Gumtree notifications are my new best friend and my worst enemy. Before work, during lunch, when I get home in the evening, I spend my time scouring the pages for a flat within my budget and without scary photos attached. Anyone who has ever had to search for a flat in London knows just how excruciating it can be to find something suitable, safe and affordable.
Highlights from my search include flatshares with 5 other well-educated young professionals all scraping to get by and an £800 per month room in an ex-council flat with the washing machine on the tiny balcony. I don't consider myself a fussy person or an elitist by any means, but, I do have a threshold of what I will pay for low-quality housing. A report from the London Assembly shows that almost 1 in 3 rented houses in London do not meet the 'decent homes' standard.
Young professionals are an important part of a thriving economy, and housing them is a challenge. Local businesses typically cite the lack of affordable and suitable accommodation as a key reason for recruitment and retention problems, according to the Centre for Cities. Finding rental properties that can support budding new workers is essential to supporting employment in London. Finding a room within budget, though, is as hard as getting a job, often with a one in a dozen chance once you've made it to the interview.
Yes, we're paying to live in a world-class city with many amenities. But, are the current rent levels truly justifiable, or are they exorbitant and discouraging bright young workers from staying in London? With headlines like 'London Council accused of 'Social Cleansing'' due to unaffordable social rents, the problem is clearly widespread across the capital's housing markets.
The high cost of housing in London keeps more people in the private rented sector for longer, driving up demand and prices. Inside Housing reports that rents in London increased by 9.6 per cent in 2011. But, wages have actually fallen -0.5% in the capital between 2006 and 2010. With stagnant earnings and high growth in housing cost, affordability is a difficult prospect of many--if not most--of us across London.
In the upcoming mayoral election, I've seen some interesting ideas in candidates' manifestos for how to meet housing demand and make it more affordable. But, I haven't seen any sweeping approaches from a candidate that can convince me that hard working Londoners will find rent more affordable in the near future. In a recent Smith Institute Joint London Housing Debate, members of all three parties agreed there is a lack of private rented housing. This goes beyond party lines; it's a real barrier to the success of workers in London.
More needs to be done, and voters must put pressure on the mayoral candidates to make their concerns heard. London needs and deserves a mayor who will be committed to making the capital more liveable.