It’s not exactly groundbreaking to say renting in London is a mess. Inflated prices, limited space and badly maintained properties… Even we sometimes question why we continue to live in this city.
While it’s always been tough, renters are now facing new challenges following the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act. The reforms, which came into effect in May, were designed to balance the power between landlords and tenants. For instance, the Act has put an end to no-fault evictions, and long fixed-term contracts have been swapped for rolling tenancies, meaning you no longer have to fear being trapped in a mouldy living room-less Zone 4 flat for more than a couple months max.
So far, so good.
But, in a shocking twist, it turns out landlords aren’t too pleased about being forced to give up some of their power. Following the reforms, many are throwing their toys out the pram and deciding to sell their properties, reducing the number of rentals on offer and making an already competitive market even more cutthroat.
Charis Omer, 24, who was looking for a three-bed flat with two friends, said: “The market is insanely busy, with the new Renters Rights causing lots of landlords to push up their prices or sell. We really felt that the estate agents were putting the pressure on us, always emphasising how competitive the market is.”
Another factor which has added even more to the competition is the Act’s ban on over-offering. Landlords are no longer allowed to accept offers above the advertised rent of a property. After years of bidding wars and shelling out hundreds over the asking price each month, this seemed like a welcome change. However in reality, it’s just changed the ways the market is messing with us.
Without the ability to use money as leverage, YOU now become the offer. Charis said: “We thought about how we marketed ourselves to landlords. In our bio for landlords, we emphasised our roles as young professional women, and friends who were living together already to demonstrate our stability as tenants. I also thought about how I presented myself at viewings, coming straight from work in a smarter outfit. It all felt like a necessary part of the process.”
Filling in an offer form suddenly feels more and more like building a Hinge profile. Alice, 24, Writer. Hobbies include going for coffee, early nights and cleaning. Loves a cosy night in – and sometimes one cheeky pint at the pub if it’s a special occasion!
It’s long been the case for subletting: traipsing across London to the flat advertised on Spareroom which gave the least serial killer vibe, to join a queue of 20 other poor sods waiting to be interviewed by Charlotte and Lucy who think you could be a really great fit as long as you never work from home, give them 24 hours notice of any visitors and stay in your room at all times.
We’re now doing the same on our rental applications and it’s just another way we’re constantly having to market ourselves in the modern world. Job applications are becoming more like TV adverts, dating apps have made looking for a partner feel like online shopping, and social media has turned our lives into one big marketing campaign.
And honestly? It’s kind of humiliating. We’re practically begging landlords to live in their substandard flats (and pay them thousands of pounds each month to do it). When underneath it all we know that the main thing that matters is still our salary.
Because the ban on over-offering hasn’t reduced rents. It’s simply that the advertised prices have now shot up to match what everyone was probably paying before. London rents in July 2026 were up 3% compared to the year before with the average rental costing £2,317 a month, according to ONS data.
This means affordability criteria is a bigger focus than ever before. According to Propertymark, the annual salary needed to secure the average rental property is now £74,520, up over 6% from £70,050 last year.
This change was felt by Lili, 27, who shared her experiences of flathunting in London on social media and quickly learned that her target of a one-bed flat in North London for £2k would be harder to secure than she originally thought. Landlords told her they were receiving over 30 offers for one property, most of whom had strong incomes.
She said: “It seems like the rents for these flats went up overnight. I am an over researcher and I had been looking at listings for months and flats that used to be close to £1800 pcm were going for £2000 or over.”
“The only way I think to stand out is to be financially well set for the price of the flat. For us, I thought we had a really strong profile of being two full time employed people making well over the minimum amount.”
Yet despite this, Lili ended up finding a flat through a friend who was moving, rather than on the market.
When it’s this difficult for higher earners in stable full-time employment, you know it’s going to be even worse for freelancers, self-employed people and those in between jobs. They go into flat hunting with an automatic disadvantage, as experienced by Myfanwy Fleming-Jones 24, who said: “It’s sort of like sending a cover letter for each housing application you send off. As a recent grad, I feel hesitant to include that I am not full-time employed as this does not work in your favour when applying.”
The Renters’ Rights Act is ultimately a positive change. It’s just that right now, we’re going through a transition period which is showing how the housing market exploits and favours certain people in new ways.
Lili sums it up: “While I support not being able to offer over, I also have seen that landlords will try any means to make as much money as possible. I think a lot of the short-term impacts of this bill are being felt by renters, but I hope in the long term it works out.”
“It is just making it a very tough London market even more difficult, so if you don’t have to move, I wouldn’t right now.”
