Generation Rent is urging the government to take urgent action on soaring rents this ‘London: Cost of Rent Day’, which falls on June 2nd.
“Cost of Rent Day’ marks the point in the year at which, on average, all of a renter’s income earned so far has gone straight to their landlord. In London, this comes a full three weeks later than the national average of 11th May, highlighting London’s sky-high rental costs.
Renters in the capital spend 42% of their income on rent on average according to the ONS*, significantly higher than the England average of 36%.The government’s definition of an affordable home is when someone spends 30% or less of their income on rent.
Analysis by the House of Commons Library found that from the 1960s to the early 1980s, renters in London spent around 15% of their income on rent. Today’s figures represent a dramatic and sustained rise in rents relative to people’s incomes over the past 40 years.
Private renters in London are three times more likely than owner occupiers to live in poverty. Meanwhile, analysis from Trust for London found the child poverty rate doubles when housing costs are accounted for in 21 of 33 London boroughs.
The local authority where ‘Cost of Rent Day’ falls latest in the entire country is Kensington and Chelsea, where it lands as late as 26th September, a stark illustration of the extreme inequality within London itself. Meanwhile, the top five least affordable places to rent in the UK are all London boroughs.
Ben Twomey, Chief Executive of Generation Rent, said:
“Homes are the foundations of our lives. But when Londoners are forced to spend so much of their income on rent, it means children going to school hungry and older renters who can’t afford to turn the heating on. High rents trap people in homelessness and rip money out of local communities.
“It’s not right that London renters are handing over more than five months of their income every year to landlords. The government must urgently give Mayor of London Sadiq Khan the power to slam the brakes on soaring rents by limiting rent increases.”
Maud, a renter in London who lives her husband and two children, said:
“I wasn’t expecting the harshness of renting in London.We got a 30% rent hike just before Christmas. We had to just pay it as we didn’t want to get evicted.
“Both my husband and I are working full time, I even work another job on the weekends, but we have no money left over at the end of each month. The fairy tale of working hard to be able to buy a home is gone.”
Notes to editors
Spokespeople available on request.
*Cost of Rent Day figure was calculated using ONS rental affordability data. Localised analysis for different cities/regions is available upon request.
