Tenant sofa-surfing at 74 as she struggles to find flat amid soaring rents

ITV News' Midlands Correspondent Ben Chapman reports on the skyrocketing costs forcing people out of rental properties

A 74-year-old woman who was forced to spend three months sofa-surfing due to soaring rent costs has described waking in the middle of the night wondering where she would live.

Tenant Jennie Taupin told ITV News she had no choice but to find a new home after her landlord decided to sell, and is now paying over £100 more a month.

It comes as the average rent being asked outside of London hit a new record of £1,231 per month, according to a property website.

Average asking rents for new tenants in London also reached a new record of £2,567 per month, Rightmove said.

Ms Taupin told ITV News: "I didn't sleep, you know, sort of waking up in the middle of the night thinking what am I going to do.

"And I would look every day on Rightmove and Zoopla, start in the morning, then you'd look again in the afternoon, then you'd look again in the evening.

"There was too many people going for the properties [and] not enough property on the market for us to view in my price range."

The asking rent figures, covering Britain, are for the second quarter of this year.

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Rightmove's rental data goes back to 2011.

Landlord Charlie Clark has turned his property on the Isle of Wight into a more profitable holiday let to cover his costs.

"I can't be at a loss each month and continue to provide a subsidised rent rate, it's just not feasible," Mr Clark told ITV News.

The newest figures also said that the average property available to rent is finding a tenant in 17 days - the quickest time period it has recorded since November 2022.

The average asking rent for a typical home outside London is a third (33%) higher than during the same period in 2019, increasing by £308 from £923 per month.

London rents are 28% (£559 per month) higher than they were at the same time in 2019.

In signs that some landlords are selling up, 16% of properties currently for sale were previously available on the rental market - a figure which is up from 13% in January 2019 - Rightmove said.

Rightmove's director of property science Tim Bannister said: "Average asking rents for new tenants have risen at a rapid pace since the pandemic, reflecting the significant increase in demand, which is driven by a combination of factors including changed housing needs, such as some space to work from home."

Allison Thompson, national lettings managing director of Leaders Romans Group, said: "Some highly leveraged landlords are considering selling due to interest rate rises but we find most are mortgage-free, and in most cases our advice is to avoid a knee-jerk reaction."

Lynne Lancaster, head of estate agency at Penrith Farmers and Kidd's, said: "Demand continues to well outstrip supply and we are actually seeing more tenants stay put for longer rather than move after the agreed term."