With competition for rental homes in London and other parts of the country at an all-time high, how to provide everyone in the UK with a decent, affordable home is one of the biggest challenges facing the country.

 The scale of the renting crisis has been laid bare by recent figures from Zoopla which reveal that average rents in the capital have hit £1,978 a month – up 15.2% over the last 12 months.

In cities like Manchester, we are seeing similar trends - as rents grow faster than in any other market outside London.