Benefit claimants are renting homes in some of London's most sought-after areas for hundreds of pounds less than private tenants pay, according to property listings published online.
The figures have reignited debate over the scale of housing support available through the benefits system, with critics arguing the gap between social and private rents has become increasingly difficult to justify.
Listings on HomeSwapper, a platform that allows social housing tenants to swap properties, include a seven-bedroom terraced house in Brixton available for £744 per month and a two-bedroom maisonette in Notting Hill with a monthly rent of £720.
Those rents are significantly lower than prices in the private sector. In Brixton, a single room in a shared property typically costs around £1,100 per month, while similar accommodation in Notting Hill can reach £1,200.
The difference reflects the level of support built into the social housing system.
Social rents are set well below market rates by councils and housing associations, while many tenants also receive Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit to help meet housing costs.
The disparity has prompted fresh scrutiny of the cost of housing support in the capital.
Ben Hopkinson, Head of Housing and Infrastructure Policy at the Centre for Policy Studies, said taxpayers spend around £18billion a year supporting housing in London.
According to Mr Hopkinson, roughly £9billion is used to keep social rents below market levels, with a further £9billion spent on Housing Benefit and the housing element of Universal Credit.
Roughly £9billion is used to keep social rents below market levels
| GETTY"The system effectively incentivises you to not have a job," he said.
Social rent calculations rely on property size, location and valuations established in 1999, creating significant distortions as these figures have become outdated.
Recipients of social housing in London benefit from considerably larger subsidies compared to tenants elsewhere in the country.
Government figures for 2024-25 reveal that average weekly rents for new social tenancies in the capital stood at £151, representing just 33 per cent of local private sector rates.
Many tenants also receive Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit to help meet housing costs
| GETTYThe picture differs markedly across England as a whole, where social rents averaged £113 weekly, equivalent to 41 per cent of market prices. In the North East, social tenants pay 68 per cent of what private renters are charged locally.
Hannah Aldridge, a senior analyst at the Resolution Foundation, noted that these gaps widen further for long-standing tenants.
Annual caps on social rent increases have typically fallen below private sector rises, causing the differential to grow substantially over time.
"But after a period of time, it does create these big gaps, which I think can be quite shocking and harder to justify," she said.
Britain's housing benefits expenditure is projected to reach a record £39bn this year, marking a 40 per cent increase since 2018-19.
No other OECD member nation dedicates a larger proportion of its economic output to housing allowances
| GETTYNo other OECD member nation dedicates a larger proportion of its economic output to housing allowances. The UK's spending amounts to 1.38 per cent of GDP, double the figure for France, which ranks third among developed economies.
Currently, 4.3 million households occupy social housing, while a further 1.3 million remain on council waiting lists.
A Government spokesman said: "We're building more social housing to help hard-working families and lift children out of poverty and homelessness.
"This is alongside taking steps to reduce disparities between rents paid for social homes in different areas."