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. Adults standing in a circle and talking to each other about their mental wellbeing. There is a staff member sitting to the left of them in the frame sitting next to a table. The community centre is located in Seaton Deleval in the North East of England.

    What is the left for?: The case for a politics of reciprocism

    Liberal democratic capitalism has failed to give many people good lives, and the future looks less promising than the past. 

  2. Wildfires and climate change | Dave Hawkey from IPPR Scotland speaks to Lewis Goodall on LBC

    Europe’s heatwaves and the wildfires in the Cairngorms are a stark reminder that climate extremes are here.  The Scottish government must act now with a clear plan to prepare for what's coming.

  3. “I feel quite unsettled and unsafe”: Young people, belonging, and the broken promise of childhood

    Young people in England feel less secure, supported and connected than a decade ago. Based on nearly 200 conversations, this blog explores why childhood feels more stressful and less joyful.