Why Rent In London Is Out Of Control Right Now

Rents in London are at an all-time high. In December 2022, the median asking rent for a two-bedroom flat in London was £2,400 ($2,895) compared to £1,900 ($2,292) before the pandemic. CNBC Make It spoke to two Londoners whose rents increased up to 27%.

Produced by: Sophie Kiderlin
Managing Producer: Beatriz Bajuelos Castillo
Supervising Producer: Jessica Leibowitz
Camera: Benjamin Hall
Editor: Marisa Forziati
Animator: Gene Kim

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Why Rent In London Is Out Of Control Right Now

[tezinho]

I left London (native here) 15 years ago to live abroad - the biggest factor in my decision was the % of my salary I spent on rent. It was a scam then, it's a bigger scam now.

[renato]

It's not just in London. London, Lisbon, Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam, Toronto, New York, etc. Basically almost every capital of the developed world have the price of rent out of control.

[dolorismachina]

The biggest scam is paying £1300 pm in rent but not qualifying for £700 mortgage because "you're not earning enough".

[dishappywithlife]

I’m Canadian 🇨🇦, and albeit the staggering prices are not the same as London, inflation is out of control . My rent for a two bedroom was $1000.00, increased to 1500 last April. When I talked to new tenants, they have the same size place as I do, and they signed their lease for $1850.00 😮.

How can one LIVE if all we do is work to pay rent?

Governments wonder why people’s mental health is being compromised, why crime is increasing, and homelessness is out of control. This is not sustainable in any country!!

[gavinyu]

I moved from Melbourne Australia to London and I was shocked at how low the salary is in London. Yet the cost of living is one of the highest in the world.

[CasterAzucar]

The biggest part of the scam is that the properties are extremely poorly maintained. Paying 1450 a month for a single bedroom flat in Ealing, with a flat that is falling apart and the agency and offshore landlords do not seem to care - and I've experienced and heard about this time and time again while living here. Agencies and landlords need to understand that part of what I pay for is maintaining the property. Also - if anyone is looking for property, GRILL THE AGENCY for DETAILS. They love being delightfully vague, wherever possible.(EDIT) UPDATE: Gave notice at place, landlord now charging 1600 for same flat. Agency actively lied to people viewing flat when asked about mould problem (I was present)

[Timur_Jalilov]

Can confirm the rent is absolutely disgusting in London now. The only way you can survive on an average salary is to rent a room in a shared house but even that is becoming unaffordable.

[leehanlon]

As someone currently trying to rent in London, I’ve also noticed that it’s the estate agents running bidding wars for properties. These agents in the video know exactly how desperate we are and are pretending like they don’t get a fat cut of it themselves. After 15 years living in this city it was always normally a first come first serve basis for property. They would hound you to put down a deposit immediately before letting you out of their sight and now all we hear is “submit your bid by 9am tomorrow and we will contact you if you are successful”. This time around I have bid for 8 properties and lost (by a considerable amount) at each and every property. As someone whose industry only exists within the city I can’t just move elsewhere. Like many, I’ve received no wage increase for 2 years now and the cost of living crisis has taken its toll. Now to not be able to afford a property to rent in the city I love and call home, I can’t afford to live here, and barely work here, reasonably anymore.

[Awarebynature]

lived in London for 14 years, owned nothing, moved away, now own my own home, etc, great city but it bleeds you dry and holds you back. it's a trap that you don't see until you leave.

[FYPNLP]

After decades of living in and not being able to afford a property I've relocated out of London for good. The rent increases were just too much and I now I'm living in a 2 bed, 2 bathroom large house and a nice area in the midlands for HALF the price of my rent in London. I'm massively grateful for living london, for the friends I made, The career opportunities I've had and the experiences I've had. However, I can now have a life, and a great lifestyle now I no longer live there.

[martuskarogowska]

The poorest I have ever been in my life was when I was studying at university in London. At that time (2005-2009) the minimum wage I was earning was 5.70 and I was paying between 500 and 600 pounds for rent. I remember only working to survive and I was happy when I had enoguh for the basics.

