Private rents in London outstrip inflation

Private rents in London are outstripping inflation, new figures reveal.

Private rent in London rose 9% in the year to December 2012, compared to inflation (RPI) which was at 3.1%, according to figures obtained by the Valuation Office Agency.

Rents rose fastest (11%) for family homes with 3 bedrooms. The median rent in London, at £1,196pcm, is more than double the national median rent, which remains unchanged at £575/month.

Left Foot Forward recently looked at how it now takes first time buyers in their twenties saving half of their net income  more than 10 years to put together a deposit for their first home, and in London 24 years.

London Assembly Green Party member Darren Johnson said pricing low paid workers out of “swathes of London” was “hurting our economy”.

“We give our tenants some of the weakest protections in Europe, we should copy the smart rent controls and security enjoyed by tenants in countries like France and Germany where rent can’t rise faster than inflation guaranteeing fairness and predictability for tenants and landlords.”

One Response to “Private rents in London outstrip inflation”

  1. Newsbot9

    This isn’t news. What would be news is anything else.
    Or, perhaps, discussing that rents and housing benefit are now completely divorced from each other, HB being based on CPI and hence their being deliberate social cleansing policies?

    Even rents rising at RPI and HB at CPI would be very damaging, especially when the timing of HB rises often does not correspond to those of landlord’s rent rises, hence leaving people with paying more from their wages for months in many cases until the yearly HB rise.

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