Harder Times for City Slickers

The price of renting one bedroomed properties in London has increased 5.2% over the last 12 months according to leading surveying firms.

In London the average rent for a one bedroomed property was over £1,133 in May 2016.

Some workers, as ever, are resorting to house shares or moving further away from their work to compensate.

One stated, “I cannot afford to spend 57% of my salary on accommodation; I will have to move to the outskirts to make ends meet.”

In future it is feared that landlords will increase prices further with some predicting a rise of 9%, or so, in the next 12 months.

In the past, price increases were fuelled by higher property purchase prices and harder mortgage tests. Although the housing market appears to have slowed, there seems to be no let-up in the rental sector.

It remains to be seen if tenants have already reached “affordability limits”. As Denis Healey might have asked, “Have the tenants already been squeezed so hard, by the landlords, that the pips have already squeaked?”

*Back to June 2016 Newsletter*

©  www.propertysurveying.co.uk     RW