Rents shock for East End families facing three-times average rises

Private landlords are raising rents in London’s poverty-stricken East End by almost £1,000 a year—three times the national increase.

Rents jumped by an average £978 in Tower Hamlets in 2012—a rise of six per cent, according to the Shelter charity for the homeless.

It was the seventh biggest hype in London, while the average rise across the country was just £300, the charity points out.

The increasing cost of living in London is stretching many families to breaking point, Tower Hamlets councillors warned this week.

Labour’s Housing spokesman Sirajul Islam said: “Many families are facing rising prices, reduced government support and faltering incomes.

“Yet landlords are asking for another £1,000 a year which is beyond belief.”

The figures on rent rises come only days after other statistics show wages are down by 13 per cent in Tower Hamlets since 2008—putting more pressure on the East End’s chronic housing shortage.

Bethnal Green & Bow MP Rushanara Ali said: “The shortage is pushing private rents to a record high.

“There are nearly 24,000 on the housing waiting list, with young people now having to wait until they’re into their thirties before they can buy their own home.

“But the government has cut the budget for affordable new homes by 60 per cent.”

The MP blames the government’s “failure to build the homes needed” which she says is pushing private rents to a record high.