Last week my friends and I considered the idea of going to the beach for a day.

Listen to this article

A twenty-pound return journey, plus the price of having fun while there. It doesn't sound like much, but with rent eating up our salaries, it was enough to give us pause. Several of my friends didn't come. One already pays half of her salary in rent, and the landlord has announced a rent rise. Her current rent is £1400 for a one-bed flat, and it is now increasing to £1600. She does not live anywhere fancy: she is from Newham, a working-class area in Zone three East London

With the new renters' rights bill, she can challenge the rise in the rent tribunal. But the court does not look at how much salaries are in the area, at whether she can afford to buy food for her kids, or whether an extra £200 a........

© LBC