Where Europeans Spend the Most on Rent, Mapped

The average renter in the U.K. pays more than double the E.U. average for their home. That’s the stark picture (stark for Britons, at least) painted by some new maps released this week by Britain’s National Housing Federation. Based on E.U. figures for 2013 (the last year for which figures are available for the entire union) the two maps detail the cost of renting across the E.U.—the first in absolute terms and the second as a proportion of average income. While looking at countries as a whole can mask extreme differences from region to region, the results provide a fascinating, sometimes surprising snapshot of the dramatic peaks and troughs of Europe’s private rental market.

Let’s start with the first map, which details the absolute cost of private rents. With an average rent of €902 ($1,009) per month, the U.K. has the highest average rent by a mile. Second position is taken by Ireland, but with a rental figure of €679 ($760), the average Irish renter still has €223 ($249) less to find every month. The next clutch of higher-rent countries—the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, and Belgium—cluster slightly above the €600 ($672) mark, while the E.U.’s lowest rents by far are to be found in Latvia, at just €186 ($208) a month.