MORE homes in Oxfordshire are being rented out by landlords than before, a county council study has found.

Its Joint Spatial Needs Assessment (JSNA) found an estimated 26 per cent of homes in the county were being privately rented in 2017. That was up from 22 per cent in 2012.

The cheapest market housing costs more than 10 times the lowest earnings in Oxfordshire, the study said.

The cost of renting in Oxfordshire remains well above the South East and national averages.

While the median gross full-time pay of workers in Oxfordshire has continued to grow faster than the averages for the South East and wider country.

Oxfordshire residents’ median pay grew from £33,000 in 2017 to £34,400 in 2018, meaning they earned another £1,400 before tax.

But across the South East region, earnings increase by just £500, from £31,700 to £32,200 last year.

Loneliness was also found to be concentrated in pockets around the county. Those with a high concentration of isolated people include Banbury and Bicester Town in Cherwell; Blackbird Leys, Wood Farm, Barton, St Clements, Jericho and Cowley in Oxford and Didcot South in South Oxfordshire.

Despite the county’s housing crisis, the council said the number of people in temporary accommodation has fallen.