Bidding wars, cash up-front and ‘auditions’ – inside Britain’s broken renting market

theguardian.com:

Beth Holloway seems like the ideal tenant. The civil servant, 23, has a stable job, good references and earns a decent salary. And she doesn’t smoke or have pets – factors that are often a disadvantage in a fiercely competitive market.

But after three months of flat-hunting in London, involving hundreds of enquiries to agencies, two dozen viewings and 10 offers on properties, she says she cannot take it any more. Each time she and the friend she had planned to live with put in an offer on a property, they were outbid by someone else. “We’ve offered £200 over [the listed price] and not got it because someone else offered six months upfront. I’ve heard of people offering £500 or £600 over or offering to pay a year upfront in cash,” she said.

At other times, she has arrived at pre-arranged viewings to find 15 people in the queue before her. Or worse: she has called to try for a viewing and been told that the property is already gone, despite it being posted online only minutes earlier. “We just got to breaking point,” Holloway said. “Everyone went, ‘Renting in London is going to be hard’, and I was like, ‘Yeah, OK.’ But I didn’t realise how bad it was. It’s absolutely crazy.”

Holloway is one of thousands caught up in what campaigners are calling the “cost of renting crisis”. High demand and lack of housing supply have led to landlords and agencies raising rents to record levels at a time when soaring energy prices and rising inflation mean millions are already struggling to keep up with bills.

Data from Rightmove shows that rents in Britain have hit record highs, jumping by more than 20% year on year in some areas such as Manchester, and 15.8% in London. Tenants report landlords raising their rents by as much as £700 a month,