Living in London is not a feasible option for the average couple that wants to start a family, according to tenant group Generation Rent.
Starting a Family in London is Impossible for Average Household, Claims Generation Rent
The group has launched a campaign, Vote Homes 2016, which calls for better conditions for private renters from the next London mayor.
Generation Rent has studied Government rent and earnings data, finding that there is not a single London borough where the median rent on a two-bedroom home is affordable to a household earning the median salary.
Across the capital, the median rent would eat up 52% of the median salary – much more than the 30% that is considered affordable. Even in the cheapest London borough, Havering, the average rent price on a two-bed takes up 35% of the median salary.
Struggles with paying the rent with just one earner means that having a baby is unaffordable for the typical London couple.
Vote Homes 2016 hopes to give impartial advice on the main mayoral candidates’ policies that affect private tenants. Each candidate’s policies on housing are ranked through a traffic light system: red if they fail to improve the current situation; amber if they’re on the right track; and green if they will significantly improve life for renters.
The website (http://www.votehomes2016.com/) will be updated as and when candidates announce new policies.
Additionally, the group is calling on the candidates to commit to building homes at genuinely affordable rents, where the poorest 25% of Londoners would pay no more than 30% of their income on rent.
The Director of Generation Rent, Betsy Dillner, insists: “Housing is now so expensive, even couples on ordinary incomes are unable to start a family. People who grew up here are facing an impossible choice about their future. London’s status as a world capital will rapidly disintegrate if half of its population see the shutters come down on their aspirations.
“We need a mayor who will make lower rents their first priority and take immediate action to help the capital’s two million private renters.”1