Housing: Families left feeling helpless in search for homes

Sara and her partner Steve were told having a baby was putting them at a disadvantage when searching for a rental property

Families searching for somewhere to rent have said they are left feeling "helpless" because of high prices, lack of supply and discrimination.

Emma Ceris Williams, 36, from Llandudno, Conwy county, said she faced being homeless by the end of September.

Sara Hobday, 32, from Cardiff, said she had "never felt so low" and could not find anywhere "because she has a baby".

Shelter Cymru said "discrimination was seen blatantly" across Wales.

The Welsh government said more affordable homes would be available in the private sector during its next term and any agent or landlord who "unfairly discriminated" against tenants faced losing their licence.

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Mother-of-two Ms Williams said she felt "physically helpless" as she faced eviction from her rental property in September.

She and her partner Lee were handed their eviction notice by their landlord of 11 years in July - a three bedroom house they pay £550 a month for.

"We quickly realised that there wasn't anywhere, the prices were absolutely ridiculous," she said.

"I think there was one that was £1,600 [a month], and there are ones that are like £2,300 in this area, all my wages would be gone and the everything else [bills and living costs] would be my partner's wages and then what?

"We'd be left with nothing."

Emma said she faces homelessness if she doesn't find somewhere by the end of September

Ms Williams considered moving to England in the hope that prices would be cheaper.

But her daughter, April, lives with unilateral cerebellar hypoplasia - a rare neurological condition - and the "last thing I want is to move my five-year-old from her school", while her son Theo, 14, is starting his GCSEs in September.

"I've tried everything, I've spoken to the homelessness prevention team, filled out a form to say what my situation is, I've spoken to the council, and estate agents - I feel physically helpless," she told BBC Cymru Fyw.

Ms Hobday and her partner Steve were told last December that their family would need to leave their rented property as the landlord wanted to sell.

After eight months of searching, Ms Hobday said being told that having a baby was putting them at a disadvantage was "the worst part".

"If we did manage to get a viewing, we'd put in an application and the applications were very often not accepted on the basis that we have a child - which I find absolutely mind-blowing that it's even legal to do that.

"I've never been so rejected in all my life, the impact on my mental health was so much so that I don't think I even understand how bad it could get."

Why is the rental market so competitive?

House prices are at their highest ever in Wales - £240,000 on average, according to the Principality building society's latest figures.

That means that more and more people are being forced to try and rent but because of the rapid increase in the number of people searching, there are not enough places to meet the demand.

In addition, many landlords in Wales have decided to sell their properties because of new legislation coming into force in December.

Thomas Williams said rental properties were now going within days, rather than weeks

Thomas Williams, director of Maison estate agents, said he had seen a "big change" since the pandemic, with high demand leading to people being ready to pay above asking price, leading to greater competition with landlords facing "difficult decisions" and people missing out.

"We would market a property for roughly a week to two weeks on the past for a rental property, now we're finding that we're getting enough inquiries after advertising for just half a day to a day."

Mr Williams added that in the market they were in, they are not allowed to discriminate.

"We do work very hard in order to make sure that we do it in a fair basis, but unfortunately there is very often very little to distinguish people, which means that our decision is made very hard."

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Heddyr Gregory said Shelter Cymru is seeing more and more people being discriminated against when looking to try and rent

Heddyr Gregory from Shelter Cymru said: "We see there are more and more people wanting to rent privately, but unable to do so because there's a competition war going on.

"We have seen in research that we did last year, about 75,000 people were discriminated against when they tried to find their current home. This was because of their ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion or disability.

"We also regularly see discrimination in the form of unlawful 'No DSS' policies, which indirectly discriminate against women and disabled people - and even discrimination based on people having pets or children."

The Welsh government said: "Every landlord and agent in Wales must sign up to the Rent Smart Wales Code of Practice which clearly states that any prospective or existing tenant must not be discriminated against - any landlord or agent who unfairly discriminates against tenants risks losing their licence.

"Our Leasing Scheme Wales will increase access to affordable homes in the private rented sector, and we will provide 20,000 low carbon social homes for rent during this government term."

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