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”
robertcp
And lower house prices!
Tone the Trader
All part of the plan, my friends.
Clear out the plebs from cenral London, propert developers move in. Hey presto, million pound dwellings.
Next is the wall to protect the lord and master from us plebs.
Old council flats for sale half a million quid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thatcher did a great job of getting councils to sell their housing to developers. This to complete the earlier plans of previous governments to build “new towns”. Somewhere the displaced plebs could live.
This is just more of the same.
terryec
They did move some jobs to Newcastle but this Government has reversed that trend.
London has been gentrifying for many years Shirley Porter was found guilty in 1987 for selling council property to Tory voters, and it has been going on ever since through many guises usually price spirals,