u/Creepy-Fold4164

After 4 years in London, I’ll be leaving the UK soon and moving back to my hometown: Shenzhen, China.

Even though I’m leaving physically, I still want to keep some connection with the UK and this community.

So maybe this can be the start of that.

Not many people know much about Shenzhen, but if you check your power bank… there’s a good chance part of it came from there.

But the city is much more complicated (and honestly more interesting) than that.

It’s one of the fastest-changing cities in the world. Tech, manufacturing, supply chains, EVs, design, hardware startups, cross-border business, logistics, social media brands, exporting… everything moves extremely fast there.

Over time, I’d love to share small observations about:

• how business actually works there
• factory / OEM / manufacturing realities
• the EV industry
• cross-border trade
• creative industries in China
• what people outside China usually misunderstand
• and what is changing very quickly right now

If there’s anything you’re curious about regarding Shenzhen / China / manufacturing / business culture, feel free to leave a comment.

Before the new law changes on May 1st, my partner and I received a Section 21 notice for the flat we rent.

Even though we are very quiet and respectful tenants. Never missed a payment. No parties, no trouble. We even tried fixing small issues ourselves instead of bothering the management team every time. One of the most heartbreaking parts is that we built a really good relationship with our neighbours here.

For context: we’re foreign tenants. No guarantor in the UK, no family support system here.

We’re also dealing with visa deadlines, which makes the whole thing even more stressful. Every rental application somehow turns into a full immigration documentary. The moment a letting agent notices your visa has less than one year left, the attitude changes immediately.

I know Section 21 is technically a “no fault” eviction, but after I basically begged for an explanation, the agent told us the landlord wanted to “end cooperation” with them, so the tenancy would not continue.

So we started preparing to move.

- Update 05.21.2026 -

Saying goodbye to the area, the stores I always went to, even stupid little things in the flat that became part of daily life. Now all our free time is spent searching for flats, calling agents, arranging viewings, refreshing Rightmove like it’s a full-time job. Moving home is exhausting already. Packing everything. Finding a moving company. Calculating costs. Cleaning. Paperwork.

Then things started getting weird. A few days later, I found the SAME property relisted online. Same flat. Same photos. Same agency. Wait, so was the landlord actually ending cooperation with them? Or was that just something they told us to make the Section 21 sound less aggressive?

The strangest part is that the landlord has basically disappeared from the entire process. We tried contacting them directly because we genuinely wanted clarity. No response.

Everything goes through the agent. The agent says one thing, the property listing says another, and meanwhile we’re the ones trying to figure out whether we’re about to become homeless in one of the most expensive cities on earth.

And because the UK rental laws are changing right now, nobody seems to know anything for sure. Honestly, the whole experience has been surreal.

The funniest part? The agency suddenly became EXTREMELY friendly after we refused unrestricted viewings. Before that, everything felt cold and procedural: “Confirm access” or “Cooperate” !

The moment we started asking legal questions and asserting our quiet enjoyment rights, the tone completely changed. I guess maybe we didn’t do anything wrong. The agent is just using whatever laws still work before they disappear. And eventually they can probably make more money from a new tenancy turnover anyway. As a foreign renter, this whole process feels strangely psychological. You constantly feel like you’re one misunderstanding away from losing housing stability. And maybe the most exhausting part is this: you’re never fully sure whether people are actually following the law, or just relying on the fact that tenants don’t understand the system well enough to push back.

Anyway. I’ll keep updating this post to see what happens next.