Mayor of London to consider lowering rent payments for women

Sadiq Khan has been urged by London Assembly members to consider making rent payments lower for women due to the gender pay gap.

In a report, published last month by City-Hall’s cross-party housing committee, experts outline that women in the capital earn significantly less than men and that they are therefore harder hit by soaring rent costs.

According to the latest figures from Rightmove, the UK’s number one property portal, the average rent in London in October 2022 reached £2,361 a month.

The study displayed the gender pay gap is almost 15% and widens ‘dramatically’ after women have children. Figures show that the average woman in employment effectively works for free for almost two months of the year and that women aged between 50 and 59 have the highest pay gap of 20.8%.

In response to this shocking statistics, the report suggests Mr Khan should adopt the approach of making London Living Rent homes available to women to rent based on women’s median incomes rather than general median incomes.

The document says women earning the median wage need to spend 63% of their earnings to afford the median private rent in London, compared to men who need to spend 49% of their earnings – a gap of 14%.

Sem Moema, a London Assembly Member, said: ‘Improving the quality of housing for Londoners is rightly a key priority for the Mayor and there are opportunities for him to begin to level the playing field for women.

‘The London Plan’s [a mayoral policy document] explanation of affordable housing states that annual housing costs should be no greater than 40% of net household income.

‘Research shows that women are currently, on average, having to spend 63% of their earnings on housing and this simply is not sustainable.’

Responding to the report, a spokeswoman for Mr Khan said: ‘The Mayor is proud to have delivered record-breaking numbers of affordable homes, including the highest level of council homebuilding since 1970s. His record includes fundings specialist housing for women facing homelessness and experiencing domestic abuse.

‘Sadiq welcomes the committee’s work on this important subject and will be considering their recommendations as part of his work to build a better London for everyone.’

Photo by Christian Vasile