Housing Benefit in London

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Good luck in your search. I fear you may be limiting yourself by focussing on Southwark. I would seriously consider Croydon as it is still quite cheap, ethnically diverse and has excellent transport connections- 15 mins to Victoria and London Bridge with quite regular trains. It's not pretty or trendy, but safer than it used to be and could be a sensible place to start out.

Comstock

Plenty of sub £100 houseshares in London...houseshares in the capital are 'only' about 50% dearer than elsewhere- it's when you get to flats and houses you start to get rents 2, 3 and more times those in the rest of the country.


IME the biggest problem will be finding a landlord who accepts DSS.

BitterAndTwisted

It appears that our young OP has some savings so I believe the LHA issue might be a safety fall-back plan in case he can't find employment quickly. For his sake, I hope he has the equivalent of three month's rent in advance and one month as deposit plus at least enough for two month's-worth of food and fares as an absolute minimum in case he needs to work a month in hand. I make that about 2.5k

PasturesNew

Maybe the OP could investigate staying in a YHA cheaply to look around at rooms, easier to find/bag a room if you're there.

Maybe travel uber-light on possessions and stay in a YHA for a week to look. Pound the streets, get local papers etc.

It's not easy moving to another area, when I did it I found often agents weren't answering their phones or couldn't do a viewing for 2 weeks, or at all. So many properties advertised before the tenants have left so it's not always possible to go and see them.

Also, it is expensive, with credit checks, deposits, etc to move anywhere that's away from your parents' home. Once you're in somewhere, moving on becomes another juggling act involving more cash.

Entertainer

You should try Peckham/ Nunhead. As others have said, it is cheaper than Camberwell and only ten minutes on the train to London Bridge. It's a very afro caribean area so it will fit the bill for you. There are plenty of facilities there as well with the sports centre etc.

BitterAndTwisted

PN: even a YHA room in Central London could cost £20 per night which is a lot more expensive than kipping on a mate's sofa while you're looking for a flat or house-share

Big_Poppa_2

Some good replies here. Cheers all.

Well I rang up today and had a good talk with the agency in question, got a viewing on Monday. Explained my situation n that, and seemed to be ok with it. Said I might need one or two months rent up front aswell as the deposit. I'm anticipating 2 or 3 mind. Which is still ok. I have no idea if i would be eligable to claim HB during the 2 or 3 months I'd have already payed, I hope so, i'll ask the council. but my aim is just to get the place first before I worry about that. I just want to get down there. 3 months rent is the Limit I will pay upfront for anywhere though, if they insist on more I'll be walking away. Looking good anyway. Gonna try and get a verbal agreement on the Let and my Upfront price on Monday. Easily be the best thing that's ever happened to me if I manage this. Exciting times. Just wish I'd done this when i was 21. Wasted my time here, which is the worst feeling in the world.

BitterAndTwisted

Why are you going through an agent? You don't need one for a flat or house-share. Are you considering taking on a one-bedroomed flat on your own somewhere? Bear in mind that if you do indeed go through an agent there will be additional costs for credit-searches and whatnot and the amount of rent in advance demanded can be dependent on the perceived risk the landlord might be taking. Please ensure you know exactly what the agents fees are going to be before you sign anything

Big_Poppa_2

Yeah I know there's some fees too and whatnot. It's about 75 pounds I hear. She said the Landlord would be making the decision, so it'll be down to him. To be honest I'd rather go through an agency in some aspects. For a start all the suitable places i'm finding are listed via an agency. and I'm moving from from a few hundred miles away to a place i've never lived, if i'm going to be paying a month or two in advance I'd rather not pay some private landlord who could be anyone operating on his own. Would much prefer to have a housing place in the mix too for the safety of my money and peace of mind.

I won't be signing or paying anything until I'm sure about it and i'm happy everything's agreed that's true.

My mate in Hackney got a really good 2 person flat through an agency on the high street and it seemed to work out ok he's had no problems.

tek-monkey

Funny, when I lived down south I found them the most racist people I'd ever met, barring white South Africans anyway. I've always found the north much friendlier, although I'd steer clear of places like Burnley.