Proportions of people in poverty before and after housing costs (2022/23)
What does this indicator show?
Poverty can be measured both with and without housing costs taken into account. Housing costs can include rent or mortgage payments, building insurance and water rates.
This indicator shows the percentage of people in poverty in London and the rest of England - after and before housing costs are taken into account. By looking at poverty rates before and after housing costs, we can see how much of an impact housing costs have on pushing people into poverty.
What does it tell us?
In London, poverty rates increase significantly when housing costs are accounted for, increasing the poverty rate from 14% to 24%. In the rest of England, the difference is much smaller, increasing the percentage of people in poverty from 17% to 21%. This shows that, compared to the rest of England, high housing costs are a much more significant driver of poverty in London.
Put another way, this means that accounting for the high housing costs in the capital leads to almost one million more people being judged to be in poverty.
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