It’s not easy to be a renter in London. The price of the average room is £982 per month, or £11,784 per year — around a third of the average UK salary. Rising rents have long outpaced wage growth, while this month, dubbed “Awful April”, renters have seen their council tax, energy and water bills rise too.
“Renters in London are facing a perfect storm of slow wage growth, rising cost of living and expensive housing that’s always in demand,” says Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom. “Although we’ve seen marginal decreases in the capital’s rents over the past year, that doesn’t make living in the city affordable. And, last month, there were 2.58 people searching for every room available.”
