'How much extra would you be willing to pay:' Tenants asked to bid for flats as rents hiked 10%

One landlord who owns 50 properties, along with his family, told ITV News consumer editor Chris Choi that freezing rent was not the answer

New figures obtained by ITV News show rents have typically escalated by more than 10%, forcing some tenants to leave their homes.

The government is planning new regulations, but landlords say a price cap would only make things worse. 

In Manchester, we spoke to 24-year old Fergal Mullan Wilkinson who had to sofa-surf while battling the rocketing rental market - then he found himself in a bidding war, “we’d arrive at a viewing and they’d say if it got into bidding wars how much extra would you be willing to pay.”

Thomas Davies, a student, says he is cutting back as much as he can - but may have to move back to his parents' home due to rising rental costs

Now he’s paying £100 a month more than the advertised rent, “there’s huge pressure all the time, I’m constantly watching what I’m spending and re-budgeting” he says. Our new figures, supplied by the lettings platform Goodlord, show the Manchester area has seen average rent rises

of around 15% over the last year for new tenancies in the private sector.

The South West of England had rises about 12% with a similar figure for the East Midlands. 

Landlord Deshal Raja and his family have around 50 rental properties and says some of his tenants have had to leave due to rent increases.

He told ITV News: "Interest rates have gone up 3-4% so our costs have gone up…and we have to increase the rents.”

He says it’s “been very hard” for the tenants, “sometimes they can’t make the monthly payment on time so we say have a few more days to figure something out and we try to help them all we can”.

He says some renters “have had to find alternative accommodation”. 

Thomas Davies is a student who is now planning to move back in with his parents “I’d hate to do it, losing my freedom is difficult but if I can’t find somewhere to rent affordably I’ll have to make cutbacks in other areas” The government told ITV News it is planning to give tenants new powers to challenge unjustified increases.

These new figures show that for millions the very worst of this cost of living crisis is the cost of where they are living.

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