Are renting prices going through the roof?

The_Zealot

I've been looking at prices in the Peckham Rye area (SE15, London zone 2), which is where I've always been living (apart from a room in Eltham) since I came to the country.
I've been in two 1-bedroom flats paying £700/month + bills and one 2-bedroom flat paying £850 including water and council tax paid by the landlord, who was living on the ground floor. All of them part-furnished.

So I was looking at moving back to a 2 bedroom apartment again since there's a baby on the way. But I was gobsmacked when I saw the prices at £1100 per calendar month and above, unfurnished!

So what's going on? Are all properties for rent going up by several hundreds more? Is it just Peckham Rye that's being inflated? Is it the South East? Is it all of London?
I live here because I'm a walking distance from Netto, Iceland and Morrison's, and the rail station. So neither my wife nor I need a bus pass and we save a lot of time because we need to walk very little. Car is also an expensive commodity we don't need.

Should I be looking at another area that has everything close, the shops, the station, the city while on a budget? If so, where?

Please note that the Peckham Rye area is much safer than the rest of Peckham.

poppysarah

What's LHA like for those postcodes?

The_Zealot

poppysarah wrote: »

What's LHA like for those postcodes?

Only £180/week for 1 bedroom flat. Never asked for 2 bedrooms, but it's something I could ask.

The_Zealot

Seems that the LHA went up a little bit this new tax year.

As we can see in their website here https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/Secure/Default.aspx the LHA for 1 bedroom is £184.11/pw and for 2 bedrooms it's £235/pw, which makes it £1018pcm.

I wonder if this price rise is to deter tenants using Housing Benefits from moving into the property?

Is this difference also seen in other parts of London?

adg1

Firstly, prices wouldn't be raised artificially to put off LHA tenants as the property would look expensive to everyone, not just people on HB, and probably stop them enquiring about it.

Secondly, there is very little rental property actually available (in real terms, not whats listed on rightmove etc) so what there is tends to be prices higher.

calebdylan

i don't think so especially after this recession the price of real estate drowned ...................... why go rent better buy a new house

Jowo_2

The_Zealot wrote: »

I was gobsmacked when I saw the prices at £1100 per calendar month and above, unfurnished!

So what's going on? Are all properties for rent going up by several hundreds more? Is it just Peckham Rye that's being inflated? Is it the South East? Is it all of London?

Are the properties you've seen managed directly by landlords or advertised by agencies? Have you had a chat with any of them as you've made enquiries about properties in the area?

Are you definately comparing like with like and not muddling properties in the conservation area with those outside, for example?

Could it be the time of year you are looking compared with the last time? For example, less availability because its still term time so there are hundreds of students in the area?