DUMFRIES and Galloway is one of the most affordable places to stay in the country during this cost of living crisis, it has been revealed.
A new report has highlighted how it cost £1246 a month on average to rent a home in Britain in the year up to March 2024.
That’s roughly 250 percent more expensive than renting in this region, according to figures collated by the Reach Data Unit.
The media organisation has analysed rental charges and wages across the UK, showing how people in some regions are spending more than half of their take-home pay on rent, as wages fail to keep up with soaring prices.
However, the average cost of renting a property each month in Dumfries and Galloway, as of March this year, was £475.
Meanwhile, the average cost of renting a property elsewhere in Scotland, as of March 2024, was £975.
The flipside to this is that Dumfries and Galloway’s poverty levels have been getting increasingly worse. Employment rates are crashing and the wages are lower locally than anywhere else in Scotland. One in four children here are also living in poverty.
This prompted the setup of a new tackling poverty, inequalities, and housing sub-committee by Dumfries and Galloway Council in March.
This group will now scrutinise the work of various council departments, including housing and social work, to ensure that major issues are being addressed.
North Dumfries Councillor Andy Ferguson, who called for the creation of the dedicated anti-poverty forum, described it as “the biggest issue that’s facing us right now.”
