Over a quarter of people in London are living in poverty, higher than in any other part of England, according to a new report.
Over a quarter of people in London are living in poverty, higher than in any other part of England, according to a new report.
Overall 28 per cent of people in the capital are living in poverty, 7 percentage points higher than the rest of England.
And the situation is worse for young adults, with 15 to 25 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds unemployed.
And of the 20 English local authorities with the highest levels of child poverty 7 are in London, according to the report out today by Trust for London.
Worryingly, the study found that a quarter of households in London rely on housing benefit to meet their housing costs, compared to a fifth in England as a whole. 40 per cent of those claiming housing benefit are in work.
Average monthly rents are £1,300 in inner London, compared to £950 in outer London and £475 in England.
The report adds that the level of rents combined with the restrictions on housing benefit means that “large parts of London are now unaffordable to low-income households”.
“The outlook for poverty across the country is worrying as a result of some of the welfare reforms. But in London, it is the reforms to housing benefit, which will cause the real problems,” the report adds.
Trust for London chief executive Bharat Mehta said that the fact London’s economy performed better than the rest of the country “obscures the fact it has the highest poverty rate”.
“To tackle London’s poverty and inequality policymakers must focus on solutions such as building more affordable housing and encouraging employers to pay a Living Wage,” he said.
And author of the report Hannah Aldridge said that London’s low income households were in a “precarious position”.
“The benefit restrictions that have been introduced take no account of the high cost of renting in London. Most of London, and not just its fashionable bits, is now unaffordable for households in the private rented sector and without work. If poverty in London falls it may well be because the poor are being forced out.”
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8 Responses to “London, poverty capital of England”
Spartacus
Define poverty?
Also, completely agree about high rents etc. etc. Please can someone build more houses throughout London.
Edward
Please stop saying “affordable”. The new “affordable rent” is not affordable at all. Say ” low rent social housing”. Low rent social housing is what Londoners really need.
Waterloosunrise
So – just to meet the higher average rent (1,300 / 475) you’d need to earn an additional £13,500 pa (gross allowing for basic tax and NI) to live in London. I know some (mainly public sector) jobs have an element of “London weighting” but nothing like that. Why does anyone not on the financial sector gravy train live there?
uglyfatbloke
Government policies for a century have hot housed London’s economy at the expense of the rest of the country, so why would anyone he surprised that house rents and prices are ludicrous? The key would be to move government departments to areas where both office space and housing are much cheaper, but the big block of London MPs will always be happy to work on a cross-party basis to ensure that that does n’t happen.
uglyfatbloke
Government policies for a century have hot housed London’s economy at the expense of the rest of the country, so why would anyone he surprised that house rents and prices are ludicrous? The key would be to move government departments to areas where both office space and housing are much cheaper, but the big block of London MPs will always be happy to work on a cross-party basis to ensure that that does n’t happen.