London rents down despite 14-year spike

London rents down despite 14-year spike

0:02 AM, 15th July 2024, About 4 months ago

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Average rents across London have skyrocketed over the last 14 years, according to a new report.

Flat-share website SpareRoom reveals rents in the capital have surged from £542 in 2010 to £983 in 2024, marking an 81% increase.

For the rest of the UK, rents have risen from £440 in 2010 to £740 in 2024.

However, rents in London are starting to drop, suggesting a shift in the housing market‘s balance.

Past six months have shown a downward trend

The biggest drops in rent in the capital were seen in SW14 Mortlake (-9%), W8 Holland Park, and NW5 Kentish Town (both -7%).

Although London rents are up year-on-year (1%), the past six months have shown a downward trend, hinting at a promising start to 2024 for renters.

Market slowly rebalance

Matt Hutchinson, director at SpareRoom, says despite rents in the capital falling they are still unaffordable.

He said: “As supply has risen over the past couple of years and demand has fallen from the 2022 record peak, we’re starting to see the market slowly rebalance. However, although this is a welcome sign, the extent to which rents have risen in the past three years is shocking and there’s still a long, long way to go.

“The cost of living and chronic housing shortage will have been on voters’ minds last week. The new government is already making it clear that housing is on the agenda from day one, so hopefully the result will be a more coherent housing policy that focuses on building more homes and also making better use of existing ones.

“Despite average rents in London dropping for consecutive quarters, they’re still way beyond being affordable by any reasonable standard.”

Largest surge in rental prices

UK rents increased by 5% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2023 and have remained steady into the first quarter of 2024.

Kingston upon Thames is the most expensive town to rent at £898, followed by Twickenham at £889 and Reigate at £845.

Warrington experienced the largest surge in rental prices at 15%, with Bolton (14%) and Southend-on-Sea (13%) also seeing significant increases over the past year.


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