More than 25% of people renting in London have admitted that they would be willing to forgo central heating in order to access cheaper rent.
The survey of more than 2000 adults in the capital found 9% of renters would also choose to live without windows, or any natural light, if they could save as much as a quarter on their rental payments each month.
“With the London rental market being so ferocious it’s little wonder nowadays that some Londoners are prepared to live without natural light or heating in order to reduce rent costs,” commented Phil Spencer, host of Channel 4′s ‘Location, Location, Location’.
It is no secret that Londoners pay more rent than anywhere else in the UK - a city where, on average, 50% of your monthly salary is spent on rental costs according to YouGov.
These costs are driven by a market more saturated with renters than ever before: just over 10 years ago 11% of households in the UK were privately renting, in 2016 this percentage had jumped to 17%.
These statistics are undoubtedly exacerbated by those remaining in the rental market for long periods, unable to get a foot on the property ladder.
In fact rental payments are rising at such staggering rates that Shelter warned of a ‘rent-quake’ - when the amount of money paid out by private renters approaches parity to the amount being paid in mortgages.
The most recent English Housing Survey, identified a 345% increase in the total rent money paid out since the year 2000, compared to a 62% rise in total mortgage payments.
Private renters in England alone are currently spending £41billion altogether in rent per year.
And it’s not just the cost of renting that is proving troublesome, as the survey found people struggle to acquire properties in the first place, citing examples of terrible conditions they have found properties in.
One found a toilet in a kitchen with no walls around it, another a garden hose protruding through a hole in the wall, described as the ‘shower’. Another respondent said the entire ground floor was full of bin bags, of what seemed to be rubbish.
It’s no wonder nearly 1 in 10 18-24 years olds said they have spent under five minutes viewing a property.