Best places to rent in London

Estimated reading time 3 minutes

Over the last few years, renting has become an increasingly popular choice for many, particularly for millennials. According to a study by YouGov, a quarter of households in the UK will rent privately by the end of 2021 rather than owning a house. With the increase in house prices and larger student loan debts, many Brits – in particular the millennial generation – are finding it difficult to get on the housing ladder.

With rents rising rapidly in recent years, the key worry for tenants when searching for a rental property is affordability, the YouGov report says. The report shows that 40% of renters pay more than 50% of their incomes on paying for rent, so no wonder the younger generations are finding it so difficult to move out of their parent’s homes and rent a house of their own. earlier this year, rents in Britain have recorded their first annual drop in six years, according to the UK’s biggest estate and lettings agency, Countrywide. Although in recent months, other surveys indicate that rents are beginning to remain more consistent, or even drop. 

Millennials, identified as being born between the 1980s to mid-1990s, are proven to prefer renting as it enables them to be more socially and financially independent. Owning a house at, for example, 25, is not impossible, but it is highly difficult – especially for those who are commuting to and from London. London house prices are extortionate, and areas on the outskirts on London are becoming increasingly more expensive too. Unsurprisingly, of all renters in the UK, young professionals aged 25 to 34 (the millennial generation) make up the largest proportion of private occupants in the United Kingdom, and this is expected to remain the same in 2021.
 

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Data collected over the last 12 months by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has published figures showing the average price of rent in various London postcodes. For a studio apartment around London, you will be looking to pay, on average, £950 per month. Although, figures show that this varies profusely throughout the London boroughs. Boroughs such as Kensington and Chelsea, Camden and Tower Hamlets are significantly higher than the average, understandably, with prices around £1,300 per month for a studio. However, this varies profusely throughout from postcode by postcode. 

Despite the fact that boroughs may be expensive and far higher than the London average, some postcodes within typically ‘expensive’ boroughs can be cheaper. For example, W10 based in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the average price of a studio is £1,083 in comparison to an average of £1,387 for the whole borough. Therefore, it is worth considering looking at postcodes when searching for properties. 

Rent in London is shown to be more than double the overall English rent. The median rent – the middle value of all rents collected – of homes in the capital were shown to be £1,495. This is a stark contrast to the median monthly rent calculated for the whole of England between April 1st and March 31st 2017: a total sum of £675. 

Source: Valuation Office Agency (VOA)

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