London’s Rental Squeeze Is Getting Even Tighter: Marcus Ashworth

Renting in London has always been expensive but a chronic lack of available properties is driving costs up much faster than wages are rising. The return-to-office dynamic is steadily winning over work-from-home. As showing up at the desk more often is increasingly required, a long commute, amid rolling train strikes, becomes a lot less idyllic, driving workers who moved out during the pandemic to return to the capital. While more public housing is sorely needed, it’s in the private sector where there needs to be much, much more building.

Office for National Statistics data show annual UK rents rose by 5.3% in July, with London at ...