Poorer residents are being pushed out of central London with 1.4 million people living in poverty in the outskirts of the capital.

A new report from the Smith Institute, which was yesterday presented in Parliament, has revealed 60 per cent of people living in poverty in London are living in the outer boroughs – an increase of 32 per cent over the past 15 years.

The report says there are a number of reasons for these levels of poverty in outer London, which include higher rents pushing poorer people out of central London and more employment opportunities and higher economic growth in central London.

Paul Hunter, who wrote the report, said London is becoming a “divided” city.

Mr Hunter added: “The trickle out economics of city centred growth and turbo charged house prices is not working for outer Londoners on low incomes, who struggle with housing affordability issues and access to good jobs.”

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Sadiq is shocked at the level of poverty revealed in this new research.

It is a scandal that so many people in a city as prosperous as London are struggling to make ends meet. The Mayor is focused on doing all he can to help Londoners.”

The spokesperson said to combat poverty in outer London Mr Khan is building a “record number” of genuinely affordable homes but said he needs more government funding to tackle the problem.

Mr Khan’s spokesperson added: “He will continue to make the case for the powers and the funding our city needs – such as greater investment in transport and the power to introduce rent controls – which would make a big difference to Londoners’ lives.”

The report found that between 2011 and 2018 the number of people claiming housing benefit in outer London increased by 17 per cent – it went down by 13 per cent in central London.

It also found low pay is more common in outer London boroughs and unemployment is greater in outer rather than inner London – 159,000 versus 105,000.

The report makes a number of recommendations to Mr Khan to combat poverty levels in outer London.

These include calling on him to create a deputy mayor for outer London as well as a ‘task force’ to help promote outer London and create more jobs there.

They also say the Greater London Authority (GLA) should review the money it plans to spend on Crossrail 2 and instead use the money to fight poverty and support growth in outer London as well as focusing more on transport in outer London.

Mr Khan has not responded said if he will be considering any of these suggestions.