There are more properties for rent in Oxford for £1,000 per month than all other cheaper properties combined, research carried out by the Oxford Mail has revealed.

This comes as the Government yesterday set out a £8.6 billion funding package to make owning a home a ‘realistic and affordable’ goal for thousands of families.

The £8.6 billion allocation will deliver properties including 57,000 homes for ownership, 29,600 for social rent, typically around 50 per cent to 60 per cent of market rates, and 6,250 affordable rural homes.

The remaining homes will be available for ‘affordable’ rent, officials said.

How many rental properties are available in Oxford?

Using a snapshot date of August 31, the Oxford Mail compared the number of properties available for rent on Zoopla in different price brackets within a 10 mile radius of Oxford.

We set Zoopla’s search filters at £200 intervals between the minimum and maximum rental price and compared number of properties available between £100 and £4,250 per calendar month (pcm).

For the purposes of research, we had ‘all property types’ show up in the results which included houses, flats, farms/land and shared accommodation.

The search results showed there were 215 properties available to rent in Oxford for between £900 and £1,250 pcm, the highest number of properties available in any of the price brackets.

This single price range had more properties available than all the other cheaper price brackets combined, where there were a combined total of 206 properties.  

Properties for rent in the £1,250 – £1,750 price range had the second highest availability, with 168 available for rent.

At the extreme ends of the search criteria, there were 31 properties available between £100 and £500 and 23 available between £3,250 and £4,250 per calendar month.

How affordable are these properties?

According to recent research by Homelet, the latest Rental Index for July 2021 shows the average rent in the UK is now at a record high of £1,029, up 6.6 per cent on the same time last year.

The average rent in the South East is now £1,119 per month which is up 8.2 per cent from £1,034 last year.

It is clear rent in Oxford is very much in line with national and regional trends as the majority of rental properties are available for around this price.

These high rents mean many renters, even those on higher wages, may be paying out half of their salary to a landlord, leaving little room for long term savings.

The average salary in Oxford is currently estimated to be around £33,200 which after tax and national insurance is about £26,240 a year – or £2,187 per month – in take home pay.

On the Government’s fund package, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “This huge funding package will make the ambition of owning a home a reality for families by making it realistic and affordable.

“We are also ensuring tens of thousands of new homes for rent are built in the years ahead, including social rent, so those on the lowest incomes can enjoy good quality, secure, rented homes, built and managed by reputable providers.”