Families Forced To Spend A Third of Net Income on Housing

At least 1.3m families in England on lower incomes have to spend more than a third of their net income on housing, largely due to a shortage of private rented sector housing, according to a new report from the Resolution Foundation.  The research shows how the combination of the intractable housing market and the earnings squeeze has made housing costs a key source of pressure on living standards. It also underlines the importance of the private rented sector to spiralling housing costs.  The housing sector tends to classify housing costs as unaffordable if they are set at 35% or above net income. The 1.3m figure represents almost one in four of the 5.6m low-to-middle income households of working age in Britain.  Read more on the Guardian website.