[joesoy]

In the 70s, I had a small bedsit in Albany Street, the eastern boundary of Regent´s Park. My rent was GBP 4.50 a week. Being a professional singer at the time, I only needed to sing at one service at St Paul´s Cathedral to earn the rent. I hate to think what the ratio would be now.

[wrathford]

I live in Central London, and my rent went up from £850 a month to £1100 in January 2023. That's around a 25-30% increase. I'm a born and raised Londoner and I love living here, but I'm starting to seriously consider moving outside the UK and into a city with a lower cost of living and higher morale :(

[jasonquigley]

I've long since been perplexed at how low the salaries are vs how high the rent is in London. As an Engineer, I might be paid £35k in London, but the rent would be £1500, and everything else isn't cheap either.

Rents in London are almost as high as New York City, but in New York you'll probably earn at least double the salary as London. It just doesn't make sense, and I question the sanity of anyone who chooses to relocate there.

[minionofgozer]

I personally found that London is also a lonely city to live in. A lot of people are so in their own world it's hard to make connections outside of the work life. Adding on top that it's expensive to do anything there so you become all the more isolated. I was pay check to pay check at one point, so it started to get me down all the more.

Im glad I left when I did, and although I wouldn't live in London again I still go as a visitor to enjoy seeing or doing things in the centre.
It's a shame really, you could have a good life there if it wasn't owned by the corrupt and foreign property sharks.

[phil_the_explorer]

One of the main issues with flats in the Uk is also that the quality is crap, but landlords have no interest in fixing them. Mold, creaky floors and stairs, craks, old pipes, old windows...

[sessaku]

People are forgetting one thing far too often: It's not just capital cities. Because people are forced out of capital cities, they have to move into surrounding cities. And that causes rent to go up in these places too; for people that can afford it even less. So the many people's solution of just letting these cities get out of control and just move elsewhere is not a real solution. Rents are up all over the place. This trend has only known one direction for the past decade

[karepanman]

And employers are shocked that there isn't a ready supply of workers in London. They need to offer a wage that, after taxes, can cover the rent.

[jcs]

I lived in the UK all my life, (minus 3 years when I lived in Spain) mainly London. Prior to immigrating, I always said that while in the UK, London would be the only place I would choose to live. Since returning from Spain recently, (surprisingly, I have no longer interest in living in London, I am fortunate to own and not have to rent) So I have made a choice to purchase 60 miles outside of the capital . This was based on 3 things:

1- Conforming to a more chilled way of life (after living in spain) and being able to dip in and out of the fast lane by choice.
2- Cheaper property market for equivalent homes
3- The UK's 'ever growing' transport infrastructure - I can get from my base to the capital (60 miles) in 38 mins on the high speed!.
But this will not last for long has the developers and government will increase these current property prices knowing this.

I agree that London is a great place to live, socialise and is full of career opportunity, but like a job, when you are at the beginning of both your career work life, yes it is attractive and fast paced. But then with maturity and principles changing you end up wanting the opposite of before. Which normally comes down to moving away or back to your roots outside of all this and 'dipping' into it as and when.

I also used to rent, but was lucky to get a low mortgage (prior to today's horrendous rents and mortgages) and since repaid it. The government will never subsidise or support renters or homeowners, they are solely in it for themselves.
If you look at any new development block of flats etc, 85% of those units will be bought-up by either chinese investors or uk based landlords, and rented out to UK residents at 'greedy' monthly rents. So unfortunately it's a 'loose -loose' situ for renters.

[JohnSmith-tzjj]

Lived in London from 1992 to 2010. Was lucky enough to buy a decent property at the time (possibly the best decision of my life). Having spent 11 years overseas, we are back home but, I can't even imagine having to live in London anymore. I still work in London but decided to buy in Penkridge (little village near Stafford). Much better quality of life and a peaceful life. I know living in London is a big pull- it is a fantastic city- but especially for people raising a young family, and if online work allows you, I would recommend exploring other parts of the country.