Flat rental costs soar as young people 'priced out of city'

For some people a camper van is the only option due to York's soaring rents

A woman living in a van due to the high cost of rent said people were being "priced out" of her city.

Rebecca Carr, 32, said renting in York would leave her with nothing at the end of the month and she is not alone.

Average rents in the city for a one-bedroom flat are about £700 a month, according to one estate agent.

Ben Hudson, of Hudson Moody in the city, said a growing demand for short-term holiday lets was one reason for soaring prices.

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Ms Carr, co-founder of OpHouse, a group hoping to create community-led housing in York, said it was increasingly hard to find a home in York.

"Other people I know have had to move outside of York, we're being priced out of our city," she said.

"The problem isn't the people, we're earning money, it's the cost of housing."

Ms Carr said even when she was living in a house the costs of rent plus bills made it difficult to manage.

"By the end of the month, every month, I was going into more debt there wasn't anything left," she said.

Rebecca parks up where she can in the city

Megan Bailey is another person who is living in a van. She works in the arts and earns just above minimum wage.

"To live in York on my wage doesn't leave me with very much money for fun or saving," she said.

Ben Hudson, from estate agents Hudson Moody, said the women's difficulties were not unusual.

Average monthly rents in York are £700 for a one-bed flat, between £800 and £1,000 for a two-bed apartment and about £1,100 for a three-bed house, he said.

The problem was made greater by a lack of availability, he said, and "many of the houses that were perhaps rented out longer-term are now short lets".

When new rentals do appear, he said, up to two dozen applicants swoop on the listings within 30 minutes of them going live.

Some are so desperate to secure a property they will offer to pay extra, he said, and would commonly ask agents to "take it off the market if they offer £100 more", he said.

The city's popularity as a tourist destination is one reason for the lack of rental properties

Ms Carr would like to see more people register their interest in self-build schemes and get involved in other community-led affordable housing schemes to address the shortage.

Mr Hudson said the shortage was largely down to not enough new homes being built over many decades.

"If we supply more properties the prices won't go up as fast," he said.