Private renting

Key facts about private renting in London:

One in five households in London (around 650,000 in all) rent their home in the private market.
These households are not evenly spread across London: rates of private renting are more than twice as high in central London as they are in the outer boroughs.
The sector is relatively young: adults aged 16 to 34 comprise 59% of the private rented sector, twice as high as the proportion in London’s overall population (29%).
It is also very diverse, with 61% of private renters born outside the UK, compared to 37% of Londoners as a whole.
The private rented sector accounts for more than half of the home moves that take place in London each year.

The UK has relatively few 'institutional' or large-scale investors in the private rented sector, and most landlords have just a handful of properties. The Mayor and the government’s Homes and Communities Agency are both currently exploring options for increasing institutional investment in private renting.

Since April 2007, all deposits (for rent up to £25,000 per annum) taken by landlords and letting agents for Assured Shorthold Tenancies must be protected by a tenancy deposit protection scheme. More information on these schemes is available from Direct.gov and Shelter.

Further information and advice on private renting can be found in the box to the right of this page and through the links below.