The warning came from more than 50 business leaders who teamed together to sign a letter of concern sent to the London Evening Standard.
“The housing crisis in London is a major problem for business,” wrote the signatories. “If not addressed, whole sectors, including our world-beating technology sector and creative industries, will struggle to recruit and retain staff and find themselves losing out to international competitors.”
Senior figures from John Le and architect Sir Terry Farrell, among others, in sounding the alarm.
Baroness Lane-Fox said: “It’s vital for London to offer homes to the creative, tech and entrepreneurial talent we rely on to keep our city diverse and thriving.”
Business group London First, responsible for putting the letter together, also released a report which warned that over the next decade workers in creative media, advertising, market research and software development would be hit by the housing crisis.
The research behind the report, carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, made a number of predictions of how tenant and homeowner affordability would be squeezed in the next 10 years.
One forecast highlighted a scenario whereby 22 to 29-year-olds would spend at least 60% of their income to rent an inner London flat studio. The report also predicted that by 2025, individuals in London’s ‘up and coming’ sectors such as hi-tech and creative industries, will have to save for more than a decade to gather together a 10% deposit for their first home in London.
