How Labour's Renters' Rights Act has made life worse for tenants: Soaring rents and fewer homes available as landlords sell up - leaving Londoners scrambling to find a place to live

Labour's groundbreaking Renters' Rights Act promised to put power back into the hands of tenants with the biggest boost to their rights in a generation. The legislation, which came into force in May, introduced a raft of protections including an end to 'no fault' evictions, caps on rent increases and a ban on fixed-term tenancies. But just months on, Londoners are worse off than they were before – with soaring rents and a dwindling supply of properties making it harder than ever to find somewhere to live.They say landlords, who can no longer accept offers above the asking price to prevent bidding wars between prospective tenants, are now just listing tenancies at the highest rate they think someone will pay. Statistics show the average rent in the capital reached a record £2,791 per month in the second quarter of this year – a 2 per cent rise on the period from January to March. Rents outside of London also jumped 1.9 per cent to a monthly average of £1,397 in the period from April to June, Rightmove, the property portal, found.Laura Meyer, 28, told the Daily Mail she has found it impossible to find an affordable one-bedroom flat in south-west London since the Renters' Rights Act came in. 'I started looking back in July and have basically hit a wall left, right and centre in terms of the pricing of places,' she said. 'I've even been told outright by estate agents the market right now is the craziest they have seen in 30 years because not only is it summer, but because of the Renters' Rights Act.'The houses are being listed at the upper price point and this makes it quite difficult for people like me who are coming in and having to under-offer.'The offers are then not being accepted because they are looking for someone, or holding out hope, that someone will pay the maximum price.' Ms Meyer is currently paying £1,200 a month to live in a flat with two other people in Parsons Green. Laura Meyer, 28, said she has found it impossible to find an affordable one-bedroom flat in south-west London since the Renters' Rights Act came inShe said while she had been hoping to find a one-bed for around £1,600 a month, she has now realised the minimum she would have to pay is around £2,000. 'The market is oversaturated right now - with fewer landlords and more people looking,' Ms Meyer said.'One of the agents told me that normally in the summer she gets about 50 calls a day, but because of the Renters' Rights Act, she is getting 120-plus.'I have now put offers on three places, none have been accepted and I'm still looking. I've probably had to view about 50 places at this point.' Statistics show that while the cost of rent is increasing, the number of available properties is falling, meaning competition to secure a tenancy is fierce. According to house-share website SpareRoom, there was a 3.2 per cent drop in rooms being advertised for rent in the year up to June. The Renters' Rights Act – the brainchild of Angela Rayner – has been blamed for pushing property owners to sell up.A survey of more than 1,000 landlords across England previously found that almost half were considering stopping renting out their homes to avoid the new rules and regulations.Lydia Holt, 25, who lives in a three-bed in Finsbury Park, north London, has been looking for a new place to live in September. She said: 'We're not fussy at all and we gave ourselves a two to three-month window and it was just terrible. 'Trying to find a two-bed that actually worked and was within anywhere near our budget was just completely impossible. We viewed I think, upwards of 15 places. Statistics show the average rent in the capital reached a record £2,791 per month in the second quarter of this year - a two per cent rise on the period from January to March 'When I first moved into the place that I am in now, we got a three-bed for between £2.8k and £2.9k, which is just shy of a grand a month each. 'Whereas now, when we were looking at two beds you wouldn't get anywhere decent for under the £2.8k mark, which is crazy. So it's gone up around £400 each a month. 'And when we spoke to estate agents they were like "oh we are just putting properties on the market for 20 per cent more than what we think they should go for, because that's what we think people would have offered".'Large numbers of tenants also reported being evicted from their properties before the new legislation, that was designed to protect them, came into effect.Renters' union Acorn said no-fault evictions made up one in five of the reports they received from members in October, rising to nearly one in three by January. Meanwhile, in the six-month period between the act receiving royal assent and coming into force, 11 per cent of tenants in England were evicted or received notice of an eviction, according to a survey of 4,500 tenants by SpareRoom. This rose to 12 per cent among tenants in London.And of the evicted tenants questioned, 9 per cent admitted it was because of the Renters' Rights Act or other regulatory changes.Hetty, 30, lived in a four-bed house share in Earlsfield from 2019 until autumn last year when she was served notice ahead of the new legislation. In that period her room rent has increased from £715 per month to £940.She told the Daily Mail: 'On the morning following the Budget, our landlord messaged us to say he'd decided to put the house up for sale as he wanted to avoid the new penalties about to be imposed on landlords.'I took matters into my own hands and said I'm just going to look to move into my own place. 'It is so expensive in London. It feels like when you are sharing you are paying what most people across the country are paying to live on their own. 'We started to look around April to May this year and the quality of housing really threw me. 'I just thought how on earth is that an okay price for something that has black mould, has not been updated, is tiny for a two-bedroom flat in Wandsworth. The Renters' Rights Act was the brainchild of Angela Rayner (pictured) 'It was very difficult to get my head around that the same area I had lived in for seven years had not only gone up in price but the quality of the property had taken a massive dive.'For me personally I decided to move a little bit further out and to live on my own because it did not feel right to pay all that money to live in the same postcode and not have something as nice.' Hetty described herself as 'one of the lucky ones' but questioned what graduates and other young professionals must be thinking. 'The average two-bedroom property for something that is even half decent - and by that I mean it doesn't have paint peeling off the walls, it doesn't have a leaky tap and has been painted at some point in the last ten years - you're looking at around £2,500 to £2,750 a month,' she said. 'You can't reasonably afford to do that on your own and it's taking up a huge chunk of most young people's salaries. 'The Renters' Rights Act has been really helpful in that you don't need to worry about being given notice. 'But I think it's definitely a factor that landlords are just advertising the properties at the highest prices they think they can get. 'There's no point undervaluing your property if you think you could achieve more, especially when you think about how competitive the market is.'A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: 'Our landmark Renters' Rights Act protects tenants from excessive increases we've seen in the past to give them the security and stability they deserve.'The Act also limits rent rises to once a year, bans rental bidding wars so tenants no longer get pushed into paying more than they can afford, and gives them strong powers to challenge excessive costs.' Key changes in the Renters' Rights Act End to 'no-fault' evictions: Renters will be able to challenge rent increases or perceived bad practice from their landlord without fear of evictionMore time to fall into arrears: The legislation extends the period renters can fall into arrears from two months to three, and the notice period required to begin legal proceedings to kick them out will be extended from two weeks to four weeks End to rental bidding wars: It will be illegal for landlords to accept offers above the advertised rent and no more than one month's rent can be received in advance Tenants right to appeal rent: Renters will be able to appeal where a landlord is attempting to charge above market-rate rent, while rent increases can only happen once a year End to fixed-term contracts: to be replaced with rolling contracts Cutting down on landlord choice: Landlords will face legal prosecution if they decide not to accept tenants living on benefits or with children Pets at home: Landlords cannot unreasonably refuse tenant requests to keep pets