Teachers, nurses and bus drivers are struggling to rent 1-bed apartments in London, campaign group Generation Rent warned.
As many as nine types of key worker would fail letting agent affordability checks for the average 1-bed home in every London borough, with average London wages worth less than 2.5 times the average rent.
In eight central London boroughs not even a secondary school teacher, the highest-paid of the 15 occupations analysed, with an average £53,214 salary, would be able to rent the average 1-bed.
Primary school teachers could get a 1-bed flat in 23 boroughs, and find 9 of them affordable.
For bus drivers, 17 boroughs would be options for renting their own place, costing 40% or less of wages, but only Bexley has rent considered affordable. Community nurses could pass letting agent checks in 23 boroughs, with rents in just five boroughs costing 30% or less of their salary.
Dan Wilson Craw, deputy chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “London is one of the richest cities on the planet, but it depends on the key workers who clean up after us, take care of our sick and elderly, and drive our buses to where we need to go.
“London needs its key workers if the city can continue to thrive, but those workers cannot stay in a city that demands an arm and a leg for a place to recharge after a hard day and build your life from.
“The current cost of renting crisis is devastating for London’s essential occupations and the rest of us. It is vital that the Mayor is given the power to slam the brakes on local rents and give our key workers the breathing space they need to live and work in their community.
“It is also vital that the mayor and the government build more affordable homes in the capital and increase how much social housing is available.”
Even in outer boroughs such as Barking and Dagenham and Bexley, where rents are comparatively lower, affordable rents remain out of reach. Many essential workers, including teaching assistants and pharmacy assistants, would still pay over half their income on rent.
Across Greater London, the average monthly rent of £1,688 consumes:
•40% of a community nurse’s income
•71% of a receptionist’s income
•80% of a pharmacy assistant’s income
•79% of a teaching assistant’s income
The most expensive borough was Kensington and Chelsea with the average rent for a 1-bed of £2,595 per month, and the cheapest was Bexley, with £1,138.
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has launched a plan to deliver at least 6,000 new ‘Key Worker Living Rent’ homes by 2030.
But Generation Rent called on the Mayor and government to go further in building more affordable homes in the capital and for powers to be devolved to allow Metro Mayors to slam the brakes on soaring rents.
