London rents have increased by 32 per cent on average since 2019, according to a report from SpareRoom.
SE2, which covers Abbey Wood, saw the most eye-watering increase, with rents up 54.7 per cent in the last five years. Renters in SE2 now have to pay £289 more a month for a room, with prices rising from £531 in 2019 to £820 in 2024.
House prices in Abbey Wood have been rising steadily too, as the Elizabeth Line put its more affordable homes within reach of Londoners commuting centrally.
Shoreditch and the Liverpool Street area, under the EC2 postcode, saw a 53.4 per cent increase in rent. After years of gentrification in the former artists’ haunt rents went up from £966 to £1,483 on average — leaving tenants scrabbling to find £517 extra a month.
“Rents have now started to fall slightly in London, but the five year figures are shocking, revealing just how unaffordable London has become,” said Matt Hutchinson, director at SpareRoom.
“While many people are calling for rent caps in the capital, it feels way too late for that. At what point will London simply become unaffordable for young professionals altogether?”
East London saw the sharpest increases, while west London postcodes lagged behind — suggesting the north-south divide may be rendered obsolete for the capital’s renters.
W10, which covers Queen’s Park and Ladbroke Grove, saw the smallest five-year rental increase of 11.9 per cent. Rents in the area were already high in 2019 at £900 a month on average for a room, increasing by £108 to £1008 a month in 2024.
SW14 and SW1 saw rents rise by 14.7 per cent and 14.8 per cent respectively. South east saw the highest overall average increase of 35.8 per cent, while east and north London postcodes saw rent rises of around 34 per cent. North west (28.9 per cent),
“We used to see London as having a north-south divide in terms of affordability, but it’s become an east-west divide in recent years, particularly as transport has improved in the south and east of the Capital,” added Hutchinson.
“East London has also seen plenty of new-build development over the last decade, with much of it aimed at young professional renters.”As London’s rental crisis rumbles on, SpareRoom has also found that there are only six postcodes in the entire city where you could still find a room for under £800 a month.
