The share of a household's gross income spent on rent; lenders and policymakers use it as an affordability gauge, with anything above roughly 30–40 percent seen as stretched.
Related terms
- Second home
A property bought for leisure or occasional use rather than a primary residence.
- Social housing
Housing provided or subsidised by government or non-profits for households who cannot access the open market, allocated by need rather than ability to pay.
- Affordability
The relationship between house prices or rents and household incomes.
- Affordable housing
Housing priced so that lower- and middle-income households spend no more than a set share of income (often 30 percent) on rent or purchase; a growing policy fo…
- Build-to-rent (BTR)
Purpose-built residential developed specifically to be rented rather than sold.
- Buy-to-let
A property bought specifically to rent out for income and capital growth rather than to occupy; a mainstay of individual investor demand in Dubai's off-plan an…
- Co-living
A rental format offering private bedrooms with shared kitchens, lounges, and services, marketed to young professionals; gaining traction in Dubai and Riyadh as…
- Compound (gated community)
A walled residential development with controlled access and shared amenities (security, pools, retail, schools), the dominant premium housing format in Cairo's…