London rental prices sky high, Could rent strikes be the answer ??

With the housing crisis in teh UK no more accute than in the Xcapital city of London seeing rent prices soar in recent years. Could we start to see the idea of rent strikes between occupants making a much needed return ?? House rental prices in London have risen by 7.7pc in the past year to £1,560 a month, making rental costs in the capital more than double the UK average. Excluding the capital, rents across the UK average £749 a month, having risen 3.5pc year-on-year, according to the latest quarterly rental index from Homelet. The gap between London and the rest of the UK is now the highest on record, the insurer said. However, rents have risen fastest in Scotland, where new tenancies over the three months to October were priced 9pc higher than the same time a year ago. Prices surged to £665 last month, compared to £610 a year ago. Renting is cheapest in the North East, where average prices are £536 a month. The most expensive area outside London is the South East, where new rental properties coming to the market last month averaged £944 in monthly rent. Average price for new rental properties across the UK, October 2015 Region Average price Annual change Greater London £1,560 7.5% South East £944 4.3% South West £872 4% East Anglia £809 -1.2% West Midlands £669 2% Scotland £665 9% North West £635 -4.9% East Midlands £628 5.9% Yorkshire & Humberside £621 2.0% Wales £614 1.8% Northern Ireland £588 -2.1% North East £536 3.9% Across the UK, rent increases are far outpacing wage growth, with average tenant incomes up just 1.7pc over the year. A separate survey last month suggested many renters are paying more than they can actually afford. Affordable rents are defined as making up less than 35pc of net household income. Homelet, which also questioned almost 15,000 tenants about their views on the rental market, said that while 71pc of tenants are keen to buy their homes, 64pc have no expectations of being able to do so any time soon. An overwhelming number cited high deposits as the biggest barrier preventing them from buying. Yet the report suggested more than half weren't taking any steps to save for a deposit. In total, 20-somethings in the UK can expect to pay £66,800 in rent to landlords by the time they are 30. The authors also found price is the most important factor for tenants choosing a home, ranking higher than other factors such as location, a low crime rate and distance to work. Some 71pc of respondents said they rent through a letting agent, with just 29pc renting directly through a landlord. Those who dealt directly with landlords were more likely to be happier than those renting through letting agents. From the daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/11984097/London-rents-now-a-record-108pc-higher-than-rest-of-UK.html

An update on this blog

So sorry for the lack of posts of late. I've not been that active as I’d have liked. Been quite busy thinking and considering the world we now live in. Since the general election things have as predicted got harder for people including myself. Tory government intent on ripping away our rights and our freedoms in lots of ways. While the labour party my former home has a new left wing leader catching many including myself by surprise. Not least my former party the socialist party of England and Wales who still can’t understand how labour can have elected a left wing leader a proper one this time. We were told for years the Labour party is just another capitalist party just like the democrats in the US. But the election of Jeremy Corbyn by a stonking majority has forced many on the left including myself to look again. I have not been shocked at the levels of crap thrown at Jeremy Corbyn. Any glimpse of a turn to the left or anything vaguely mentioning the working class or even socialism has to be squashed and ridiculed before it gains any foot hold. I have had lots of thoughts over the last few months just not got around to putting them down on a blogpost. I've come across many people from different walks of life and continue to be astonished how much people are prepared to put up with. But we can all only take so much and people will not lie down without a fight. I'm proud to say my disabled comrades at Disabled people against Cuts continue to do fantastic work and will always have my full support. The anti cuts movement is in a bit of a mess with no real direction but small local campaigns has found victories here and there. I am still thinking along a libertarian anarchist lines with a form focus on non hierarchical organisations. I still look back at my political past of labourism and Trotskyism with levels of cringe. But I thank them for showing me what not to go for in a movement it’s a process I’m and many of us are on we learn and develop our ideas day by day. The fight against the brutal austerity continues all over the globe but in Britain we have not given up. Anarchists, including AFed and Solidarity federation, threw themselves into the struggle against cuts after the election of the Tory/LibDem coalition in 2010. We joined literally millions of others on strikes, protests, occupations, and direct actions, but after 2012 it all got a bit... quieter, and the cuts continued. That's changing this year though, but how can we make sure this new wave of anti-cuts action is more successful? What can we learn from the past five years? What contributions can Anarchists make to the struggle (and what contributions SHOULD we make)? I was close to closing this blog down but something inside me nagged at me telling me. Don’t be ashamed of your past cringe worthy ideas heck we all have to start somewhere don’t we....