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Ygerne’s housemate was on the toilet when the roof collapsed. Months after they had complained to their letting agent that the ceiling was leaking, the room filled with damp plasterboard and debris.
“We sent them a message about it, saying the ceilings just collapsed on top of someone. And they didn’t even say sorry,” Ygerne tells Hannah Moore.
Despite having a collapsed ceiling, a damp wall, and a recent rent increase, Ygerne counts herself lucky. “The rent that we’re being asked to pay is towards the lower end of the spectrum of what a lot of my friends have been seeing.”
Sam, who says he has moved about 10 times in the last 10 years, was recently evicted from his flat in south London. He had to spend £9,000 upfront – six months’ rent – to secure a new flat, savings that he had hoped would go towards a deposit to buy his own home.
How did the rental crisis in the UK get so bad? Moore speaks to the reporter Elle Hunt and the communications director of the rental website SpareRoom, Matt Hutchinson, about how we got here and what the government needs to do to fix it.
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