Monday 20 February 2017 11:28 am

Hey London renters: Stop complaining – it could be a lot worse

Tenants in London may be saddled with eye-wateringly expensive rental prices – but it could be a lot worse.

Analysis of data for Morning Wire by Statista suggests London is only the 11th most expensive place to rent in the world – with renters in San Francisco paying almost twice as much as those in the capital.

The figures, by Nested, show Londoners pay an average of £2.30 per sq ft – the same as renters in Zurich and Los Angeles.

However, they're beaten by tenants in San Francisco, where average prices are £3.98 per sq ft, and New York City, where renters pay £3.81 per sq ft.

London renters are also beaten by Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, Washington DC, Geneva and Sydney.

The figures also showed a single Londoner must earn £39,876 in order to afford an apartment to themselves, while families need an income of £75,663.

That's compared with renters in San Francisco, who must earn just under £70,000 to afford an apartment, or £132,000 to afford a family-sized home.

Rental misery

That's not to say Londoners don't have it bad: figures published in January showed the average rent in the capital was £1,882 in December. Although that was 0.13 per cent lower than in November, it was still more than twice the £750 a month those outside the capital pay.

At the beginning of this month communities secretary Sajid Javid hinted as new measures to help Generation Rent with new ways to encourage the building of more affordable rented homes, and measures to persuade landlords to offer longer-term tenancies.

"We are determined to make housing more affordable and secure for ordinary working families and have a rental market that offers much more choice," said Javid.

"We understand people are living longer in private rented accommodation which is why we are fixing this broken housing market so all types of home are more affordable."