Rats, damp and cold; I’ve endured them all. And so it seems, have many others. A Citizens Advice report says that rogue landlords are earning £5.6bn a year renting out unsafe properties, with 16% of privately rented homes deemed physically unsafe. The psychological effects for tenants can be as unpleasant as the accommodation, believe me.

In 2009, I decided to live alone after a horrific experience in Manchester. Two alcoholics made my life miserable. I swore never to share again. Lowlights included listening to my Tennant’s-swilling roomie play The Bends at 4am looped, fearfully locking myself in my attic room (lacking an escape route), deterring him from inviting a homeless man to stay over and declining his kind offer of accompanying him to a crack house. He was eventually thrown out by a lacklustre landlord who finally listened to my trembling 3am calls for action.

After a year paying a crippling £525pm plus bills to live in a studio with a folding bed in Winchester, I opted to save money (public sector pay restraint was about to bite harder) and move into an annex to a landlord’s property. Saving £150 per month, bills were included. Surprisingly, so were wasp infestations through a fireplace (the landlord declined to fit a chimney cap), black mould from showering (sans window) and advice to use a bucket to catch a kitchen leak while the owner holidayed. Damp clung to walls, skin and clothes, as I forlornly doused myself in deodorant.

The Nation of Renters report (disputed by the National Landlords Association) shows 10% of homes pose a risk of a dangerous fall and 6% are excessively cold. I entered my “home” up a fire escape covered with winter’s ice and snow, warmth emitting solely from a knackered old electric heater. Left on through winter nights, I feared for my safety. This existence knocked my confidence so much I would not get a girlfriend, dreading what she would think. Three psychologically scarring years later, I found another annex. This would be step two in my unintended social retreat, having rarely invited friends to my previous hellhole.

Unfortunately, a rat infestation wiped out my optimism and desire to invite friends over. Shame from such living drags you down, affecting your relationships and ambition and making you feel worthless. I feel like a second-class citizen, delaying asking for repairs or not even bothering, living instead with a rainwater-stained lounge ceiling. This results from fear I will annoy my landlord. I cannot risk this, as I lack the savings to afford the £1,000 plus it could cost to move. The difficulties of keeping up with increasing rental costs in the face of wage restraint are felt widely too. Figures for the first quarter of 2015 show a 4% annual rise in private sector tenants owing more than two months’ rent. Power seemingly resides with landlords, especially in dynamics like mine, where I reside in their annex.

Generation rent’s hopelessness (often felt by their parents, too) has been compounded by the fastest rental rises since 2010, with average monthly rents now at £774. Hope comes only when I look at the bank of mum and dad. Since 2009, Winchester has seen a near £104,000 average price rise in housing so despite reported increases in new builds, that’s me priced out.