Priced out: tough choices facing London renters

Soaring costs for tiny rooms with nightmare landlords are forcing many London renters to move to the outer suburbs, or even leave the capital altogether with mixed results, finds Ruth Bloomfield

- Ruth Bloomfield

After years of renting around London, Gaby Levine had had enough.

Partly it was the m o n e y — h e r “tiny little box room” in West Hampstead cost £875pcm, with bills adding another £175pcm — and she was also fed up with awkward flatmates and all the stress and claustrophobia that comes with life in the capital.

“I have lived in London my whole life, and I never thought I would move out,” says Levine, a freelance graphic designer. “But it just started to get too much. Then two of my best friends started talking about moving to Brighton and I thought: “Why not?’ and joined them.”

Levine is now settled a few minutes’ walk from the seafront, her rent is cheaper and her stress levels have plummeted.

According to a recent study by Pocket Living, one in four London renters aged 25 to 45 are considering a similar escape, either to the far-flung suburbs or out of the capital altogether to avoid its spiralling rents.

“A situation where young talented people are now being forced to leave the capital because the prospect of owning a home here is so bleak is one of the clearest indicators so far that London faces being gradually levelled down,” says Marc Vlessing, chief executive officer at Pocket Living.

Levine was an early adopter of the great London exodus. She and her friends left London last September after finding a flat on Spareroom.com. Because of the logistical difficulties of viewing homes, they made an offer on their three bedroom flat without having seen it. “It was the best decision I ever made,” says Levine, 27.