London's Rising Rents In Charts

Rents in London rose 4.1% over the last year, recent figures from the Office for National Statistics show. That's higher than the rest of the country, which is averaging a 2.7% rise in rents. In terms of how it's hitting your pocket, wages are currently increasing at the fastest rate in six years — a national average of 2.9% — while the London Living Wage has just gone up by 2.7%

Over the last few years we've been tracking the differences between low wages and rents, in what began as an exercise to see if it's possible to live here without resorting to benefits in order to survive (in short order: not on minimum wage, and not without two incomes). It turned into a six monthly ghoulfest of staring at rent rises in what we'd usually class as 'cheap' areas. We've now got two and a half years' worth of data on certain areas, so we've made some charts to show what's been happening.

We've been looking on Zoopla (or its equivalent predecessor) for cheap two bedroom flats. We discount obvious outliers and try to identify the bottom end of the open market. Another thing to note is that these flats are often unfurnished, adding extra expense in terms of buying furniture and moving costs.

London Assembly Member Darren Johnson commented:

With record low interest rates and flat consumer prices, there’s no reason for landlords to put their rents up so much except greed. Private tenants in London have seen rents rise faster than inflation for years now. The mayor has refused to back rent controls and more secure tenancies, which could help people facing particularly big hikes.

Also read:

• How Much Does It Cost To Rent Outside London?
• Low Income? Living In Outer London Isn't Even An Option Any More