Housing costs risk piling pressure on Outer London services
Our latest London's Poverty Profile report warns that the capital's housing costs are changing the character of London. As Inner London becomes less affordable, services in Outer London, which are already stretched, such as GPs surgeries, and schools, may come under increasing pressure.
London's Poverty Profile 2011, conducted by the New Policy Institute, finds that housing costs are a critical factor in explaining why London has the highest poverty rates in England. Taking into account housing costs, the poverty rate in London is 28 per cent, compared to 22 per cent in the rest of England.
Housing benefit changes mean that many parts of Inner London may become unaffordable for low-income families renting privately. The latest London's Poverty Profile reports that an estimated 104,000 households across the capital will be affected, with even families in one or two-bedroom properties losing up to £150 a month.
One effect of this could be that people move to Outer London, where there are often lower levels of public services per head. For example 35 per cent of outer London primary schools are already full or overcrowded, compared with 19 per cent in inner London. There are twice as many people per GP Bexley and Redbridge than in Hackney and Lambeth.
For those families who choose to stay in Inner London, they are at increasing risk of overcrowding, poverty or homelessness. The report found that 220,000 London households already live in overcrowded accommodation, 60,000 more than a decade ago, with most of this increase in the private rented sector.
Bharat Mehta, Chief Executive of Trust for London, said: "This report shows that London is becoming more polarised, with some places becoming unaffordable for low and medium income families. We are deeply concerned about the increasing segregation of London and the pressure this puts on health, education and transport in certain areas of the capital. There is an urgent need for action to respond to the projected demand for key services in Outer London."
Although many of the indicators in the report show issues getting worse in London there is also some positive news: education outcomes continue to improve for children in poverty. Children eligible for free school meals in London are more likely to attain minimum developmental and educational standards at age 5, 11 and 16 than similar children in the rest of England.
Download the report here or start exploring its content on this site.
Posted on 21 October 2011
Further pages
- Huge fall in building of new affordable homes
- 'High pay at the top corrosive to the British economy'
- Average incomes rising much less than inflation
- Welfare reform risks 133,000 unable to afford rent
- Pay gap grows between top and middle earners
- GLA publishes child poverty update
- Public education spending to fall at fastest rate since 1950s
- FTSE 100 directors' pay up by 50%
- LSE to monitor poverty and inequality under the Coalition
- Is London the hardest region for poor children?
- Housing costs risk piling pressure on Outer London services
- New London's Poverty Profile launched
- Decade of rising poverty predicted
- Government housing policies assessed
- Childcare costs causing debt and poverty
- Pay and rewards risen faster at the top
- Mixed results on employment retention
- '1 in 4 London children overcrowded'
- Public support for tackling pay inequality
- Living costs rising faster for families
- 'Single mothers hit hardest by welfare changes'
- Disabled people 'face additional debt difficulties'
- Will the Work Programme fail the most disadvantaged?
- Incomes grew in 2009-2010 but future looks gloomy
- Poor 'experience worse inflation'
- London's Latin American community low-paid and exploited
- Child Poverty Action Group issues legal challenge to Government
- Women still behind in London's economy
- Government consults on new child poverty approach
- IFS predicts rising poverty
- London's poor hit harder by tax and benefit changes
- New information on rough sleeping
- In-work poverty on the rise in London
- Recession impacts most on East and Outer London
- New data available on London's debt
- New report on lifting families out of poverty
- London's public sector exhibits lower standards of living
- Public funding cuts hit the poorest hardest
- City Parochial becomes Trust for London
- VAT rise will hit the poor hardest
- Mayor announces increase in Living Wage
- London the 'most unequal city in the West', says academic
- New National Minimum Wage rates announced
- 'Worklessness costs London £5bn a year'
- Bus fare rise hits low-paid Londoners
- London's children in deepest poverty
- JRF launches housing and neighbourhood website
- Poverty in Hammersmith
- Focus on London 2009 published
- London Child Poverty Awards
- Recession poverty risk for BME Women
- Government reviews impact of recession
- Londoners face debt crisis
- Child poverty duty to become law
- London Living Wage increases
- London's Poverty Profile welcomed
- London's Poverty Profile launched
- New research about Latin American community in London
- Income inequality hit record high before the recession started
- London's economic environment remains harsh, says GLA
- Government will miss 2010 child poverty target
- Unemployment up across all London boroughs