Inequalities in housing affordability

Housing affordability matters for health, both directly and indirectly. Difficulty paying the rent or mortgage can harm people’s mental health, while spending more on housing leaves less for other essentials that can be beneficial for health, such as food and socialising.

This chart shows the proportion of people in households paying more than a third of net household income on housing by age, ethnicity and income. It shows how the proportion has changed for different groups over the past 10 years.

• 16% of people aged 16–24 and 14% of people aged 25–34 spent more than a third of their income on housing costs in 2023/24. This compares with 11% of 35 to 44-year-olds and 9% of 45 to 54-year-olds. This is partly because older working-age groups tend to have higher incomes and are more likely to have lower housing costs because they own their homes.
• Over the past decade, housing affordability has declined across all age groups, and the most for people aged 25–34.
• A higher proportion of people in all minority ethnic groups have high relative housing costs compared with white British people. Over a fifth (23%) of people from black, black British, Caribbean or African groups as well as people from other ethnic groups (30%) spend more than a third of their income on housing. This is also the case for 17% of people from mixed or multiple ethnic groups and 19% for people from Asian or Asian British groups. This compares with only 8% of white people.
• 28% of people in households on the lowest incomes spent more than a third of their income on housing costs in 2023/24, compared with only 2% of people in households in the top income quintile (the top 20% of incomes).
• Over the last 10 years, the percentage of people on the lowest incomes who spend more than a third of their income on housing has increased by 7 percentage points, while for people on the highest incomes it has slightly decreased.