Amid the recent news of three city mayors calling for rent freezes and eviction bans, a new study has revealed that a quarter of Britons are battling rising housing costs with ineffective cost-saving measures.

Offering affordable, state-of-the-art storage solutions across London, storage specialists StorageX have discovered how people across the UK are working to balance their finances in the face of rising costs.

From a survey of 1,000 people, commissioned by StorageX, it was found that one in four (25%) adults have seen increases to monthly housing costs due to the cost of living crisis. Furthermore, a quarter of those aged 25-39 have considered moving in response to rising costs.

An additional 7% said that their rent or mortgage payments had stayed the same, but that they expected increases in the next year or so.

These statistics follow calls from three city mayors – including London’s Sadiq Khan – to introduce a rent freeze and eviction ban.

Those aged between 25-39 reported the highest impact to housing costs, with one third (31%) detailing an increase in their rent or mortgage payments, while a lesser 26% of those aged 40-59 said the same. One in 10 of those aged 60+ have seen an increase in their monthly housing costs.

Is moving to cheaper accommodation the answer?
16% of all respondents stated that they had considered moving to cheaper accommodation as an option to reduce expenditure. Looking at those aged 25-39, this figure rose to 25%. Despite these overall numbers, only 3% of all participants report taking action and moving to a new property.

Limiting spend in other areas
Survey respondents were asked about other measures they were taking to reduce spending, and nearly half (49%) advised that they are limiting water, gas and electricity use, while reduced lifestyle spending takes the second highest spot at 38%. A quarter of respondents report using savings to make ends meet, while one in ten (11%) said they’d taken on extra hours at work. Almost a third (27%) of respondents said they hadn’t made any changes, despite the present rise in living costs.