This comprehensive study, spanning every one of the capital’s 32 boroughs from May 2015 to May 2025, highlights the discrepancy between perception and reality.
It challenges the increasingly widespread narrative that landlords are cashing in while tenants suffer, exposing the limitations of surface-level statistics.
The Agency recorded a climb in the average monthly rent from £1,616 to £2,249, on paper that’s a £633 increase, However once Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation is taken into account, the rise dwindles to just £15.
Spanning all 32 London boroughs over ten years, the data doesn’t support the dramatic headlines. Instead, it uncovers a nuanced landscape that challenges the oversimplified portrayal of landlords as “greedy for profits”.
This is a theme often amplified in political debates and media soundbites. The numbers tell a quieter story, one that contradicts the notion of unchecked rent exploitation and invites a more balanced conversation.
Rental patterns across London are far from uniform. A handful of outer boroughs have outpaced the rest, with Barking and Dagenham topping the chart with a 16.5% increase in inflation-adjusted rent adding £229 to the average monthly bill. Close behind were Havering (16.3%), Bexley (14.3%), Redbridge (12.0%), and Waltham Forest (7.4%). These areas, traditionally more affordable, are experiencing mounting demand as central London’s high costs push tenants outward.
Meanwhile, several high-profile districts saw their rents retreat when adjusted for inflation. Westminster registered a 4.9% drop in real terms — a £168 decline — with other losses in Richmond upon Thames (-3.9%), Camden (-3.1%), Kingston (-2.8%), and Kensington and Chelsea (-2.3%). In total, 12 boroughs recorded falling rents in real value, contradicting claims of widespread profiteering and underscoring the volatility of the capital’s rental landscape.
A director at the agency said: “There’s a widespread perception that landlords are to blame for the sharp rise in rents, particularly in London, but the data tells a very different story. Once inflation is taken into account, rental growth over the last 10 years has been largely stagnant and, in many areas, rents have actually fallen in real terms.
“Landlords face higher mortgage costs, tighter regulations, and increasing taxation, yet many are not passing those costs on at the rate people assume.”
At the heart of London’s rental challenges is a persistent imbalance which is unsurprisingly demand is outstripping supply. With a growing population, tighter mortgage regulations, and fewer rental properties entering the market, the burden is increasingly falling on the shoulders of landlords. The private rental sector is straining under this weight, as it tries to absorb the spillover from prospective buyers who can’t access home ownership.