Revealed: London’s most in-demand renting locations right now

Securing a flat in London is harder than bagging Glastonbury tickets. It’s like The Hunger Games out there. Actually, it’s worse. Now, the capital’s most in-demand new renting locations have been revealed, but they aren’t what you’d expect. 

Abbey Wood, Forest Gate and Crystal Palace have been revealed as the most popular up-and-coming rental locations in London by SpareRoom. Searches for properties in Abbey Wood have more than tripled (up by 210 percent) on the rental platform, while searches for Forest Gate properties are up 157 percent.

The data shows that Londoners are looking further afield for houses, with the 10 biggest ‘climber’ locations being between 7-11 miles from central London. This is likely down to the fact that zones 1-3 have become pretty much unliveable for regular folk thanks to extortionate rent, high energy bills and rising prices of food and drink.

In Abbey Wood in zone 4 the average monthly cost of a room is £796, while rooms in Forest Gate average at £827, and £833 for Crystal Palace. This contrasts an average of £1,072 per month for a room in Clapham, which although is still the most-searched area of London for rentals, its popularity has decreased by one-third year on year. 

Plaistow, Tottenham and Woolwich were also among SpareRoom’s biggest risers, while Canning Town, King’s Cross and Holborn fell the most in popularity.

This has left us wondering what London will look like when all the people earning regular salaries have been forced to the city’s outskirts, leading to central London becoming a playground for the rich. Rent freeze when?

Discover renting in London on Time Out

These are the London postcodes with the fastest rising rents. Plus, read about life without a living room: how young renters are losing their communal space. And here are eight ways to make renting in the capital less of a total nightmare. 

Did you see that it’s finally happened – pints in London now cost £8?

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