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Sadiq Khan warns London’s ‘out of control’ rents are increasing risk of homelessness
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has warned that “out of control” rents are putting an increasing number of Londoners at risk of homelessness.
Polling commissioned by City Hall found that 30% of private renters in the capital are now “struggling to make ends meet financially”, while 24% of private renters are struggling to meet rent payments and 6% say they have fallen behind in the past six months.
There are 2.7 million Londoners in the private rented sector, according to the Greater London Authority, meaning around 650,000 people are struggling with their rent and 160,000 have fallen behind on payments.
According to Rightmove, the average advertised rents in London reached £2,501 a month per property at the end of March 2023. Renters taking up new tenancies in London spend an average of 36% of their household income on rent, according to the Homelet rental data index – nearly 5% higher than the national average of 31%.
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City Hall found that there were 3,630 households assessed as being threatened with homelessness in London in 2022 due to receiving a Section 21 no-fault eviction notice. The government is moving to ban such evictions in its Renters’ Reform Bill but this has not yet passed into law.
Mr Khan called the publication of the bill “a positive step forward” but said ministers should “take action now to make rents more affordable as a matter of urgency.”
He reiterated his call for rent control powers, which has repeatedly been rebuffed by ministers, and said private renters needed more council housing and homes for first-time buyers.
He said: “With astronomical rents, bills, and the cost of household essentials rising, many London renters are only just about managing – and the situation is getting worse. More and more people are now at risk of being evicted.”
Ben Twomey, director of Generation Rent, said: “If London can’t provide homes for the people who want to live here, that’s a disaster not only for the city, but the country as a whole. People are being forced to move away from their families, others cannot take up job offers, and more of us are compromising by accepting overcrowded accommodation just to have a bed that lets us live here.
“The government must do more to let London build the housing it needs, including homes at social rents that allow people on low incomes to continue living here.
“Renters in London are at a very high risk of being evicted so landlords can sell or put the rent up. The Renters’ Reform Bill could make a huge difference to their security of tenure, but it needs to ensure bad landlords can’t continue exploiting tenants, and include better protections for tenants who face eviction for reasons beyond their control.”
