If there’s one thing that’s becoming increasingly clear, it’s that the rental market in London is pretty damn rough right now.

So much so that Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, called an emergency private renting summit in November in the wake of news that  Londoners trying to find a rental property in the capital are now facing record average prices of £571 a week. 

This is just the tip of a very slippery iceberg, and a new TikTok series has highlighted just how difficult the London rental market is at the moment.

Influencer Dazhané Leah has been documenting her experience of looking for a flat to rent in London in a series of TikToks, which have amassed over 1.6 million views in total.

In the first TikTok, Leah shares that she was looking for an apartment for four and a half months after her landlord announced that they were selling the apartment she was renting.

While Leah has now found a place, she documented her search over the last few months and the numerous challenges she faced, starting with a home that was £2,300 a month for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom flat in west London, which says was really good for the price but felt “a bit like a family house”.

She added that five people were waiting outside as she was viewing the flat. “Honestly in this rental crisis, the flats get snatched up the same day – it was so hard to even just get a viewing,” she said.

During her search, Leah came across a few other setbacks, including a two-bed, one-bath flat that was “the best she’d seen at the time of viewing” and one she put an offer down for. 

Before knowing if her offer was accepted, she viewed another flat she liked and withdrew her offer on the previous flat in order to put an offer down on the second property. She was then outbid because someone else offered to pay “two years’ [rent] upfront”.

“Two years upfront is what I’m competing with,” she said. That’s a whole mortgage… I’m going through it.”

In another TikTok, Leah checked out a one-bedroom flat in Battersea that cost £1,850 a month.

While she says she liked the flat, the influencer felt it was a “glorified studio”. “It was a bit small, but I felt like for the price of £1,850, my rent at the moment for a two-bed is less than that, so it felt like I was downgrading in size but paying more rent, which made no sense.”

Leah also shared a video of another flat she put an offer in for, but it was once again rejected. This time she was grateful after acknowledging that the flat had a few shortcomings.

“It was very modern, well done, but very small and had no storage. It didn’t have free parking, so I’d have to pay for extra parking. All in all, I’m happy my offer wasn’t accepted.”

Leah explained that the person who ended up taking the property put down that they’d be willing to stay for three-to-four years, whereas she had requested two years with a one-year break clause.

“It was a blessing in disguise, but I think I was just really desperate because I was initially given only two months to move out of my flat and I saw this flat in the last week,” she said.

In one of her recent TikToks, Leah broke down her experience of looking for a place, sharing that it wasn’t difficult finding nice places on the market but that her offers were “constantly being declined because people were overbidding”.

She also added that another challenge was couples and families being prioritised due to joint income.

Leah also viewed a property in Croydon, which was reduced to £1,700, and put in an offer.

“However, the landlord decided to have two different agencies represent this flat, which meant that I was viewing with one agent or agency and the other agency had already done their viewings and put down offers,” she shares.

“It meant that as I was viewing this place, someone’s offer was already accepted. It was a waste of time and petrol for me to be travelling so damn far.”

Many people took to the comments to express their appreciation for Leah’s transparency, with some highlighting their own experiences of flat hunting in London.

“It’s so refreshing to see a realistic approach to what it’s like flat-hunting in London right now,” commented one user. “It’s ridiculous out here, but I don’t think people realise to what extent unless they’re going through it.”

Another said: “The fact that people are putting down years’ worth of rent is partially why the rental situation in London is where it is. If you can afford to buy, then buy and give some of us renters a chance at fair prices.”

Speaking to Stylist, Leah said: “My experience with flat hunting most definitely wasn’t the smoothest and I was very lucky to eventually find a flat off the market as my friend knew a landlord very well. 

“Not everyone has the same privilege and I really think something needs to be put in place, especially to tackle the issue of people overbidding for somewhere to live.”

It only takes talking to a few people these days before you can hear some of these flat-hunting horror stories and the struggles many young people are facing when trying to find a home.

“I started looking for a new place with my friend around a month ago and the situation is dire out there,” says Stylist’s digital features editor Hannah Keegan.

“We put in a speedy full-ask offer for a place we saw recently – along with a letter explaining why we loved the flat and would be great tenants, which a friend had said helped secure her place – and we didn’t even hear back from the landlord or letting agent.

“People are frequently putting in offers well over asking when the market is already inflated and there’s a competitive sense of panic at every viewing I’ve been to. It’s a mess.”

This comes as recent data from insurer HomeLet found a surprising drop in the average cost of renting a home in Greater London, which fell by 0.2% in December.

While this represented just a £4 reduction from the average £2,011 bill faced by tenants in November, it was the first price cut in 10 months.

Perhaps there is a light at the end of this very long – and pricey – tunnel.

Image: Getty