Private renters in London spent 35 per cent of their income on rent between 2021 and 2022, making it the least affordable place in the UK to rent.
The median rent of £1,450 was equivalent to 35 per cent of median income in the capital, according to the latest report from the Office of National Statistics (ONS)
London is the only region where rent is above the “30 per cent of income” affordability threshold set by the ONS.
Less well-off households found rents even less affordable.
Lower-priced London rents represented 46 per cent of the income of lower-income households.
The data, which covers the financial year of 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, compared rents paid to the gross month incomes of private renting households.
This year, London rents rose as much as 12 per cent, according to the latest data from Rightmove, while Spareroom reported tenants could now expect to pay as much as £1,000 a month for a room in a house share.
According to the ONS, London wasn’t quite as unaffordable compared to the previous period.
Between April 2020 and March 2021, the median rent of £1,430 was equivalent to 40 per cent of median income.
Wages have increased for London’s highest paid workers, but not across the board.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), real mean earnings rose by 5 per cent since February 2020 for London employees.
Sectors such as energy and administration support saw increases of almost 10 per cent, but London’s middle earners saw an increase of just 1.7 per cent in three years.
A record number of London renters also left the city in 2022. According to data from Hamptons, 40 per cent of people moving home – equivalent to 90,370 households – were pushed out by rising rents.
Along with affordability issues, almost 300 London renters face ‘no-fault’ evictions each week, according to City Hall analysis.
Mayor Sadiq Khan has urged the government to ban the Section 21 notices that allow landlords to evict tenants with just two months notice.
The Renters Reform Bill, which could ban no-fault evictions, is having its Second Reading in the House of Commons today.
But Tory MPs have threatened to revolt against the bill.
Rents were found to be more affordable in all other regions of the UK.
Private renters in England spent 26.1 per cent of their income on rent, while private renting households in Northern Ireland spent 24.7 per cent.
Wales was the most affordable place for private tenants, who spent 23.4 per cent of their income on rent.
The ONS said that median rents had increased in all regions, but income had increased with it, keeping affordability at a similar level.
