Renting in Newham ‘unaffordable for families’, says Shelter

Renting a two bedroom home in Newham is unaffordable for families earning less than �39,700, according to new research released by Shelter.

Renting a two-bedroom home in Newham is unaffordable for families earning less than �40,000 in total, according to new research.

With almost a quarter of London families now renting from a private landlord, the research, by Shelter, looked at how much they would need to earn to be able to rent a typical two-bedroom home.

This is widely defined as rent taking up no more than a third of household income.

It found that a Newham family would need to take home more than �2,720 each month, equivalent to a yearly pre-tax salary of �39,700.

With the typical London household income less than �35,000, the charity is warning that growing numbers of families are at crisis point, paying up to half of their income in rent each month as they struggle to continue living and working in the capital.

Campbell Robb, Shelter chief executive, said: “These findings paint a worrying picture of families across Newham being stretched to the limit by the high cost of renting, praying they won’t be hit by another rent rise that could tip them over the edge.

“With so many Londoners locked out of home ownership, more and more families have no other option but to rent, but with rents now so out of touch with wages some families are spending over half of their income just to keep a roof over their head, leaving little left for food, fuel and other essentials.

“Newham’s renters will be looking to the next Mayor to fix London’s out-of-control rental market, and give them some stability and predictability with their housing costs.”