Mental health check-ins won't solve the rental crisis

As one property company announces that it is offering wellbeing perks for tenants, Katie Rosseinsky investigates

-  Katie Rosseinsky

Just when you thought that the rental market couldn't get more dystopian, it manages to outdo itself. The latest bleak new development for private renters? Landlords attempting to lure in prospective tenants with the promise of... mental health check-ins! The irony is painful, like when a tyrannical boss returns from an HR training session and starts telling their colleagues that it’s “OK not to be OK” (but, ideally, not on work hours, please).

This particular proposal, I should add, doesn’t involve your landlord asking you whether you’ve downloaded the Headspace app to do its mindfulness exercises or telling you to “try going for a walk” when they pop round for their mid-tenancy inspection. According to The Telegraph, the build-to-rent developer Moda is trying to win over potential renters at Embassy Boulevard, its latest London premises, near Battersea Power Station, by offering subsidised rates on virtual counselling sessions, as well as laying on breathwork and sleep workshops and “deep rest” sessions.