I was saddened but not surprised to see the article on the rental crisis in the UK (‘It’s a total disaster!’ How soaring rents, cutthroat competition and unscrupulous landlords are breaking tenants, 1 September). I am in a similar situation. I am a midwife, so a key worker, and after living in Mexico for the last four years, decided to move back to the UK to work for the NHS.
I was offered a job in York in May and I have been house hunting there since early June. I’ve made countless trips to York from Northumberland, where I am staying with my parents, and have been turned down for every property that I’ve applied for, even though I have good references and a guarantor if needed. On one occasion, I was on the train going to view a property only to be called and told that it had already gone. On another, I was told by an agent that they were waiting for a response from the landlord, only to be told later by their colleague that the landlord had turned down my application days ago.
My children have been very excited about the move, but I am at the point where we may have to return to Mexico just so we can find a place to live and they can go to school. I have rented all my adult life in the UK and the situation has never been anything close to this stressful. At least I now know that I’m not alone.
Sophie Hall
Hexham, Northumberland
• Elle Hunt’s article talks about the disaster of soaring rents, queues for tenancies and the horrors of private renting as if this were a national scandal. Most examples cited are in London, and that is where the problem really lies. It is not happening in Newcastle upon Tyne. I bought my first investment property in 1986 and since then, the rent on that property has increased by 1.6% a year – hardly rampant rental inflation. Now to the reality of investing in housing. I am obtaining quotes for a new roof on a property. The job will cost about £22,000 and I will also improve the existing insulation and have the building repainted.
The rough price will be £30,000. This work will be at no cost to 15 tenants, as will the buildings insurance, gas, fire and electrical safety certification, and the maintenance service that we provide. There are thousands of decent landlords across the UK.
Steve Banks
Newcastle upon Tyne
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