Women are facing a growing gender housing gap amid spiralling property costs, experts have warned, as analysis shows there is no region in England where the average rent is affordable for a woman on median earnings.
Recent data shows it takes women prospective housebuyers an average of 3.7 years longer to get on the property ladder after the gender pay gap increased last year.
In 2021, the gap among full-time employees was 7.9 per cent, up from 7 per cent in 2020. Among all employees, the gender pay gap increased to 15.4 per cent, from 14.9 per cent in 2020.
On average women will spend a higher proportion of their salaries on housing costs, with data from property website Spareroom.com showing almost one in five women (19.5 per cent) spend more than half of their take home pay on rent, compared to 14.4 per cent of men.
Rental prices are also rising amid the cost of living crisis, with the Office of National Statistics finding average monthly rents increased by 2.0 per cent in the 12 months to January 2022, compared to 1.8 per cent the previous year.
The Women’s Budget Group research shows the average home to rent is affordable for men on median earnings in every region except London and the South East, however no regions were affordable for women.
Dr Sara Reis, deputy director and head of research at the Women’s Budget Group, warned the inbalance is seeing many women locked out of securing their own home, with knock-on effects including some being potentially forced to stay in abusive relationships.
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She told i: “Housing affordability is a far bigger issue for women simply because they earn less. They are also more likely to be in insecure work making it harder to rent or meet the criteria of many landlords.
“Renting, never mind buying a home, is unattainable for many women, particularly disabled women or women of colour, who have even lower average earnings.
“This would be concerning at the best of times, but in the midst of a cost of living crisis, it’s frankly, alarming.
“Rising rents will further impact this. There are also implications here for women in abusive relationships – the harder it is to rent on your own, the harder it is to leave an abusive relationship.
“So much is tied into the need for secure housing, yet it remains out of reach for too many women.”
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