Yes, more and more of us are flat-sharing well into our 30s and 40s, as this country’s hellish housing crisis gets worse and worse and worse. But, hey, it isn’t exactly worrying the world’s highest-earning musician; hello, Ed Sheeran, we’re looking at you! Because, apparently, the popstar has got bored of his iron grip on the music industry - remember when the Official Charts actually had to change their rules because of whole of his third album ÷ reached the Top 20 in its first week! - and he’s decided to splash out an eye-watering £42 million on property. That crazy amount of money, according to The Sun, apparently buying 18 flats and houses in London and Suffolk, along with a restaurant in Notting Hill, over the past seven years. And he lets 13 of these properties.
Speaking to the newspaper, a financial expert said: “He's been incredibly shrewd by ploughing his money into property. And by focusing on London, where the market is still growing, he can charge top whack to renters.” Yippee! If you are living in London area, and would like to give ‘top whack’ (not a euphemism!) to Ed, he has reportedly bought two flats near Shoreditch for £1.45 million, six flats in Hammersmith for £5.6 million, three homes in Holland Park for £7.7 million, and two houses in Chiswick £3.7 million.
In all seriousness, as Grazia reported last month,the housing crisis is now so serious that the charity Shelter declared it a ‘national emergency’, as private rents have risen 6% faster than average pay since 2011. It means, on average, that renters are handing over 41% of their income to landlords, leaving little leftover to save for a deposit to buy their own home. As a result, according to the most recent English Housing Survey, a fifth of the UK’s population now lives in privately rented accommodation, with the number of 35-to-54-year-olds renting doubling in the last decade.
So, if you’re renting/planning to rent in London, just like the rest of us in the capital are, don’t be surprised if you have a very, very famous landlord.