Simple Rent Affordability Calculator For 2026

What The Rent Affordability Calculator Works Out

• Maximum monthly rent: your gross annual household income divided by 30, the referencing test most UK letting agents apply. Earn GBP 30,000 and you will typically pass for rents up to GBP 1,000 a month; a GBP 1,500 flat needs GBP 45,000 of household income.
• Comfortable range: 25% to 35% of gross monthly income. Passing referencing is not the same as comfort, and the classic budgeting guidance keeps rent near 30% of gross pay.
• Weekly equivalent: the monthly rent multiplied by 12 and divided by 52, the figure used in deposit caps and many London listings.
• Salary needed mode: flips the sum round: the monthly rent multiplied by 30 gives the income an agent will look for, and by 36 gives what a guarantor usually has to earn.
• Agent's and guarantor's multiples (advanced): override the 30x and 36x assumptions. Some agents use 2.5x annual rent (also 30x monthly), others 35x or 40x in competitive markets, and several months' rent in advance is sometimes accepted instead.
• Deposit cap (advanced): since the Tenant Fees Act 2019 deposits in England are capped at 5 weeks' rent where the annual rent is under GBP 50,000, and 6 weeks above. Most letting fees are banned.
• Cash to move in (advanced): the capped deposit plus the rent in advance you are asked for (normally one month). Any holding deposit of up to a week's rent is credited against this rather than added.
• True monthly housing cost (advanced): rent plus the council tax, energy, water, broadband and contents insurance that come on top, which can add several hundred pounds a month, shown as a share of gross monthly income.
• After existing commitments (advanced): some agents and most guarantor checks deduct regular loan and card repayments from income before applying the multiple, so GBP 200 a month of repayments knocks GBP 2,400 off the usable income.

Source and further reading: MoneyHelper.