A quarter of London flat-sharers are so hard up that a rent rise of just £25 a month would force them to move out, according to a survey.
One in 10 say their personal finances are so precarious that even a £10 increase would make them seek new accommodation. If the rise was as much as £50 almost half of flat-sharers said they would be unable to afford their rent.
Matt Hutchinson, director of flat-share site SpareRoom.co.uk, which commissioned the research, said: “Flat sharing is the most affordable way to rent in London, so it’s a scary prospect to think that an increase of just £25 per month could force so many out of their homes.
“It’s not a case of simply finding somewhere cheaper to live, either — not that finding somewhere cheap in the capital is simple. The typical London sharer has to find £1,792 in rent, deposit and agents’ fees every time they move.”
Private tutor Amy Heslop-Mullens, 34, said she was forced to take on extra work when the rent for a room in a Putney flat-share went up from £590 to £720 a month over three years.
She said: “I was working all time I could. I had very little spare time. It doesn’t sound a lot but when we asked the landlord for things to be done it was always a battle.
“When the quality of your standard of living is not being improved and you don’t know what part of the house is going to fall apart next, it doesn’t make for happy living.”
Ms Heslop-Mullens eventually moved out of her flat-share in February last year and is now paying just £650 a month for a larger room in a better-quality flat.
A separate survey earlier this year found that one in five renters are not able to meet their monthly payments out of their salary.
Of those, two thirds said they would rely on back-up forms of finance such as credit cards, pay day loans or even their pension savings to keep the landlord happy. But the other third admitted they would not be able to pay all the rent.