Bidding wars: inside the super-charged fight for rental properties

theguardian.com:

T he cost of renting in London and many other parts of the country has soared over the past year, with a lack of available properties meaning tenants face tough competition to secure a home. Some feel they have little option but to pay thousands of pounds upfront – £50,000 isn’t unusual – or sign longer leases to beat other hopeful applicants.

According to the latest figures from the property website Zoopla, average rents in London have hit £1,978 a month – up 15.2% over the last 12 months – while Rightmove said annual rent inflation in the capital was running at 15.7%.

Tenants are grappling with sizeable rent increases during a cost of living crisis that has also led to energy bills, supermarket prices and a range of other costs rocketing.

I spent a few hours with staff at a branch of the letting agent Chestertons in Little Venice, west London, to see how the turbulent market is affecting tenants, landlords and agents on the ground.

The office also covers Paddington and Maida Vale, as well as the slightly more affordable areas of Queen’s Park and Kilburn. Its agents mainly cater to families and couples, and individual landlords rather than investment firms.

Little Venice itself is an affluent residential neighbourhood in the City of Westminster, with mansion blocks lining the Grand Union and Regent’s canals that give the area its name.

The pressures facing renters vary across London’s 32 boroughs but the visit offered a snapshot of the main problems facing many, no matter where they live: high demand and low supply.

Chestertons Little Venice had 26 properties advertised to let online and available at the time of writing. It is fair to say that, if you ignored the “let agreed” properties, available one-bedroom flats, which