As we all know, the rental market is a tough proposition for many renters at the minute. UK renters now spend the highest proportion of their salary on rent in the whole of Europe and Londoners face rents at over double the UK average.
But in the uber-competitive rental climate, who has It worse in the Rent Market: couples or singles?
Couples Ruining It for the Rest of Us
Just like Valentine’s Day, where amorous couples manage to ruin what would otherwise be a lovely spring day by reminding everyone else of their singleness, the very existence of couples seems to make rental life worse for everyone else. But how?
The argument is that if a studio flat, for example, comes up on the market, and a couple is willing to stump up £500pcm each, then that’s going to make the singleton’s hard-earned £650 look like a measly sum. This lets landlords keep prices high as they can gamble on finding a couple willing to pay more collectively, but still less per person than a single person can afford.
In other words, by sharing a room and halving the costs, couples are putting the room prices up for singles on a bedroom-by-bedroom basis.
Jeez, Get a Room!
Couples, however, face their own problems. Although private landlords may prefer the purchasing power of a couple, couples are often stigmatised on the flatshare market.
It is commonplace for a group of flatmates seeking to fill a spare room to advertise “No couples”. This can be for many reasons. Maybe they just don’t want an extra body taking up even more of their limited space. Maybe they fear being reminded of their withering loneliness every day. Or maybe it’s just a fear of sex noises.
Whatever the reason, this can make things pretty hard for couples who want to live together but can’t afford their own studio flat. As many have seen firsthand, studio prices are significantly above multi-bedroom flats on a rent/room basis. This means that if couples want to move in together, alone, they end up paying roughly the same per person as singles renting a room in a multi-room flatshare! Ah, the crippling irony!
Conclusion
Both couples and singles face their own set of unique, often insuperable problems. Yet again, we’re faced with the riling conclusion that renting in the UK, especially the capital, is tough for both singles trying to find single rooms and couples looking for double rooms in London.
