Yahoo News The London boroughs where residents lose more than 75 per cent of their wages to rent
The average rent in London costs three-quarters of the area's median wage, new figures show. Campaign group Generation Rent said the next government must tackle the cost of rent by building more homes and stopping landlords from raising rent above wage growth or inflation.
Office for National Statistics figures show the average rent in London was £2,086 a month in May. Separate data from the ONS show the median wage for the same month was £2,801 in the area meaning rent accounted for 74% of the monthly income for an average individual.
The figures are based on individual wages cohabiting couples or those living in house shares will see rent shared between multiple wages. Rent took up a higher proportion of wages in London than any other region in England and Wales.
Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: "Prices in the shops may have stopped rising so quickly, but renters are still seeing our single biggest cost go up faster than our incomes. Landlords can raise the rent as high as they think they can get away with and use the threat of a no-fault eviction to bully their tenants to accept it."
He added: "We won't fix the cost of renting crisis unless the next government acts to slam the brakes on these runaway rents." He said more homes are needed alongside protections against unaffordable rent increases.
"That means stopping landlords raising rent above wage growth or inflation - whichever is lower," he said. Rent in London has increased 10% from £1,894 a year ago, and has jumped 29% from £1,611 when records started in 2015. Across England, rent has increased 9% from last year and 35% since 2015.
Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said: "Successive governments have failed to build the social rent homes we desperately need and private rents are continuing to rocket as a result. Every day we hear from people who are forced to cough up money they simply don't have just to keep hold of an overpriced and often shoddy rental."
She added renters are left to accept "eyewatering rent hikes" due to competitive rental markets and a lack of protection from evictions. She said the next government must urgently ban Section 21 "no-fault" evictions, limit in-tenancy rent increases and extends notice periods.
"But long-term, the only way to take the heat off private renting is to invest in a new generation of genuinely affordable social homes with rents tied to local incomes," she added.
The London Boroughs where residents pay upwards of three-quarters of wages in rent
Hammersmith & Fulham - Average monthly rent: £2,494. Median wage: £3,313
Westminster - Average monthly rent: £2,997. Median wage: £3,496
Camden- Average monthly rent: £2,515. Median wage: £3,250
Hackney- Average monthly rent: £2,332. Median wage: £2,844
Tower Hamlets- Average monthly rent: £2,229. Median wage: £3,021
Brent - Average monthly rent: £2,049. Median wage: £2,455
Kensington and Chelsea - Average monthly rent: £3,397. Median wage: £3,494
Barking and Dagenham - Average monthly rent: £1,425. Median wage: £2,322
Haringey - Average monthly rent: £1,959. Median wage: £2,636
Islington - Average monthly rent: £2,488. Median wage: £3,374
Every single borough in London had average rents that accounted for half or more of the average wage except Bexley, where the average monthly rent accounted for 48 per cent of median wages.
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