London rents 'out of control' with a record-breaking 11 per cent rise in a year
London rents were up 11.2 per cent year-on-year in March 2024, reports the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The private rental crisis in the capital continues, with the highest annual increase since the ONS began keeping records.
According to Rightmove’s latest report, the average advertised rent in London is now £2,631.
"Rent rises are out of control,” Ben Twomey, Chief Executive of Generation Rent told Homes & Property.
“We have reached the very end of what we can afford.”
Ben Twomey, Generation Rent
“We’ve been feeling the impact of sky-high rents and unaffordable rent increases since 2021 and we have reached the very end of what we can afford,” added Twomey
"As inflation apparently eases, the cost of renting crisis is continuing at pace and our wages cannot keep up.”
Inflation has slowed to 3.2 per cent in March, according to today’s ONS figures, down from 3.4 per cent last month.
Wage growth showed a six per cent rise in the three months to February, but rent inflation is still much higher than either metric.
North London estate agent Jeremy Leaf said the continued rent rises are due to not enough homes available to meet demand from tenants.
"On the ground, we are finding affordability is the main reason, although today’s news that the cost of living is not rising as fast will certainly help tenants, particularly those spending a high proportion of their salary on living costs,” said Leaf.
"Most of our landlords also recognise that a good quality tenant is better than the highest possible rent, even though many are struggling to cover higher tax, mortgage and regulatory costs."
"Most of our landlords also recognise that a good quality tenant is better than the highest possible rent.”
Jeremy Leaf, London estate agent
After years of almost zero interest rates, mortgages rose higher than the base rate of interest currently set by the Bank of England at 5.25 per cent, the highest it’s been in over a decade.
Twomey insisted that the soaring rents are not simply down to landlords passing higher costs onto tenants.
“This is not just down to landlords' costs increasing,” he said.
“More than half of privately rented homes have no mortgage attached to them — so clearly landlords are raising the rent knowing that their tenants have no choice but to pay these prices.
"Outlawing unaffordable rent rises would give renters much-needed breathing space while the government must get to work building many more affordable and social homes to address the shortage that has caused this.”
Recent figures from Barclay’s warned that one in four Londoners are worried about missing their monthly rental payments.
