So the highest paid party, with the most stable employment record in our little housing trio pulled out leaving myself and another friend not only out of pocket but also unable to currently afford any house through an estate agent.
It seems that contract work and agency work are completely different (aside from taxes). The estate agent/referencing agency clearly use 'agency' as a euphemism for temporary which isn't entirely true. Anyway the upshot is that without a permanent job or proof of a vast income it seems that we're relegated to subsisting in over-priced shit-holes rented out by lucky bastards who managed to get on the property ladder.
Of course, i should really blame banks for tightening financial procedures, and stupid people for getting into silly debt but that's a whole other rant which won't solve anything.