Although residential rents in London have grown over the last 12 months, tenants’ annual income in the same period has only risen by 3% to £37,010, according to Homelet. And after income tax and National Insurance, the increase in average rents means that tenants in Greater London have approximately £410 less disposable income per year.

With inflation standing at 4%, increasing fuel bills and rising costs in the supermarkets, it seems that more tenants are opting to share their home – as over the past year there has been an 11% increase in the average number of tenants sharing a property in the capital.

The average cost of renting a UK home, outside Greater London, decreased marginally in April – down by 0.2% to £660 per month – taking it back to the same rate as last year. This means rents in the capital, which stand at £1,178, have now stretched to being 78% more expensive than the rest of the UK according to data from the HomeLet Rental Index.

Ian Fraser, Managing Director of HomeLet, said: “The increase in rents, coupled with high levels of inflation, is really causing a strain on the affordability of rented homes in Greater London. The reality for many people is that renting a property on their own is simply not an affordable option.

“We can also see the impact of regeneration of East London in preparation for the Olympic Games. This area of London has seen an above average increase of almost 9% in rental values in just one year. Whilst our data shows tenancies arranged through letting agents, it’s likely that unreported shorter-term privately agreed tenancies over the summer will inflate rents to record levels in East London.”