SW renters have paid £38,000 on average to their landlord since 2010

Someone paying rent for an average two bedroom home in the South West would have forked out £38,137 to their landlord over the last five years, new analysis by housing and homelessness charity Shelter reveals today.

This is just under the sum needed for a 20% deposit on the average first time buyer home in the region, which is currently priced at £195,672.

With millions of renters caught in a ‘rent trap’, paying sky high housing costs and unable to keep up with rocketing house prices, the research pulls out the areas where ‘generation rent’ are forking out the most.

Eye-watering sums of rent were found across the region. Living in an average rented home in Bath and North East Somerset would have meant paying out more than £49,000 over five years, in Bristol  it’s £47,855, and in Poole, it’s £44,330.

Government figures released last month showed the depth of this problem, as ‘generation rent’ continues to grow. Nationally, 46% of 25-34 year olds now privately rent, compared to just 24% 10 years ago.

With housing costs showing no sign of abating, Shelter is calling on the government to commit to investing in homes which people on ordinary wages can actually afford to rent or buy.

Campbell Robb, Shelter’s Chief Executive, said: “When just five years of rent could get you the deposit on a house, it’s no wonder the South West’s renters feel like they’re getting a raw deal, paying through the nose for something they can never call their own.

“Our drastic shortage of affordable homes is leaving millions of people stuck in their childhood bedrooms in a bid to save money, or in expensive and unstable private renting with little hope of ever saving for a home to put down roots in.

“It doesn’t have to be this way – the government can turn things around by investing in homes that people on ordinary wages can actually afford to buy, or rent for the long-term.”