New London Mayor Must Boost Rental Supply, Says Gill

The Director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, Adrian Gill, has spoken out about what the new London mayor must do to boost private rental supply in the capital.

Whoever is voted the next Mayor of London – Sadiq Khan or Zac Goldsmith – must regard the private rental sector as an ally, not an enemy, according to Gill.

He describes London as “the capital of renting”, as many Londoners are priced out of homeownership by spiralling house prices. With so many residents forced to live in the private rental sector, Gill notes that London follows an entirely different set of housing rules to the rest of the UK.

“Our capital is suffering from a serious undersupply of homes to let, which is down to an enormous undersupply of landlords taking up investment opportunities,” he insists.

He reports that average rent prices in London have increased by 19% since the last mayoral election in May 2012, and by 35% since Boris Johnson was first elected in 2008.

“In stark contrast, rents across England and Wales as a whole have risen 19% since May 2008,” Gill says. “If London sets the trend for the nation, this acceleration should be a wake-up call.”

He believes: “To prevent a whirlpool of talent draining out of the capital, the new mayor needs to throw landlords a lifeline. To build a sustainable supply of homes to let for the next four years, the mayor must avoid populist anti-landlord policies that yield easy support in the short-term, but prevent people finding a place to rent further down the line. Instead, stimulating more – not less – investment from landlords is the way to keep rents more affordable.”¹

Recent research has analysed which London mayoral candidate will be best for solving the capital’s housing crisis: /london-mayoral-candidate-will-solve-housing-crisis/

We will keep you updated as the results of the London mayoral election are revealed.

¹ https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/5/agency-chief-warns-new-london-mayor-to-treat-rental-sector-as-an-ally