Voice of London

In light of the ongoing cost of living crisis, England is facing the worst property shortage in recorded history.

The Mayor of London has called an emergency private renting summit in an attempt to combat rising anxieties.

Sadiq Khan reported 40% of Londoners think they will struggle to meet rent payments in the coming months with the average rental prices rising to nearly £2500 a month.

With tourism back to pre-pandemic levels and universities returning to in-person learning, there is an influx of renters in a housing market that just can’t keep up.

This is why the Mayor of London has implemented Homes for Londoners, a program tasked with building more social housing on empty public land.

According to the meeting minutes, the scheme initially had the goal of building 116,000 new homes through the pre-existing Affordable Homes Programme (AHP), and the scheme recently attained an additional £4 billion in funding secured for a 4-year extension.

As of a report published on 4 November, the program has started sites for more than 91,764 homes (79% of their overall goal) with 490 new households being social housing.

The Autumn Budget

Just days after the Mayor’s rent-freeze call to action, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, announced the release of the highly-anticipated Autumn Budget.

Many Londoners were hoping to see government funding going toward the growing housing crisis in the new budget.

According to the chancellor, there will be a £1 billion increase to continue the work of the Household Support Fund, a program to assist “vulnerable households” with essentials over the winter. The program, first started in September 2021, has now seen £2 billion put toward the scheme, which is set to expire in March 2023.

In addition to the Household Support Fund, Hunt announced a 7% cap on social housing rents next year in an attempt to avoid an 11% rent spike.

Demand VS supply

SpareRoom, the flatmate matching site, has seen a huge increase in property demand versus supply since the third quarter of 2021.

Using around 300,000 UK room ads, SpareRoom compiled a London Heat Map consisting of average room rents, inclusive of bills, for all London postcodes.

Amid soaring rent prices, there is reported to be seven renters for every available room, while the number of spaces being advertised continues to decline.

So, what does this mean for young renters in London?

Considering the difficulties surrounding high rent and even higher competition, it is nearly impossible to truly gage the effect the housing crisis will have. Whether this will result in a record amount of homelessness for the winter or a decline in London universities’ enrolment, there is no clear answer.

Londoners can only hope for continued government action and assistance to help alleviate the impact of the crisis.

Look out for further cost of living and housing crisis coverage from Voice of London.

Words: Cerah Handsaker | Subbing: Yana Trup