A third of Londoners believe they might have to relocate due to rising housing costs
23 Jun 2014
About 34 per cent of London residents believed they might need to "move out of their local area" in future due to the high cost of housing, a poll had shown, BBC reported.
According to the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and Ipsos Mori survey, 68 per cent of respondents believed it was harder for their generation to buy or rent.
Further 44 per cent of Londoners who responded felt the issue of housing was not being given the kind of attention it needed.
According to the London Mayor's office, it was working to boost housing supply.
The results of the online survey, which polled 2,000 adults in the UK aged between 16 and 75, were published ahead of the CIH conference.
According to the survey 30 per cent of Londoners who responded were concerned about being able to pay their rent or mortgage, as against the UK average of 24 per cent and about 36 per cent said the worries were putting them under "a great deal or a fair amount of stress".
CIH chief executive Grainia Long said it was deeply disturbing that a third of Londoners thought they might have to leave their local area due to high cost of housing, BBC reported.
CIH said the findings of a survey it commissioned suggested the country was in the grip of a housing crisis which was 'causing misery for millions,' with the younger generation being the most affected, Mailonline reported.
Young people were the most concerned, and 36 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds and 26 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds believed they would have to move out of the area.
Long said, all parties needed to do much more to convince the people of Britain that they could address the issue. She added, the time for action was now. She said they were challenging all parties to put tackling the housing crisis front and centre in their manifestos.
Earlier, the National Association of Estate Agents revealed that 19 per cent of all properties sold in May went for more than the asking price as demand increased and people faced fierce competition for houses.
According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, house prices shot up 9.9 per cent over the last year to reach a new high of £260,000 in April.
