The London postcodes where rents have risen by more than a third in the past year

Two districts saw 34 per cent hikes in the cost of renting last year, while 23 areas saw their average rent bill exceed £1,000 per month
Handout
Greg Pitcher13 January 2023

The cost of renting a room has soared by more than a third in some parts of London in the last year, data has revealed.

Figures from flatshare portal SpareRoom showed that tenants in the W7 and SW20 postcodes were paying 34 per cent more in the fourth quarter of 2022 than they were at the end of 2021.

Average rents in Hanwell’s W7 district soared from £631 to £843 last year, while those in SW20, which is centred on Raynes Park, climbed from £677 to £904.

Eleven London postcodes experienced rent rises of 30 per cent or more (see table).

London postcodes seeing the fastest growth in average rent in the year to Q4 2022

W7 (Hanwell)

34 per cent

SW20 (Raynes Park)

34 per cent

NW1 (Camden)

32 per cent

N13 (Palmers Green)

31 per cent

WC1 (Bloomsbury)

31 per cent

W11 (Notting Hill)

31 per cent

W1 (West End)

30 per cent

SE8 (Deptford)

30 per cent

NW7 (Mill Hill)

30 per cent

W9 (Maida Vale)

30 per cent

N5 (Highbury)

30 per cent

Source: Spareroom

Tenants in the uber-desirable W1 district, encompassing swathes of the West End, were typically paying a whopping £343 more per month by the end of 2022.

This made the postcode, which covers many of the streets between Hyde Park and Regent’s Park, comfortably the most expensive in London at £1,475 per month on average.

Westminster’s SW1 neighbourhood was next at £1,284, with WC1, including Bloomsbury, third on the list with average rents of £1,255 in the fourth quarter of last year (see table).

London postcodes with the most expensive average monthly rent in Q4 2022

W1 (West End)

£1,475

SW1 (Westminster)

£1,284

WC1 (Bloomsbury)

£1,255

W2 (Bayswater)

£1,214

NW1 (Camden)

£1,213

NW3 (Hampstead)

£1,203

EC1 (Aldgate)

£1,155

SW10 (West Brompton)

£1,150

SW11 (Battersea)

£1,103

SE1 (London Bridge)

£1,101

Source: Spareroom

A total of 23 London postcodes had four-figure monthly rents by the end of 2022.

Rental costs increased by at least five per cent in all 105 London postcodes surveyed by Spareroom. The average monthly bill across the capital was up by more than a fifth to £935.

This increase is way in excess of the 13 per cent rise seen across the UK, where average rents sat at £660 at the end of last year.

SpareRoom director Matt Hutchinson said low supply of homes to rent had combined with rampant inflation to drive increases in rents.

“The last 12 months has seen rents across the UK hit record highs and, unless new supply comes into the market over the coming months, it’s hard to see those rents come down meaningfully in 2023,” he warned.

“High rents not only make it difficult for tenants who need to move now, it also means that many stay put to avoid paying more rent.”

Soaring tenancy costs could have a “significant” impact on the UK’s fragile economy, he added.

“Work is the key reason people move but if a potential pay rise is wiped out by having to pay more rent, lots of people will simply stay where they are.”

Dan Wilson Craw, deputy director at tenant body Generation Rent, said: “Rents are hitting record levels because the government has not been building enough to keep up with the demand to live in London, which is now returning to normality after the pandemic.

“This is a nightmare for anyone who needs to move but it’s also becoming a problem for people who want to stay put as landlords ask for higher rents with the threat of eviction.

“We need the government to freeze rents and suspend no-fault evictions during the cost of living crisis, and to re-link local housing allowance with market rents.”

Campaign body London Renters Union echoed the call for a rent freeze.

“Landlords raising rents to £950 per month for a single bedroom is only worsening the rental crisis, pushing many people further into poverty,” a spokesperson said.

“We also need more housing, especially social housing. By bringing rents under control we can protect tenants now, and guarantee that future increases in housing supply contribute to a fairer, stronger housing system that works for everybody.”

Census data last week showed that the number of London households privately renting had passed one million after rising by 25 per cent in a decade.

Meanwhile data from insurer HomeLet showed that the average cost of renting a home in Greater London fell by 0.2 per cent in December. But commentators suggested this was unlikely to translate into a meaningful reduction in 2023.

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