Your Move: London rental prices have soared 27pc under David Cameron
Residential rents in London have far outstripped the rate of inflation under the current government, according to a new report out today.
Rent in the capital increased by 27.4 per cent since the last General Election, according to the latest Buy-to-Let index from estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains. Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) increased by 11.6 per cent over the same period.
The national average for residential rent also outpaced inflation, going up 15.2 per cent over the last five years, according to the report.
The mean monthly rent in London now stands at £1,177, while nationally renters can expect to pay £768 on average.
Adrian Gill, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains, said the rental sector is “carrying the weight of the housing crisis”, adding the next government would need to address housing supply to curb prices.
“Without more homes every year to match a rising population, housing will inevitably become more expensive,” he said. “Over the next five years politicians of all stripes can’t just hope that this problem will go away – Britain needs more homes, and over the long term, investment by landlords will only provide places to live as quickly as those homes are given planning permission and completed.”
Gill’s comments come as a separate new survey shows house prices are Britons’ biggest worry when it comes to house hunting.
Close to 38 per cent of house-hunters said their single biggest concern is that house prices are too high, according to a report out today from the property website Rightmove.
Rightmove housing market analyst Miles Shipside echoed Gill, also blaming a lack of homes being built for high prices.
“Failure to meet house-building targets since the eighties, nineties and noughties to match forecast housing demand has been a major factor in upwards price pressure both in the property sales and private rented sectors,” Shipside said.
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