Talk

Some councils offer discretionary housing benefit payments for people who are struggling with rent. You don't necessarily have to be in receipt of any benefits to apply for it. You could enquire in your local service centre or CAB to see if you qualify

I think I'd qualify, but it's probably not a long-term solution, especially since the rent will keep going up and discretionary payments are bound to be cut sooner or later.

There must be so many people in the same situation, so I thought a solution would be to get a bunch of them together and rent a bigger place. Hopefully not through an agency...