Not only is London the most expensive place to buy a property in the UK, and seemingly getting pricier all the time, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to live in a flatshare in the capital. The average monthly price for a rented room in London is £692.30, according to data from flatshare website Easyroommate.com, despite the average price that flatsharers say they can actually afford to pay coming up much shorter at £598.30. The price of a room in London far outstrips the UK’s second most expensive city for flatsharers – in Oxford a room costs £571.30 per month, although residents in that city still believe they are paying more than they can afford, which is £568.30. Oxford has seen the biggest spike in room rental prices between 2012 and 2015, at 29 per cent, whereas London prices rose by 13.9 per cent during that period. Flatshares in Milton Keynes, High Wycombe and Maidstone all say their rent is cheaper than what they could afford to pay. “There is an increasingly competitive property market at play – from skyrocketing housing prices to the supply/demand imbalance,” said EasyRoommate chief executive Albin Serviant. “This is having a palpable impact on the rental sector and flatsharers, and our latest research highlights just how challenging it can be. “There is a pressing need to tackle the housing crisis to mitigate inflation with property prices and a fundamental role for the government in addressing this.” Labour’s candidate for mayor of London Sadiq Khan told the party conference on Wednesday that next May’s election in the capital will be a “referendum on London’s housing crisis”. He said housing was “the greatest challenge facing our city that now affects all Londoners, regardless of age or income”.
London's high house prices are having the effect of making flatsharing more unaffordable too, with flatmate website easyroommate.com saying that while the average monthly price of a rented room in the city is £692.30, the average price that flatsharers are willing to pay is far less at £598.30.