£480-a-month for bed in living room shed as London property prices soar

A London interior spare room - in a custom built shed. Photo / Spareroom.co.uk

A trend of landlords renting out beds in sheds has emerged as rent prices sky rocket in London.

The Guardian reported the average cost of renting out a property in central London was around £2,583 (NZD$6217) a month making it one of the most expensive cities in the world for renters.

The exorbitant living costs have led to a proliferation of so called 'beds in sheds' but a recent advert for a bed in a shed in a lounge took things to a whole new level.

Joe Peduzzi, a 22-year-old looking to rent in London, was surprised when the double room in East London he had expected to view, was in fact a mattress in a shed in the corner of a communal living room.

The room in Bethnal Green was advertised on house sharing website, SpareRoom.co.uk, for £480-a-month plus bills and had been described as "the biggest in the house".

Director of the site Matt Hutchinson said the SpareRoom.co.uk was "no stranger" to quirky advertisements but this one had put a new spin on the phrase 'beds in sheds'.

"There is no clear reason given for putting a bed inside a shed, inside a bedroom, but it could be because the other housemates use the room as communal space," Hutchinson told the Guardian.

Peduzzi turned down the offer of the bed in shed in a lounge, and the advert has since been taken down but it highlights how desperate the London housing market has become.

According to Valuation Office Agency data, the cost of rent in Greater London has climbed by a staggering 22 per cent over the past five years.

A New Zealander living in London, Kristy Burden, said she paid around £700 (almost NZD$1700) a month for a single room in a two bedroom flat in Fulham.

The 22-year-old is a recent arrival in London and said she hoped to find a job before her savings ran out.

"I moved up here knowing I would be going pay cheque to pay cheque," Burden said. "The average cost or rent is around £600-£800 (NZD$1444-$1925)."

Despite the high cost of living, Burden said it wasn't too different from the cost of renting a flat in Auckland.

"I think it is relative to living in Auckland, maybe somewhere like Ponsonby. It is expensive to move here from New Zealand because of the exchange rate but when you are earning in pounds it is similar," she said.