Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called an emergency ‘private renting summit’ of tenant representative groups after research suggested almost half of the capital’s renters fear they may be forced to default on their rent.

Khan said a YouGov poll showed that 40 per cent of Londoners think they will struggle to meet their rent payments. These, he said, had hit an average of £2,343 per calendar month; more than double that asked in other parts of the country.

According to Rightmove, the average advertised rent in London is £1,000 more than the average in the South West, £1,300 more than in the East Midlands, and £1,564 more than in the North East.

This situation is unsustainable, said Khan, who has called on the Government to introduce a two-year rent freeze so as to ease the burden on renters as the cost of living crisis worsens.

‘The fact that 40 per cent of Londoners think that they will struggle to make their rent payments in the next six months shows the scale of the housing crisis in London’, said Khan.

‘London’s private renters are facing a triple whammy with rising rents, bills, and the cost of household essentials putting a major strain on their finances. Ministers must take this crisis seriously and act now.

‘There is no time to waste so we have come together today to speak with one voice. Our demands to ministers are simple: implement your long-promised renters reform legislation and take action now to make rents more affordable for Londoners, using all powers at the government’s disposal.

‘As we continue working to build a better, fairer London for everyone, it’s vital that we stand up for renters in our city and find common ground on the action that needs to be taken to support them through the cost of living crisis, pay their rent and keep their homes’.

But responding to the Mayor’s announcement, the National Residential Landlords Association complained that it had not been invited to the summit.

‘It is disappointing in the extreme that the Mayor of London feels he can solve the challenges faced in the capital’s rental market without any input from those who actually provide the homes’, said NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle.

‘The stark and simple reality is that whilst the demand for private rented housing in London continues to increase, the supply of such homes is falling. This is a direct consequence of Government policy aimed at shrinking the size of the sector, along with rhetoric from the Mayor that suggests private landlords are simply a problem to be managed.

‘If the Mayor wants to address the cost pressures faced by households across London, he needs to focus on boosting the number of homes available. Anything else would merely be tinkering with the symptoms of the challenges in the rental market, without tackling the root cause of them’.