Priced Out? The affordability crisis in London

Article

London’s housing market is increasingly unaffordable for those on low to middle incomes. While it has always been more expensive to rent or buy in the capital, the scale of the unaffordability of housing has never been greater. As a result, today’s Londoners or would-be Londoners face a range of consequences including lower levels of home ownership, increased overcrowding, and rising levels of homelessness and rough sleeping.

Building more homes, particularly affordable homes, will be crucial to tackling the affordability crisis that the capital faces. Yet the evidence shows that housing delivery is falling well short of estimated need – and the provision of affordable housing even more so. Despite a range of products on offer in the capital, the level of intermediate housing to rent and buy to support those on low to middle incomes is extremely modest. Moreover, our analysis reveals that many sub-market home ownership products on offer in the capital are in fact unaffordable and some fail to meet the aim of many households to achieve full home ownership.

The new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has made a promising start, committing to a long-term strategic aim for 50 per cent of new homes to be affordable, introducing lower benchmark rents for the London Affordable Rent product, and introducing a new intermediate product in the form of the new London Living Rent. However, there’s more that can be done at all levels.

Related items

  1. The inside of a bus. Lots of people sit or stand on a bus during daylight

    A people-focussed future for transport in England

    Our findings from three roundtables on the impact of transport in people’s lives and the priorities for change.
  2. Many national flags against blue sky

    Progressive renewal: The Global Progress Action Summit

    A quarter of the way through this century, change is in the air. Everyone, everywhere, seemingly all at once, wants out of the status quo.

  3. Insurgent government: How mainstream parties can fight off populism and rebuild trust in politics

    Across the western world it feels like a sea change is occurring in our politics. At the heart of this is a simple fact: large numbers of people increasingly feel that mainstream politics is failing to deliver for them.