Professionals earning good money are being forced to live “12 to a house” because of the crisis in London’s property market, an MP claimed today.
Rupa Huq said 30-year-olds who could previously have afforded to live alone, were being pushed into the “who stole my cheese” lifestyle more commonly linked with students.
The Ealing Central and Acton MP said the £535,000 average property price in her constituency is 17 times the area’s average annual salary.
She demanded changes to how “affordable housing” is defined in London and for councils to be given powers to ban the sale of new homes overseas.
In a Commons debate that she had called, Dr Huq said: “Renting is no longer just a transitory thing for those who are in their twenties. It’s becoming routine for people further up the age scale.
“Many in my constituency in their 30s on good money find themselves sometimes 12 to a house with shared sitting room and kitchen.
“At that age, ‘who stole my cheese?’ should not be a way of life.”
Dr Huq, sister of TV presenter Konnie, said key workers like nurses, fire and police officers were being pushed out of the capital due to the lack of affordable housing.
She also hit out at the sale of new flats to foreign owners, who buy them as investments and then leave them empty.
She said: “It’s not buy to let, it’s buy to leave.”
The MP said Londoners would only get a look in if boroughs were given powers to block the off-plan sale of new flats to foreigners until they were first marketed in the UK.
Demanding a massive building programme, she added: “It’s no wonder that only 50 per cent of London’s households are owner-occupied compared to a national average of 64 per cent.
“The average age of a first time buyer unaided in London is now 37.”
She highlighted Land Registry figures showing London as a whole continued to see the highest price rises in the country.
In March they rose on average by 11.3 per cent to over £462,000, comparing to a 5.3 per cent increase for England and Wales.
