of years.

“On top of this, we continue our work to develop a good landlord scheme, to ensure a more positive experience for renters.

“We also want to lobby for more affordable housing. Through our representations on the City Plan and planning policy, we have made clear our objection to national government planning law, which often results in developers prioritising profit before affordability.”