Rental prices in Haringey are rising faster than anywhere else in north London, fuelling fears that the borough will soon be unaffordable for most people.

The average rent has risen from £962 a month in October 2011, to £1,200 a month in the same period last year - and it is believed it will reach £1,606.23 by October 2016.

This takes Haringey from below the London average of £1,095 in 2011 to being almost level with the forecast city-wide average of £1,625.91 in two years time.

If predictions are right, it will see Haringey overtake neighbouring Barnet for the first time, and close the £230 gap between average rents in Hackney and Haringey in 2011 to just £88 by 2016.

The forecasts, based on rent rises as recorded by the Valuation Office Agency, have led to Haringey’s Assembly Member Joanne McCartney backing calls for the Mayor of London to launch an investigation into unsustainable rent increases and establish proposals for a mechanism to stabilise rents in London.

Ms McCartney said:“The current rate of rent inflation is making London unaffordable for people to live here, even those on ‘good’ salaries.

“With home-ownership an ever distant dream for many, it is time Boris Johnson used his position and launched an investigation into unsustainable rent rises and possible mechanisms for tackling them.”

Her fears are backed by life-long Hornsey resident Adam Jogee - at 23, Labour’s youngest candidate in this May’s elections.

“It’s nuts,” he said. “People will be priced out - many of the kids I went to university with are drowning in debt and there are not many jobs and rent is already £600 a month.

“How are you going to start a life? We need to look at rent control and rogue landlords in order to maintain London as an open and accesible place to live.”