Meet the young professionals struggling to rent in London

As I began speaking to Maria Dinu, 24, on the phone from her flat in Kensington, she let out a scream. A mouse had run across the floor. But other than her initial shock, she remains blasé about the encounter and continues our conversation.

“Having mice in your flat is a luxury because if that is your worst problem, then it means that you're living quite a good life,” she laughs.

Maria is Romanian and moved to London in 2020, after four years in the Netherlands, to undertake a master’s degree. She decided to settle in the city once she completed her studies.

Maria is one of thousands battling increasing rents and a rapidly declining supply. A mix of rising mortgages and low rental yields are causing Landlords to exit the market. According to property website Zoopla, one in nine homes for sale in London was previously rented.

Initially she lived in New Cross, in what she describes as “probably the worst place I've lived”. This was a Facebook find shared with five others. She also suffered mice infestations there, but it was tolerable for the £450 per month she paid in rent.

Last summer, Maria decided to move out after a long running dispute with some of her flatmates. But by September, she had nowhere to go. The soaring cost of rent meant that most rooms were outside of her budget and there was fierce competition for the often “mouldy” rooms she did get viewings for.

She embarked on over two months of couch surfing while working in a market research role, earning £23,500 a year. This situation deeply affected her mental health. “It was quite difficult, quite stressful”, she says. “I had quite a few people able to help me and host me. But none of them could host me indefinitely. I wouldn't know where I would sleep the next day sometimes”.

“For people that do not have the highest income or are at the beginning of their careers, to rent an Airbnb long-term, is a very significant cost and not really an option”, she added.

At times Maria considered returning to Romania. Eventually she found a room through a friend, sharing with two others. She now pays over half her wages in rent. This is the norm for young professionals in London. At one viewing, a letting agent told her he pays 70% of his income in rent.

Many others young professionals have similar stories.

Caoímhe Hopkins, 24, lives in a flat share in Stratford with approximately eight people, but she suspects that number is higher.

“The reason I landed on that number is purely based on how many participants are in the WhatsApp group,” she tells me.

She lives in a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) and the only communal areas are the kitchen and for the other tenants, the bathroom. For £750 a month, she has an ensuite.

“I don’t interact with any of my flatmates. There's some of them I've never met and never seen”.

Caoímhe moved to London from Ireland in March 2022 to pursue a three-month graduate diamond diploma, before taking up a role in a Hatton Garden jeweller, paying £23,000 per annum. She recently changed jobs and as of May, earns £28,000.

Prior to her move, finding somewhere to live proved difficult. Letting agents were no longer offering virtual viewings and many rejected her on the basis that she was not in London.

“There were a few times I did pay to fly over and see a few including what I ended up in. But it was so difficult.”

She likes her room, but living with complete strangers and no social element can be hard. “Even when I'm in my bedroom I always lock my door just in case.”

Sharing a kitchen with so many people is also an issue at times. Caoímhe’s landlord personally cleans it once a week but that is not always enough. The flat recently had a mice infestation, with Caoímhe’s room across the hall, it affected her too.

“I grew up in the countryside, so mice don't freak me out. But it was really fast and kept hiding under things. I bought live traps on my way home from work, expecting to put them down and to deal with it myself. But it just went out of my room. I still have a little plugin thing that makes a high-pitched noise. Even if it’s still in the house, which isn’t great, it wouldn’t come into my room.”

However, Caoímhe does not expect to move anytime soon.

“For me. I have my own ensuite bathroom and my rent is very reasonable given that factor. When you look at what is available now there isn’t anything affordable like this. Rooms are 1000 plus a month, which is just totally unfeasible if f you want to be able to have a social life or save. I'm trying to save for another course. I'll never be able to do that if I'm spending over half of my income on rent”.

Over 5 million adults in England Wales live at home with their parents, according to ONS figures. Tom Jenkins, 27, is one of them, working in London since October 2021 and commuting to the office from his family home in Kent. Tom’s starting salary was £23,500, he currently earns £28,000.

Like many other young workers from a commutable distance to the city, Tom made the choice to live comfortably and avoid excessive rents (he currently pays his parents £300 per month).

But it has its downsides. His commute is a four hour round trip which he finds “disgusting”, but appreciates he is one of many making it.

His economic decision has affected his social and dating life. Friends often don’t include him in plans on account of his journey unless they are organised far in advance, and he misses the spontaneity. In terms of dating, he thinks there is a stigma attached to his situation. “People think it shows a lack of independence”, Tom explains.

It has also impacted his mental health. As we speak, Tom is off work due to stress and anxiety.

“Because I'm still at home. It's hard seeing, all my friends in relationships and renting with their partners. One, in the US, is married and bought his own house. So, you feel like you're not keeping up. And there's stress and pressure with that. And obviously, it's affected me to the point where I’m signed off work”.

Tom hopes to move out before next Summer. But he laughs, he said that last year too.