The salary you need to earn to rent alone London, according to the Economist

"It's no secret that London's rental market is in a very poor state right now. As much as we'd all love to have a place all to ourselves, eye-watering prices force many - particularly young - Londoners to make do with a flat share. But how much would you need to earn in order to afford renting an apartment of your own? And how does that compare to other major cities across Europe?"

"The publication goes by the general rule of thumb that rent is affordable when it costs no more than 30 percent of the tenant's monthly income. So, each city's 'Bradshaw score' is calculated by dividing the average local wage by the wage that would be needed to keep rent within budget. Any place with a score less than one is branded unaffordable."

"The Big Smoke got a 'Bradshaw score' of just 0.68 percent. In London, the average wage is £55,530 and the average one-bed flat sits at £2,000 a month. That means anyone on an average salary would have to say goodbye to 44 percent of their income in order to rent on their own. To comfortably afford that and stay within the 30 percent budget, you'd need to be earning £81,800 a year."

The 'Carrie Bradshaw Index' measures flat affordability across 28 European cities using a 30 percent-of-income affordability rule. Each city's Bradshaw score equals the average local wage divided by the wage needed to keep rent within that 30 percent threshold; scores below one indicate unaffordability. London posts a Bradshaw score of 0.68, with an average wage of £55,530 and a one-bed rent of £2,000 monthly, meaning average earners spend 44 percent of income on rent. Eight cities are less affordable than London, including Lisbon, Budapest and Prague; Tbilisi ranks worst and Bonn ranks most affordable.

Read at Time Out London