Plumstead named most affordable rental spot as demand in London hits record levels
Plumstead in South East London is currently the cheapest place to rent a two bed property in the capital1, according to exclusive research by London’s number one property website Rightmove.
The average asking rent of a two bed property in Plumstead is £1,143 per month, seven times cheaper than the most expensive area, Mayfair.
Demand for rental property in the capital is at a record high with a 69% increase in email enquiries2 sent from home-hunters to letting agents in the past year.
The list of top twenty cheapest areas is dominated by the South East and East London, with Middle Park coming in second cheapest at £1,192 and Eltham coming third with an average two bed rent of £1,195 per month.
In Greater London the average asking rent of a two bed is currently £2,216 per month, up over 6% in the past year3 from £2,086, and rising more rapidly than the previous annual rise of 3.7%.
Much of the growth has been fuelled by Outer London4, where the average rent of a two bed has increased by 8.4% in the past year to £1,493, compared to a more modest rise of 2.3% the previous year.
Sam Mitchell, Head of lettings at Rightmove, says:
“The London rental market has always been fast-paced but over the past year we’ve seen demand increase to record levels, and thousands have signed up to find out about new properties first through our instant property alerts. Rental asking prices have been steadily increasing in the past few years, following a short lull post-Olympics. Those struggling to find a place they can afford could consider these more affordable areas, and visit them to see if they would suit their lifestyle. Factors like being close to a tube station or a good school will always come at a premium, but it will help if you’re looking in an area with a below average London rental price to begin with.”
Alexa Joyeux, Lettings Manager at Robinson Jackson, has been charting the rise of Plumstead’s popularity:
“We started noticing an increased demand for Plumstead among tenants when the DLR opened in nearby Woolwich in 2009. As soon as work started on the Crossrail station, enquiries stepped up another gear. In fact, in the last 18 months we have seen rental values rise in the region of 20% as tenants position themselves in Plumstead ahead of Crossrail’s opening. We’ve also noticed a change in the type of tenant applying for properties – they’re coming from further afield and many of those have been priced out of areas like Bow in East London and South West London boroughs. Plumstead, for the time being, retains a level of affordability mixed with a good housing stock – lots of pretty Victorian terraces – wide open spaces that include Plumstead Common, Winn’s Common and Oxleas Woods, plus a very short journey to the revived and regenerated Woolwich town centre.”
Properties currently available on Rightmove to rent in some of the cheapest areas include:
Plumstead
Two bed apartment, £1,200 per month
Eltham
Two bed apartment, £1,100 per month
South Norwood
Two bed apartment, £1,295 per month
1 Based on two bed properties on Rightmove in April 2015.
2 March 2015 vs March 2014.
3 April 2015 vs April 2014.
4 Outer London defined as per the Office of National Statistics, consisting of Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, and Waltham Forest.
