Landlord evicts six-bedroom home to create six separate studios

‘My friends and I were kicked out of our home in London – then the landlord converted the house into six flats and hiked the rent by 150%’: Furious tenant’s shock claim

• The new six flats have all since been let, property portal confirmed to MailOnline
• Read more:  House-hunter shares hilarious reaction to tiny £1,387-per-month flat

A renter has slammed his former landlord after claiming he was ‘evicted’ from his east London home so that each of the six bedrooms could be converted into ‘depressing’ studio apartments – and the rent hiked by 150%. 

Rich Felgate, 30, said the capital was being ‘destroyed’ to ‘maximise landlord profits’ after alleging he and his six friends were asked to leave their £3,000-a-month rental home in Elphinstone Road, Walthamstow, in September 2022.

He said they later learned from a neighbour that the bedrooms were being rented as individual homes for up to £1,600 per month each – bringing in up to £7,600 for the landlord. 

Mr Felgate took to Twitter after finding an advert for the flats on property portal Your Move, adding: ‘Each bedroom now has a depressing little microwave and sink next to the bed.’

The rental firm told MailOnline that all six units have now been let, with their respective tenants ‘happy to have secured them.’ 

Richard Felgate (pictured) slammed his former landlord after he was kicked out of his east London home so that each of the six bedrooms could be converted into ‘depressing’ studio apartments

Rich Felgate, 30, said the capital was being ‘destroyed’ to ‘maximise landlord profits’ after he and his six friends were evicted from their £3,000-a-month rental home in Elphinstone Road, Walthamstow, in September 2022

Mr Felgate took to Twitter after finding an advert for the flats on property portal Your Move, adding: ‘Each bedroom now has a depressing little microwave and sink next to the bed’ 

READ MORE: ‘Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse!’ House-hunter shares hilarious reaction to tiny £1,387-per-month studio flat where bed is stashed in a cupboard – and lies inches away from the oven

The studio flat costs £1,387 per month and comes furnished – and is available on February 27

But Mr Felgate fumed: ‘Despite paying over a grand a month rent, new tenants will have to share a kitchen with random neighbours if they want to cook anything more than a microwave meal. 

‘In the kitchen where we used to cook and eat together every night, there’s now CCTV. 

‘These extortionate rents are already making it almost impossible to live in London, but the replacement of any semblance of communal living with life as individualised economic units to maximise landlord profitability is also destroying this place.’ 

A spokesperson for the independently owned branch of Your Move in Walthamstow said: ‘We were instructed to let the newly converted, fully compliant properties by the landlord. 

‘All are now rented with tenants happy to have secured them. We have had no dealings with previous tenants at this property as we were not the letting agent at that time.’ 

It comes as soaring rental prices have made living in London somewhat of a nightmare for thousands of prospective tenants. 

There is such a high demand and low supply that there are often dozens or even hundreds of people battling for the same rooms or flats, leading to bidding wars that favour the wealthiest. 

Greater London saw the average rent surpass £2,100 a month for the first time in October last year – driven by rents in inner London reaching a new record high of £2,863 a month. 

Since January 2020, just before the start of the pandemic, rents have risen by at least 19 per cent across Britain.

It is the equivalent of an additional £2,351 a year in rent, a significant sum of money to find amid the cost of living crisis. 

Mr Felgate slammed his landlord on Twitter after he was kicked out of his east London home so the six bedrooms could be converted into ‘depressing’ studio apartments – and the rent hiked by 150%

Figures from November showed London remains the least affordable region, with the average rent taking up 62 per cent of the average renting household’s post-tax income.

North London estate agent Jeremy Leaf, said at the time: ‘Demand up, supply down can only mean one thing – rents will keep on rising.

‘Interest has been swelled by aspiring first-time buyers deterred off by rising mortgage rates.

‘We need more new landlords and existing landlords to stay put but have to make it worth their while without compromising standards or marginalising tenants.

‘However, we have noticed at the sharp end some tenant resistance to higher rents recently as the cost of living really starts to hit home.’

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