u/devUmair

I am in a bit of a pickle and honestly don’t know what to do anymore. I’d really appreciate any advice.
A bit of background: my wife and I have been looking for a house or flat to rent in Bristol for the last six months. We’ve attended over 30 viewings but haven’t been offered a tenancy anywhere.
Last year, I was a student here in Bristol and managed to secure a one-bedroom flat, where we are still living. However, we now need a two-bedroom property, and despite applying for several, we haven’t been successful.
I’m currently on a two-year Graduate visa, which allows me to work full-time as well as being self-employed. I mainly work on a self-employed basis because I have a disability that makes conventional employment and regular commuting very difficult for me. I have kidney failure and need dialysis every other day for around four hours. I do this at home using a dialysis machine provided by the NHS. The installation is relatively simple, similar to a washing machine, and only requires a water supply and waste line, which are installed by NHS technicians.
Both my wife and I are working, and we also have guarantors available for each tenant. Our combined income, including our guarantors’ income, is over £160,000. We have no adverse credit history and can comfortably afford the properties we are looking at, which are generally around £1,300–£1,400 per month.
Despite this, every time we submit an application, we are told that the landlord has decided to go with another applicant. On a couple of occasions, landlords have even withdrawn from our application after we had already paid a holding deposit.
The main reason we need to move is because I would like to switch to overnight dialysis while I sleep. This would significantly improve my daily routine and quality of life, but it is only practical if we have a two-bedroom property, as we need the additional space for the dialysis machine, equipment and supplies.
After more than 30 viewings over six months, I’m struggling to understand what else we can do to improve our chances of securing a tenancy. We can provide proof of income, references, guarantors and evidence of our good rental and credit history.
Has anyone been in a similar situation, particularly when renting with a disability? Is there anything else we could do to make our application more attractive to landlords or letting agents?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

We viewed a house that we really liked and informed the letting agent that we wanted to proceed with renting it. They agreed and asked us to pay a holding deposit of one week’s rent (£311) and submit our applications. We did so and also provided a guarantor for each applicant.
However, unexpectedly, they later informed us that the landlord had withdrawn from our application and had re-advertised the property on the market. I accepted their decision and simply requested that our holding deposit be refunded. They confirmed that it would be returned.
It has now been two weeks, and I have neither received the holding deposit nor heard anything from the agency. I have sent them a couple of reminders, but they have not responded at all.

During the application process, the only request I made was for permission to install a home dialysis machine, which is a life-saving medical device. It operates similarly to a washing machine and only requires a temporary water supply line and waste line. The installation does not cause any damage or permanent alterations to the property, as everything can be removed when the tenancy ends.
Is there any way I can recover my holding deposit? As far as I am am aware, we provided accurate information throughout the application and did nothing that would invalidate it or justify the agency retaining the holding deposit.

We have been offered the viewing of a place in Bristol and then the agency asked for holding deposit. We provided them with 2 UK based guarantors as well as holding deposit. After about 7 days the agent says that they withdrew our application and the house is listed on the same price again. They didn’t give us any reason or anything although we have no bad financial history or any bad reference from anywhere.