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Renters in the UK are facing a difficult time to find somewhere to live, with demand outweighing supply of houses and flats, and rental prices being pushed up too.

Many university students live away from home in private rental properties, and recent research showed that the average student rental cost has gone up by 14.6% in the last year.

Now scammers are taking advantage of the lucrative and competitive student rental market, by posing as landlords. They鈥檙e demanding deposits and rental down payments for properties that don鈥檛 exist, as Gordon Smart has been finding out for 麻豆约拍 Morning Live in St Andrews.

The small coastal town is home to 10,000 students, who make up a third of its population during term-time, meaning the private rental market is especially competitive.

Jasper is a student in St Andrews, who found a flat he wanted to rent in a social media advert. He told Gordon: 鈥淚t looked absolutely legit. The flat was an existing flat. I looked it up on Google and the landlord registration number was in order. You have to move quick, otherwise someone else will go in and poach it鈥�.

Jasper went on: 鈥淚t was a woman's Facebook profile. And when I called it on Facebook Messenger, it was a man who picked up. The man said they were partners under a law firm which owns multiple properties around St. Andrews. I ignored that red flag鈥�.

Jasper was told that the flat was in high demand, with more than 40 others wanting to rent it. He was told he needed to pay a deposit quickly to secure it. He turned to his Mum, Jane, to help him pay.

Jane told Morning Live: 鈥淗e said, 鈥楳um, I found a great flat at a great price. I've spoken to the company, and we have to pay the deposit by the end of today.鈥� I spoke to the landlord, and he was incredibly charming, very persuasive, and definitely gave me the feeling that my child was in good hands.鈥�

Jane was organising the bank transfer for the deposit, when the supposed landlord called her asking for more money: 鈥渁n hour later, he was back on the phone. He said, 鈥業'm so sorry, but we actually have to take the first month's rent as well today鈥�.鈥�

In total, Jane transferred 拢3,773 to the man. After that all contact stopped, and he was left without a property. It emerged that the property was real, but it wasn鈥檛 the scammer鈥檚 to rent. Jasper said: 鈥淭he scammer is taking advantage of young adults who come from all over the world and robbing them blind of thousands of pounds. It鈥檚 despicable鈥�.

The 麻豆约拍 spoke to another St Andrews student, Emma (not her real name), who paid 拢1000 to the same scammer, after she was pressurised into paying a deposit on a flat that never materialised. Emma said: 鈥淚 wasn't necessarily angry immediately, I think I was just in shock, and confused at first. And now I really just feel sad鈥�.

It appears the scammer in question is still operating. But when Gordon Smart called him on behalf of Morning Live, he hung up.

Katherine Hart, a scams expert from Trading Standards, has this advice for students searching for a flat online: 鈥淔irst of all, you have to take time and do a little bit of research. Something like Google reverse imaging can tell you whether that property is a stock photograph.

鈥淭he best advice is obviously to view a property first-hand. If you can't do that, then seek advice from University Housing officers, or ask somebody else to go and view it on your behalf.

鈥淔inally, don't fall for high pressure tactics. Quite often a scammer will ask you for a deposit to be paid the same day, and then suddenly they'll ask for a month's rent in advance鈥�.

If you realise you鈥檝e fallen victim to a rental scam, you should report it to police if you are in Scotland, or to Action Fraud if you live elsewhere in the UK.

To watch this with subtitles, go to the 麻豆约拍 iPlayer and search for Morning Live on 27/10/23.

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