The cost of renting a one-bedroom home is rising faster than rents for larger properties in 50% of London boroughs, new analysis by flexible co-living brand Gravity Co reveals

Kensington and Chelsea has the biggest gulf between the rental price growth of the smallest and largest homes in the capital, followed by Hammersmith and Fulham

This mismatch has a disproportionate impact on single people and couples without children, and stems from a ‘perfect storm of rising demand and falling supply’.

A perfect storm of surging demand from tenants, combined with a shortage of homes to rent as buy-to-let landlords exit the market, drove up average rental prices by 4.9% across the UK in the 12 months to the end of March, the firm said.

The analysis of the most recent ONS data suggests that people who want to live alone, or in a couple, are seeing even greater price increases than those seeking bigger properties in 16 out of 32 London boroughs. This is likely to have a disproportionate impact on younger people and those without children, who tend to search for one-bedroom properties.