The Independent has in an article* today claimed that renting an ‘average London flat’ is more expensive than living in most European hotels.
A headline grabbing shock statistic ….. but is it actually true?
When taking a closer look at the facts there are clear inconsistencies with the newspaper’s statistics.
In the article it is claimed that latest figures show that the average rent for a flat in London is £1,676. This is incorrect and is, in fact, the average rent in London for all properties.
The average rent for a one bedroom apartment in London is £1,271, while the average rent for a studio apartment is £952 and the average rent for a bedroom is £572 (Source: VOA )
The average rent for a single bedroom of £572, works out at £19 a night. A significant difference to the £55 a night hotel bill.
Furthermore, while the Paris hotel referenced in the article is indeed available at £55 a night for a single bedroom today – this figure does not reflect seasonal availability or weekend rates.
Moreover, the room at £55 is a single bedroom, with no view and no facilities such as a kitchen or washing machine. The hotel bill, covering 30 nights from today, works out at a total of £1,938 or £2,171 with breakfast included, the equivalent of £72 a night.
When we look at the costs in July this increases to £2,372 for 30 nights, an average of £79 per night and £2,560 for 30 nights with breakfast (an average of £85 per night).
This is a difference of £1,800 between the average rent for a bedroom in London and the cost for 30 nights in a hotel.
Alan Ward, chairman of the RLA said:
“This is a good story not supported by the facts. Renting a room from a landlord would be £1,800 cheaper than a hotel this summer. For the cost of a hotel room you could rent two studios and still have money left for a few nights out.
“Comparing apples and pears benefits nobody.
“What London really needs is action on the buy-to-leave landlords who are letting property lie empty, depriving hard working Londoners of somewhere to live, a move which would see 57,000 empty properties become homes.
“According Office for National Statistics figures 27% of Londoners live in privately rented homes and it is vital that the Government works alongside the PRS to tackle the housing issues in the capital.”
