Caveat: I'm the OpenRent Founder.<p>I would dispute the research slightly, not only is CountryWide data probably not the best out there (they'll deal with higher end vs. <i>huge</i> non-"high street agent" market), but grouping all of London together will be massively skewed by the unbelievably high rental values in prime central london.<p>That's not to say London isn't expensive, and a big chunk of income goes towards it, but in terms of the actual percentages - I'd take it with a pinch of salt.<p>Most referencing companies will look for 2.5x rent -> gross salary. So if you earn 30k annual salary, you can afford 1k per month on rent. If you look at:<p><a href="https://listentotaxman.com/30000?plan=0" rel="nofollow">https://listentotaxman.com/30000?plan=0</a><p>You'll be taking home roughly £1,950. So that's roughly 50% of take home going on rent (54% if you're repaying student loans). Anything higher than that, and a referencing company won't pass you - so it seems odd CountryWide are suggesting their <i>average</i> is 57%.