Renting propertyOnly London’s highest earners able to rent privately at affordable cost, ONS saysMajority of renters facing ‘uphill struggle’ as housing costs in parts of England rise again Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Hilary OsborneWed 6 Oct 2021 08.28 EDTLast modified on Wed 6 Oct 2021 10.16 EDTOnly the top 25% of earners in London were able to privately rent a property in the city at an affordable rate last year, according to official figures on costs across England.Data from the Office for National Statistics revealed that for three-quarters of households, rents in the capital were set at a level equal to more than 30% of their income.The ONS said it considered an area to have affordable private rent if tenants spend no more than 30% of their income on it.Rents in some parts of the country dropped when the pandemic struck but in recent months agents have reported that costs have started to rise again.Tenants were not offered the same payment breaks as mortgage borrowers during the early months of the crisis but were given protections from eviction.A ban on landlords repossessing their properties has ended, and there have been warnings that families who had been receiving the £20 universal credit increase until it was discontinued on Wednesday could struggle to keep their homes.The ONS data, which looked at median earnings among tenants before tax and median rents across the country from 2012-20, underlines …