Spending £3,500 a month in rent

[sgroobles]

Having a slightly :O moment as we have just signed a rental agreement for two years for £3,500 a month in rent. This is in London so can't be that unusual based on the number of properties we saw at this rate.

We would prefer to buy somewhere but, honestly, with the way apartment prices have stagnated since about 2016, it's too big of a risk.

Feels pretty horrifying that somewhere to live can cost so much, but we also need to enjoy living somewhere as you do only live once... anyone else paying what seems a crazy amount in rent?

I had been looking for a flat in the north west for months and there are tons available, most of which have been reduced or have been on the market for many months, some even years. It’s a grim picture, but from what I saw this afternoon on Rightmove, the picture in London is more positive.

That is very high. Do you not want to buy instead?

That is a very uninformed take and financially misleading.

OP, just check on ONS flat price for your desired postcode. In West London for instance prices are down about 20% from 2022 peak. So imagine paying 3.5k in interest only, add 1k in service and repair cost monthly and a one off 30k stamp duty... All this to end up selling at a 20% discount a few years down the line. Meanwhile, investing your deposit in risk free gilts yields 5% and would have returned 10% annualized in the stock market.

This is the grim reality for buyers in the current London market.

@Papricat I think you're also being misleading because in Ealing and Richmond upon Thames flat prices have stayed the same but in Hammersmith and Fulham the prices have gone down by 11%. In Southwark prices have increased by 5.1%. I don't have the time to look at all the boroughs, and as we all know houses have always kept their value more than flats, but the general picture regarding flats in the capital is far from grim.