A man walks through a supermarket (Aaron Chown/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)The number of Londoners who say food is unaffordable has doubled since last summer as the capital’s cost of living crisis tightens its grip.
Across the capital 23 per cent said food bills are either “unaffordable” or “very unaffordable”, compared with just 12 per cent when they were last asked the question in June, according to new survey results.
London is being hit particularly hard by the squeeze because of soaring rents and spiralling public transport fares on top of the general rise in the cost of living. The latest survey was carried out for the Centre of London think tank by Savanta in late February and March before the 54 per cent hike in the energy cap came into effect.
It found that the groups most likely to struggle with affording food were parents with children under 18 (28 per cent), tenants (28 per cent compared with 17 per cent for homeowners) and women (25 per cent compared with 21 per cent for men).
Inflation figures from the Office for National Statistics last week showed the price of food rising by 5.9 per cent in the year to March, the fastest annual rate since September 2011.
The research by the Centre for London found that almost one in 10 of those surveyed went to a foodbank for at least some of their groceries in the past month. The most recent data from food bank charity the Trussell Trust showed 135,461 emergency food parcels were handed out in London between April and September last year, more than any other region.
As well as food, the proportion of Londoners saying rent is unaffordable has also risen, from 41 per cent to 47 per cent.
Last week property portal Rightmove revealed that London asking rents have risen 14.3 per cent to an average £2,193 a month over the past year.
The property market is also rising at its fastest rate for more than five years and the survey found that 59 per cent of Londoners thought house prices in London were unaffordable. A quarter of respondents (25 per cent) said transport is unaffordable for them, up eight percentage points from 18 per cent in June 2021
More than a third of all Londoners (35 per cent) said they were struggling to make ends meet — an increase from 29 per cent in June last year.
A third of working Londoners (33 per cent) said they were struggling to make ends meet, illustrating the worrying rise in the number of people in work but still living below the poverty line.
The majority of those without a job and looking for work were also struggling to make ends meet (55 per cent), a similar proportion for those with a disability (54 per cent).
Over two thirds (68 per cent) would be able to meet an unexpected expense of £500, down from 73 per cent in June. Only 43 per cent would be able to pay from their own money, as opposed to having to borrow it.
Nick Bowes, chief executive of Centre for London, said: “Londoners are facing rising costs in all areas, from food to council tax to housing and transport, so it is hardly surprising that many say they are struggling to make ends meet.”
