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Third of millennial renters can’t afford to attend friends’ weddings, new study says



It’s no secret we’re in the middle of a renting crisis. Salaries aren’t keeping up with the rising cost of rent and a new study has found it’s had a surprising consequence for millennials: a third now say they can’t afford to attend friends’ weddings.

The study, by renting website SpareRoom, polled 1,000 renters across its network and found that 31 per cent of millennial renters are falling into debt from attending the weddings of friends. 

Furthermore, 15 per cent of millennial renters have had to move out of their rental property as a result of spending too much money attending weddings and not being able to afford rent.

A study earlier this year by American Express found the average cost of attending a wedding in the UK for 2019 is £391 per guest, which is almost a third more than last year.

In the SpareRoom study, nearly half (44 per cent) of respondents report turning down wedding invitations because they can’t afford to go, and 62 per cent of millennials say they have lost friendships because they’ve said no to a wedding due to money issues.

According to SpareRoom’s research, finding an outfit is the most expensive part of attending a wedding in the UK, followed by gifts, accommodation and attending hen and stag dos.

2017 Office for National Statistics report found that the average UK renter was paying 27 per cent of their gross salary to their landlord in 2016, while renters in London were spending 49 per cent of their salary on rent.

Matt Hutchinson, Director of SpareRoom, said: “To hear that some renters have had to move out of their home and move back in with their parents as a result of spending too much money attending weddings is quite shocking.

“If you decide you can’t afford to attend a friend’s wedding, meet up face to face and have a conversation with them about the reasons why – the likelihood is they’ll understand and you can move forward with your friendship, rather than lose it.”



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