The high cost of renting accommodation in Croydon is pushing families to crisis point, Shelter, the housing charity, is warning.

Renting a two-bedroom home in Croydon is now unaffordable for families earning less than £37,000 according to research conducted on behalf of the charity.

The financial crisis has seen a surge in the number of people in London living in rented accommodation in the last two years, with 25 per cent of households in the capital now renting, according to Shelter, whose research looked at how much families need to earn to be able to affordably rent a typical two bedroom home, widely defined as rent taking up no more than one-third of household income.

Shelter found that a Croydon family would need to take home more than £2,570 each month, equivalent to a yearly pre-tax salary of £37,000.

With the typical London household income less than £35,000, the charity is warning that growing numbers of families are at crisis point, paying up to half of their income in rent each month as they struggle to continue living and working in the capital.

The report found that the rate of inflation on private rents in outer London was 5.5 per cent in 2011, three times the rate of increase on the average outer London wage.

In an Ipsos Mori poll released last week, Londoners said that the single most important policy the Mayoral candidates have discussed is finding a way to reduce the cost of private renting.

Shelter’s Homes for London campaign is demanding the next Mayor uses their influence to make housing a top priority, and stand up for London’s renters by brokering a better deal for them which protects families from the capital’s out-of-control rental market.

“These findings paint a worrying picture of families across Croydon being stretched to the limit by the high cost of renting, praying they won’t be hit by another rent rise that could tip them over the edge,” Campbell Robb, Shelter’s chief executive, said in a release issued with the research.

“With so many Londoners locked out of home ownership, more and more families have no other option but to rent, but with rents now so out of touch with wages some families are spending over half of their income just to keep a roof over their head, leaving little left for food, fuel and other essentials.

“Croydon’s renters will be looking to the next Mayor to fix London’s out-of-control rental market, and give them some stability and predictability with their housing costs.

“By joining our campaign, Londoners can find out the real cost of renting where they live, and challenge the candidates about what they would do to address London’s growing housing crisis. ”

For more information from Shelter, click here.

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