Number of people in London in poverty by housing tenure (2004/05 - 2023/24)
Last updated: June 2025
Next estimated update: June 2026
What’s this?
This indicator shows the number of people in poverty in London, split by their housing tenure.
What does it tell us?
Londoners in poverty are more likely to be private renters
Almost a million (950,000) Londoners living in private rented housing were in poverty in 2023/24, the highest number since 2016/17.
This has more than doubled in the last two decades - from 430,000 in 2004/05. In 2004/05, Londoners in private rented accommodation made up 22% of all Londoners in poverty - in 2023/24 they made up 40%.
A declining number of social renters in poverty
The number of Londoners in poverty who live in social housing was 830,000 in 2023/24. This is a slight increase on the previous year, but in the longer term it has been in decline - down from a peak of 960,000 in 2018/19.
The poverty rate for those in social rented housing is also still extremely high, at 50% in 2023/24.
London’s poverty rates by housing tenure types 2023/24 were:
- 50% of Londoners in social rented housing were in poverty
- 36% of those in privately rented housing were in poverty
- 12% of owner occupiers were in poverty
35% of Londoners in poverty are in social rented homes, 40% are private renters and 25% are in owner occupied housing.
(Note: data are excluded for 2020/21 due to survey quality concerns because of COVID-19.)
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