A lot of people aspire to live in London, but it has become increasingly difficult. Affordability is an issue across the city. Getting on the housing ladder is out of reach for many, and high rents make renting tough too. In addition, social housing is failing to meet demand. It leaves the questions of how did we get here and is there any way to fix the issue? We want to have a closer look here, then if you need guaranteed rent in London, you can rely on us.

Causes

There have actually been signs of a housing crisis in London since the 1980s. However, we’ve seen the real impact in the last decade. Several things have all coincided to leave us in the current situation.

One of the earliest problems was the Help to Buy scheme. While it has merits in allowing people to get on the housing ladder by buying their council home, there hasn’t been enough supply to replace the homes. As a result, many councils have seen their stock of housing diminish over the years.

There has also been a big drop in building in general in London. Several things are to blame here, especially in the last decade. This includes the rising costs of materials, material availability, labour shortages, and planning red tape. The financial side has been really challenging too, including high land prices, high interest rates, and taxes.

Another issue is the type of housing that typically does get delivered in London. Data from Savills gives a closer look. It says 3,000 new 1,200 sq/ft lower mainstream homes were built last year. However, there was double that number of new upper mainstream homes. The issue is we need far more of the former (21,700) and less of the latter to meet demand.

What to do?

While the situation is bad, there is work to try to improve it. If you are thinking of investing and guaranteed rent in London, there are some things to look at here.

A crucial thing to note is the Government understands there isn’t a quick fix; it will take years to see an improvement. They are planning to reform the planning process over the next five years. This includes changes to the NPPF, new legislature, and more resources for local planning officers.

There are some really interesting moves here. The introduction of the Grey Belt and re-evaluating land is crucial. It could reclassify more land as being suitable for development, especially for housing.

The property industry is also calling for new programmes to help people get on the housing ladder. This includes things like a replacement for the Help to Buy scheme, help with securing a mortgage, and stamp duty breaks.

Finally, there are calls for financial help for builders, including tax breaks. One of the big issues is it is really hard for small and medium size companies to survive. They have to deal with things like high costs and material shortages. If projects take a long time to get permission and move forward, the costs of the delay can put SMEs out of business. Even large companies can struggle, as we saw with the collapse of ISG.

Ask us about guaranteed rent in London

There is hope the housing situation in London will improve in the future, especially as the Government makes sweeping changes to planning policies. The push to Get Britain Building is very positive too. However, it is vital to ensure developments deliver the right type of housing, including affordable homes for buyers and renters.

If the positivity encourages you to invest in assets, you should consider our services. We provide support for investors, helping with the financial and organisational side of things. One of the best things you can do is choose guaranteed rent in London. It will protect your rental income while also helping the housing crisis. It does the latter by working with the local authority so they can house people who are struggling to buy or rent privately.

So, if you want to learn more about what we can do, please get in touch.