YORK is almost off-limits to lower-income families wanting to rent privately because rents have soared so high, according to a new study.

A couple with one child and a net annual income of £22,000 would have to spend 34 per cent of that income to rent a modest two bedroom property in the city, says the Home Truths report by a think tank, the Resolution Foundation.

It says such a property would cost £625 a month to rent privately, just a little less than the £682 monthly cost of a typical mortgage.

The city lies just below a 35 per cent threshold which the Foundation says is the widely accepted definition of affordability – above which a property cannot be afforded.

In Harrogate, a couple would need to spend 32 per cent of the £22,000 net income to rent such a home (£595). In Hambleton, they would need to spend 27 per cent (£495); in Selby 26 per cent (£475) and in Ryedale and East Yorkshire, 24 per cent (£450).

The figures were compiled using comprehensive housing market data from independent residential property analysts Hometrack.

The foundation says demand for private rentals, coupled with low interest rates, means rents are now more expensive than the cost of monthly mortgage repayments on a property in almost half of the country and exceed the costs of social rent and shared ownership schemes in all cases.

“Yet private renting is increasingly the only option for millions of families who are not wealthy enough to afford a buyer’s deposit nor vulnerable enough to qualify for social housing,” said a spokesman.

“Most low to middle income households under the age of 35 (52 per cent) are now private renters.”

Nationwide, the monthly rent for the property ranges from £340 in Blaenau Gwent in Wales, or 18 per cent of income, to £2,380 in Kensington and Chelsea, 130 per cent.

The report says the national shortage of housing is responsible for the affordability crisis, but local action can ease those pressures – for example, building a new development of 100 homes for rent in an area would have a big impact on prices locally.