Andrew Dismore

Barnet is the twelfth most expensive place to rent in the country when local average salaries are taken into account, new analysis of the latest figures from the National Valuation Office and the Office of National Statistics has revealed. Local London Assembly Member, Andrew Dismore AM, is backing the Mayor’s calls for rent controls to be put in place in the capital to “provide more stability for renters in a precarious and unforgiving market and economy”.

The data shows that on average Barnet residents in the private rented sector pay 57% of their monthly wage to landlords.

Mr Dismore is raising concerns about how the rises in the costs of living are placing huge pressures upon local people, in particular key workers and public sector staff, who deliver frontline services in the community.

This month, the Mayor of London urged the Government to provide City Hall with the powers to implement rent controls across the capital, and amongst other measures, introduce open-ended tenancies.

Over the last two decades, the proportion of Londoners privately renting has risen significantly, increasing from 11% in 1990 to 26% in 2018.

The Mayor has pledged to build 116,000 genuinely affordable homes by 2022. However, recent analysis conducted by the Greater London Authority (GLA) revealed that to meet the full demand for affordable housing in the capital, the Government would need to allocate seven times more funding than it currently provides to City Hall for housing projects.

Local London Assembly Member, Andrew Dismore AM, said:

“These figures reveal the disproportionate extent to which Barnet residents are affected by the housing crisis and rising rents. It is high-time we follow in the footsteps of other European cities, such as Berlin, and provide more stability for renters in a precarious and unforgiving market and economy.

“It is clear that we need rent controls in place across London, alongside other radical measures, to ensure that local people on lower incomes, as well as key workers at the helm of delivering vital public services, are not unfairly priced out of the capital.

“The ball is now in the Government’s court to provide the necessary devolved powers and the funding to allow the Mayor to go further with strengthening the rights and protections for private tenants, as well as building the genuinely affordable homes that Londoners need”.

ENDS

Notes

• New analysis of the latest data from the National Valuation Office and the Office of National Statistics has revealed that Barnet is the twelfth most expensive place to rent in the country when average salaries are taken into account. Figures from the National Valuation Office show that average rents in borough at the end of the 2018/2019 financial year were £1,350 per month. Stats from the Office of National Statistics indicate that the median annual salary for Barnet residents in the 2017/2018 financial year was £28,553. A London borough-by-borough breakdown of these figures can be found attached;

• The Mayor of London has urged the Government to provide City Hall with the powers to implement rent controls across the capital, and amongst other measures, introduce open-ended tenancies;

• Over the last two decades, the proportion of Londoners privately renting has risen significantly, increasing from 11% in 1990 to 26% in 2018;

• The Mayor has pledged to build 116,000 genuinely affordable homes by 2022;

• A report published by the Greater London Authority (GLA), The 2022-2032 Affordable Housing Funding Requirement for London, revealed that to meet the full demand for affordable housing in the capital, the Government would need to allocate seven times more funding than it currently provides to City Hall for housing projects;

• Andrew Dismore AM is the London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden.