T wo months ago, Freya Feilding decided she was ready to move in with her boyfriend. The 28-year-old medical researcher told her three housemates she’d be leaving their rented terrace in Camberwell, gave notice to her landlord and started searching for a new flat.
“We’re looking for a one-bed in north or east London for under £1,700 a month, and thought we’d easily find something,” Feilding says. But even booking viewings has proved nearly impossible. When she and her boyfriend have managed to visit a potential flat, they’ve been squeezed into pokey properties alongside 20 other prospective tenants, encountering landlords who want them to sign three-year leases with no break clauses.
