UK rental market is at ‘boiling point’ as tenants compete for moldy, cold properties

Louise, who has multiple sclerosis, has lived in the same two-bedroom flat in north London since 1996, which has not been renovated since.

But last year her landlord told her the rent on her property would soon rise by a staggering 25 per cent, to a staggering £325 a month. She is one of millions of Britons caught in a “cost of rent” crisis as house prices soar, no-fault evictions surge and properties across the country become moldy, damp and cold.

The average rent in the UK is currently £1,238, up £102 from 12 months ago, a record 9% increase.

She said: “I was on a fixed income and couldn’t do much, and I wasn’t working due to health issues, so there was more stress and depression. The stress made my MS worse and left me almost housebound. I literally didn’t do anything. No, I don’t have the money to do anything… I don’t know where to get the money.”

Have you also been affected by this? Email joe.middleton@independent.co.uk

The 58-year-old was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012 and had worked for a charity for many years, but ill health forced her to stop working shortly after the pandemic ended, leaving her with a budget limited.

She said: “I hope to live here until I retire but now I’m already thinking about moving back from London to my parents’ place in Wales where I have the support of friends and family because having MS means you have to Rely more on the people around you.”

The north Londoner said things had gotten worse in the capital, with her neighbours’ rents also rising “significantly”.

Shocking figures released this week showed the cost of rent rising at the fastest pace on record as tenants struggle to afford monthly inflationary pressures.

According to the Office for National Statistics, London has the highest rental inflation rate at 10.6%, which is much higher than the inflation rate of 3.4%.

Rapidly rising costs are just one factor in the dysfunction of the UK property market. The dilapidated state of British homes has been under spotlight since the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak. Awab Ishaq, a two-year-old child who lived in a housing association property, died from inhaling black mould.

In England, no-fault evictions – where a person renting a home can be evicted without the landlord having to provide a reason under a Section 21 notice – surged by almost 50% last year compared with 2022.

Campaigners say the private rental market is at a “boiling point”, with successive governments’ failure to build affordable homes leaving people struggling with “overpriced and often poor-quality rents”.

Eilidh Keay, 26, who has lived in Edinburgh for the past few years, had to leave her home and was forced to pay an extra £150 a month to rent her new place because her landlord wanted to sell.

In Scotland, there is a rent cap, which limits the amount a landlord can increase the rent by, and because the landlord sells the house, she has to find another property in a city where private rental costs are high.

A public affairs worker said: “Stuff is quite expensive. Edinburgh has always been expensive and I don’t think that will change, but prices have risen very quickly over the past few years.

“You used to be able to buy a bed [flat] Wages were lower in Edinburgh but totally unreasonable now at £1,000 a month. Sharing has also become very expensive and I know friends who have moved further away from the city center because of the cost. “

She added that the crisis of high rents and living costs has changed every aspect of her life, and she prefers socializing with friends at home to reduce expenses rather than going to bars.

The 26-year-old said: “I think that’s one of the worst things about the extreme rents that everyone is facing across the country because it takes money out of the economy. All this money goes into people’s pockets Buy-to-let mortgages and pensions, that’s part of the reason the high street is suffering because no one has any disposable income anymore and it’s all been absorbed by the rich.

She said any further rises in rents could force her to leave the capital, saying she favored rent controls and wanted the government to address the poor quality of private rented housing.

A report last year by the Resolution Foundation, a think tank, said as many as 2.6 million people aged 18 to 34 were living in poor quality housing. This is defined as a home that does not have fully functioning pipes or where moisture or mold is present.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Private renting has reached a boiling point. Decades of failure to build truly affordable social housing has left many people with no choice but to live with private renting, where prices are Competition for exorbitant and often inferior rentals is fierce.

“Landlords can safely raise rents because they know that if their tenants can’t pay, they can serve them with a no-fault eviction notice and let someone else in who can pay.

“With only two months to find another place after a no-fault eviction, too many people are left scrambling to find an affordable place to live and, in some cases, are even forced into homelessness.

“To help struggling families keep their homes, the government must keep its promise to renters and pass a watertight Renters (Reform) Bill to ban no-fault evictions without any caveats or loopholes. However , the only lasting solution to the housing crisis is investment in truly affordable social housing, with rents linked to local incomes.”

Aditi Jehangir, living rents secretary, said: “Rents in Scotland are completely unaffordable and our homes are falling apart. The government’s response has been to introduce a complex and unworkable system of rent adjudication that holds tenants accountable Hold landlords accountable.

“The average tenant already spends at least a third of their income on rent. Tenants should not be forced to choose between staying in the neighborhood they love or being able to afford it.

“The temporary and localized nature of rent caps highlights the need for stronger long-term solutions that limit rents between tenants, rather than a return to the free market.”