Cost of Living: Housing struggle as rent and demand rise

Dan Sellwood is chasing letting agents while also writing his university dissertation

Reminder alerts, feelings of frustration and inability to save for a mortgage - this is the reality of renting in Wales.

With rents rising by £200 a month in some areas, estate agents have said supply is not meeting demand.

Bangor University student Dan Sellwood said he had an "awful" time looking for a house in Cardiff.

The Welsh government said it was "keen to work with private landlords" going forward.

Mr Sellwood, 23, said: "It's been awful trying to find somewhere to rent. Me and my housemate have been looking individually and together for the past three or four months and it's just been the worst experience."

While he was writing his university dissertation, he set regular reminders to chase estate agents.

"Every half an hour I was giving them a call trying to figure out where things were up to and then the blocks of viewings was really stressful," he said.

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According to the Office for National Statistics, rent in Wales has risen by 4.4% in the past year, the highest annual percentage change since 2010.

Mr Sellwood, who is studying primary school teaching, hoped to find somewhere to rent for £800 a month, but is struggling to find anywhere for less than £900.

"I get a living wage and that's still not enough to be able to rent a decent house," he said.

"It's not the most expensive place to live, Cardiff, but it's so hard to get into because there's not the money in my pocket and there's not the houses in Cardiff."

Renters are struggling to find accommodation available within their budgets

Helene Lewis, a letting agent from Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, has seen one landlord raise rent by £200 a month.

"Over the last couple of weeks a lot of the landlords have decided with the increase in mortgages they need to up their rental income as well," she said.

"Some have gone up a couple of pounds, some have jumped quite a lot."

Ms Lewis said there simply was not "enough houses out there for people who want rentals".

Letting agent Helene Lewis says landlords are raising their prices by as much as £200 a month

In Scotland, a six-month freeze on rents came to an end in April and was replaced by rent controls.

Julie James, Welsh government minister for climate, told BBC Wales Live that the biggest problem in Wales was people who were looking for a new place to rent.

She said the Welsh government would be calling for some data surrounding "rent controls and various other things", and would particularly look at the effect of the rent freeze in Scotland.

She added that such a move would lead to some private landlords leaving the market, which was something she wanted to avoid.

"We don't think it will work. We are very keen to work with private sector landlords to find out what drives that [departure]," she said.

The minister added that the Welsh government's target of building 20,000 new social homes in this Senedd term was "hanging by a thread" due to inflation and supply chain difficulties.

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