Surge in demand for guarantors under Renters’ Rights Act
3 weeks ago | 36 comments
London renters lose five months’ pay to rent – Generation Rent
8:00 AM, 4th June 2026, 3 weeks ago
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A London tenant earning through the winter, the spring and into June has, on average, only just covered the year’s rent bill, Generation Rent claims.
The tenant activist group said that 2 June was London’s ‘Cost of Rent Day’.
That’s the point in the calendar when the income earned by the average private renter in the capital would have gone entirely to their landlord.
The date falls more than three weeks after the England average of 11 May, reflecting the heavier cost of renting in the capital.
Call for rent controls
The organisation’s chief executive, Ben Twomey, said: “Homes are the foundations of our lives.
“But when Londoners are forced to spend so much of their income on rent, it means children going to school hungry and older renters who can’t afford to turn the heating on.
“High rents trap people in homelessness and rip money out of local communities.”
He added: “It’s not right that London renters are handing over more than five months of their income every year to landlords.
“The government must urgently give Mayor of London Sadiq Khan the power to slam the brakes on soaring rents by limiting rent increases.”
London’s rent more expensive
According to ONS figures, renters in London spend 42% of their income on rent, compared with 36% across England.
The government’s affordability benchmark defines an affordable home as one where rent accounts for no more than 30% of income.
Generation Rent says the figures show how far the capital has moved from earlier decades.
A House of Commons Library analysis found renters in London spent around 15% of their income on rent from the 1960s to the early 1980s.
Latest ‘Cost of Rent Day’
Private renters in London are also three times more likely than owner occupiers to live in poverty, the organisation says.
The latest ‘Cost of Rent Day’ in the country falls in Kensington and Chelsea, where Generation Rent says the date lands on 26 September.
The five least affordable places to rent in the country are all London boroughs, according to the campaign group.
Tags:
Cost of Rent Day, generation rent, London Landlords, London rents, private renters, rent affordability, sadiq khan
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Tenants are renting for longer than planned
Member Since June 2020 - Comments: 42
10:09 AM, 4th June 2026, About 3 weeks ago
If Generation Rent think buying a property is better then now is a better time to buy. Otherwise look at the costs of renting a property which are simialr if not less than a mortgage.
Member Since April 2018 - Comments: 470
10:34 AM, 4th June 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Twomey again, starving kids, get the violins out.Governments benchmark of affordability. Tosh. Everybody has a financial problem, except landlords, who are expected to subsidies renters.In fact i think many people think they should not be paying any rent at all.
A roof over your head is the most important thing, which these commentators seem to forget.
Member Since December 2023 - Comments: 1628
11:03 AM, 4th June 2026, About 3 weeks ago
It isn’t lost. It’s bought them a home for a whole year.
Member Since November 2019 - Comments: 173
11:16 AM, 4th June 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Both Labour and Conservative Governments have been determined to drive private Landlords out.
With Renters Rights Bill , and London Councils fleecing Landlords it`s a wonder there is anything to rent in London at all.
Member Since January 2024 - Comments: 388
11:24 AM, 4th June 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Kids going hungry to school? Hasn’t the Government just been trumpeting about 10m Breakfast Club meals at schools?
And the reason pensioners and others cannot afford to turn on the heating could be due to Government policies that ensure our energy costs are 4x those of the USA.
Member Since September 2022 - Comments: 68
9:50 AM, 7th June 2026, About 2 weeks ago
When the writers wrote about controlling the landlords, they created rental property shortage. This created high rent demand and higher rent.
Now when you write about rent control, no landlord is going to accept less rent,.more tax, more legislation, more compliance and more fines and pretend to think that everything is alright.
Tenants should now expect to live in the peoperties of an unregulated organisation called the council. No rules apply there. Cannot complain and live in bad condition.
The Awaab law for mould and fungus did not come because of a property under private ownership.
The socialist government will keep you under their control.
Member Since September 2022 - Comments: 68
9:55 AM, 7th June 2026, About 2 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Northernpleb at 11:16
It seems like the government don’t make policies here, it’s the staff who come from socialist background who are inexperienced and indoctrined by hatred towards the wealth and made to believe that everything should be free and running the country’s policies
Member Since September 2022 - Comments: 68
10:06 AM, 7th June 2026, About 2 weeks ago
If the Renters don’t like the quality of the property then they should go somewhere else. If they don’t like what they pay then look elsewhere.
Otherwise, like socialist Russia, this government too will start dictating the price of food as well. Oh!! They already are!!