{"id":362007,"date":"2025-08-21T12:21:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T12:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/362007\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T12:21:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T12:21:22","slug":"fears-over-renters-being-priced-out-of-london-as-every-borough-said-to-be-unaffordable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/362007\/","title":{"rendered":"Fears over renters being ‘priced out’ of London as every borough said to be unaffordable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Renters should be spending no more than 30% of their income on housing but in Barnet the figure is 44.2%, reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Londoners are being \u201cpriced out\u201d of renting in the capital, the mayor has been warned, as new data show the average person spends 41.6% of their income on rent.<\/p>\n

This is more than ten percentage points higher than the affordability threshold, which suggests renters should spend no more than 30% of their income on housing.<\/p>\n

All 32 boroughs in London have been above this level for eight of the nine financial years ending 2016 to 2024, sparking concerns that poorer renters are being pushed out of the capital.<\/p>\n

The most expensive place to live for renters relative to income is Kensington and Chelsea, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data<\/a>, where the average rent amounts to 74% of income.<\/p>\n

Renters in Westminster, Wandsworth, Camden and Hammersmith and Fulham are all paying over half their income in rent, while Havering in East London has the lowest average income to rent ratio, at 30.5% \u2013 though this is still above the affordability threshold.<\/p>\n

Haringey\u2019s ratio is the second highest in North London, at 48.3%, Barnet\u2019s is 44.2%, Waltham Forest\u2019s is 39.1% and Enfield\u2019s is 38.5%.<\/p>\n

The data also showed that average rents in London have been between 38.5% and 57% of income since 2016. In comparison, the figure is between 19% and 36% in other regions of the UK.<\/p>\n

Sutton and Cheam MP Luke Taylor, the Liberal Democrats\u2019 London spokesperson, said: \u201cLondon used to be a city full of opportunities for everybody but too many Londoners, from working families to young people, are being priced out as a result of eye-watering rental costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rental market has turned into the \u2018wild west\u2019 with renters facing exorbitant rent increases and being thrown out with little notice after successive governments have dragged their feet in bringing an end to no-fault evictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cLabour must now act quickly and tackle this problem at its root, which is supply. That is why we\u2019re calling on the government to build 150,000 social homes a year nationwide and get on with renters\u2019 reform to ensure everyone is able to live in and enjoy our great city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jae Vail, a spokesperson for the London Renters Union, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: \u201dLondon desperately needs rent control. Housing costs have been too high for too long. Rip-off rents are forcing ordinary people to cut back on food, heating, and other essentials.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those of us who can no longer meet landlords\u2019 extortionate demands, we are forced out of the communities that we have lived in for years or pushed into temporary accommodation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government must follow the lead of many European countries and introduce rent control and invest in council housing so that everyone has a secure place to call home. Rent control would bring down rents steadily and give renters more control over our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Hall has previously called for the government to devolve rent control powers to his office.<\/p>\n

Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has argued for the creation of a \u2018London private rent commission<\/a>\u2019 which could impose caps on the amount that landlords can charge. In 2022, he called for a two-year freeze on all private rents in the capital.<\/p>\n

Such powers have not been granted to City Hall by either the previous Conservative government or the current Labour one, however.<\/p>\n

The Renters\u2019 Rights Bill, which is currently making its way through parliament, will means landlords will only be able to increase rents once per year to the market rate \u2013 but there is no official \u2018cap\u2019 on this.<\/p>\n

Khan said in May that until the capital has enough affordable homes, rent levels need to be controlled.<\/p>\n

Last week it emerged that developers in London only started on 347 affordable homes from April to June this year, with concerns that the mayor will not hit his target of 17,800 starts between 2021 and 2026.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Khan said: \u201cThe previous government\u2019s disastrous legacy of underinvestment and indifference towards social and affordable housing, low economic growth and high interest rates has left many Londoners suffering the consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mayor is doing everything possible through his Affordable Homes Programme and London Plan to deliver the housing that Londoners need, with plans for homes with rents capped to the income of key workers \u2013 and he\u2019s consistently fought the corner of London\u2019s private renters, calling for better rights and protections, including stronger action against unscrupulous landlords who fail to ensure their properties meet safety standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cSadiq welcomes efforts to address rental issues through the Renters\u2019 Rights Bill and will continue working hand in hand with government, as well as boroughs and housing sector partners across the capital, to build a fairer and better London for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

Independent news outlets like ours \u2013 reporting for the community without rich backers \u2013 are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Choose the news. Don\u2019t lose the news.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Monthly direct debit\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

Annual direct debit<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a35 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month\u2019s paper before anyone else, \u00a310 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month\u2019s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month.\u00a0\u00a350 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else. \u00a384 annual supporters get a print copy by post and a digital copy of each month’s before anyone else.<\/p>\n

\"Donate<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>More information on supporting us monthly\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

More Information about donations<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Renters should be spending no more than 30% of their income on housing but in Barnet the figure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,6333,257,1270,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-362007","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-housing","12":"tag-london","13":"tag-renting","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115066732340615115","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}