March 3, 2016 10.09 am This story is over 101 months old

Average Lincoln renters fork out £30k every five years, enough for home deposit

Rent prices: People renting an average two bedroom home in Lincoln would have forked out over £30,000 to their landlord in the last five years.
Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

People renting an average two bedroom home in Lincoln would have forked out over £30,000 to their landlord in the last five years.

New analysis by housing and homelessness charity Shelter has revealed that the average rent in Lincoln of £30,123 stands close to the East Midlands average of £30,488.

This is the same as the sum needed for a 20% deposit on the average first time buyer home in the region, which is currently priced at £149,642.

Outside of Lincoln, other districts have even higher rents, with South Kesteven (£31,195), Boston (£31,130) and South Holland (£30,765) all above the East Midlands average in the period.

Overall, some areas of Lincolnshire are the cheapest places to rent in the East Midlands, with North Kesteven (£28,624) and East Lindsey (£26,893) below the regional average.

Indeed, renters in West Lindsey are paying the lowest amount to landlords on average out of all 40 districts in the East Midlands.

However, this figure of £25,104 over the last five years is still the equivalent value of 17% of a first time buyer home in the region.

At the other end of the scale, living in an average rented home in South Northamptonshire would have meant paying out more than £39,000 over five years, in Nottingham £34,891, and in Rushcliffe, £33,753.

Nationally, 46% of 25-34 year olds now privately rent, compared to just 24% 10 years ago.

Campbell Robb, Shelter’s Chief Executive, said: “When just five years of rent could get you the deposit on a house, it’s no wonder that renters in the East Midlands feel like they’re getting a raw deal, paying through the nose for something they can never call their own.

“Our drastic shortage of affordable homes is leaving millions of people stuck in their childhood bedrooms in a bid to save money, or in expensive and unstable private renting with little hope of ever saving for a home to put down roots in.

“It doesn’t have to be this way – the government can turn things around by investing in homes that people on ordinary wages can actually afford to buy, or rent for the long-term.”