Renters in Croydon have to fork out almost five weeks’ pay each time they move but it is less than London average, according to new research.

The figures from London Labour show the average monthly rent in the borough is £1,025.

Coupled with a deposit of six weeks rent and agency fees, renters are paying £2,841 to secure a home in Croydon.

It is almost £1,000 less than the average cost of moving in London, which Labour says is £3,735.

Dan Wilson Craw, policy manager for Generation Rent, which campaigns for affordable rental homes, said: “People shouldn’t have to incur these costs for moving – especially when it is so easy for renters to lose their homes through a no-fault eviction or unaffordable rent increase.

RELATED: Spike in number of private renters becoming homeless in Croydon

“We need action to bring down rents across the rental market, and a ban on letting fees so tenants find it easier to move if they need to.”

Croydon council leader Tony Newman said the Labour led council takes a “tough line” approach to ensuring 30 per cent of all new homes in the borough are affordable.

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He said: “In some cases we are getting more [from developers] and in some cases we are getting less, that is in negotiation with a very clear message that we are expected to do it right.

“We have said in some of the district centres it needs to be as much as 50 per cent.

“We take a very tough line through the planning process, the message is that if we have a developer that wants to work with us in the longer term then it is in everyone’s interest to work with us on providing affordable housing.

“We would far rather enter long term partnerships with developers and housing associations who want to work with us to get ahead.

“It is in everybody’s interest to have a mix of housing so that you get people from all different suburbs able to have a house in Croydon.”

Last week Croydon Council marked the latest stage of its £22m initiative to increase social housing stock in the borough with the completion of 74 new homes.

The council hopes to build a further 700 new homes sites across the borough by 2019, which will be a mixture of council and private properties.

RELATED: Families move in as 'Croydon's largest housebuilding programme in decades' marches on

Housing has been a major campaign point for Labour’s mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan, who promises to make sure half of all new homes built are affordable if he is elected in May.

He said: “Millions of Londoners already struggling to find somewhere affordable to rent are also facing exorbitant and rip-off letting fees.

"People often have to move through no fault of their own, but because their rents are suddenly put up or they’re kicked out by their landlord.

“As mayor, I’ll establish a London-wide not-for-profit lettings agency that will not only charge renters the true administration costs, but also drive up standards in London’s rental sector and provide greater stability for tenants.”

But Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith has previously called Tooting MP Mr Khan’s 50 per cent affordable housing target for new London developments “a complete fantasy”.

LAST WEEK: Zac Goldsmith brands Sadiq Khan 'lazy' over affordable housing debate

He said: “I think targets are the lazy politician’s way of not having to say how they are going to deliver policy.

“No London council has consistently delivered 50 per cent affordable housing in years.”

What are your experiences of renting in Croydon? Call the newsdesk on 020 8722 6307 or email andrea.downey@newsquest.co.uk