Housing: Waiting lists spiral in Bristol as rents become increasingly unaffordable
“For every property we put on, we tend to find about 60 leads overnight.”
Adil Ayub has been an estate agent in Bristol for more than 20 years. We meet him and his colleagues as they open shop in St Werburgh’s, in the northeast of the city.
If they advertise a property in the evening, the work is essentially done by the morning: “By the time we get in at 9am, we’re already getting the phone calls and the leads we need to catch up with.”
The problem is so bad, not all properties are advertised online. Adil has a waiting list of hundreds of people, desperate to find somewhere to live in a city that’s becoming increasingly unaffordable.
The council here says Bristol is now the most expensive city to rent in outside of London.
Many of the reasons are the same as elsewhere in the UK – a chronic housing shortage, rising costs being passed on to tenants and many landlords simply selling up as buy-to-let becomes unprofitable, squeezing rental housing stock even further.
But Adil says the attractiveness of Bristol to outsiders is also a driving problem.
Read more:
Half of renters ‘only one paycheque away’ from potentially losing home
Adil Ayub says the waiting list for properties is huge
“In Bristol, the guys that I class as born and bred Bristolians are having to effectively move out of the city where the rents are getting so expensive,” he said.
“In Bristol, we do have the dynamic employers and we’ve been awarded many accolades as a city, so it’s a fantastic place to actually be.
“Now we are getting talent from outside of Bristol which, often if you look at their average salaries, it is a lot higher than the guys here, so that’s one of the challenges we are finding for people – it’s very competitive at the moment.”
We join Adil’s brother, Uz, on a house viewing two streets down from the office.
We meet Ricardo Retamales and Chelcie Brewer-Retamales and their four-month-old son.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Bristol renters face frenzied competition
The couple left Bristol a few years ago and moved to Newport, South Wales, because property was cheaper. With a new baby, they’re trying to move back to Bristol to be nearer to family.
Ricardo says finding somewhere is challenging: “We call agencies all the time, we’re scouring Rightmove and any time we call there’s genuinely no viewings available, or the property has gone before we even get a chance to look at it.
“That, coupled with the quality of property that isn’t that great either, so we are kind of in a tough place right now.”
Read more:
Homeowners and renters at risk of eviction to receive free legal advice
The three-bed house they’re viewing is on the market for £2,100 per month.
“Right now, it’s one of our salaries going purely on rental. That’s not including bills or nursery when the time comes – so half of our household income is going on that,” Ricardo says.
The couple’s search comes as the Office for National Statistics says private rental prices rose by 5.5% in the 12 months to August 2023.
There has been a sharp and continuous uptick in rental costs since the end of 2021.
London has had the highest annual percentage change, with the North East and South West following.
Bristol City Council wants to try to tackle the problem – and has asked the government for new powers so it can introduce a rental cap; a limit on how much landlords can increase rents.
Read more:
Record number in temporary accommodation, government reveals
Average asking rental price hits record highs
“There needs to be an intervention,” Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees tells me.
“The way the housing market is going at the moment is not working for ordinary people. We have a situation in which hospitals and schools – vital employees – are struggling to recruit and retain staff, it’s a city that is becoming increasingly unaffordable to live in.”
He adds: “Fundamentally you’re looking at some kind of controls over the rate of increase in rents that people are paying… it has to be part of a national approach to housing.
“In Bristol wages over the past decade have gone up 24%, rents have gone up 52%. You cannot sustain that kind of situation.”
As I walk around the streets of St Werburgh’s there are thousands of homes – but I count fewer than three to-let signs – a sign of the market, and the real struggle people are facing in this city.
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
Read more:
Sky’s Beth Rigby running marathon in honour of ‘dearest friend’
Badenoch does not rule out local coalitions with Reform
Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway