How to rent a room in London!?

MrJester

Hey. I'm trying to find a new place to live in London. It feels like a nightmare, I got the place I'm at now off spare room and its crap but i needed somewhere to live, now I'm using it again and theres just so much out there to contact and literally 1% even get back in contact with you.

Is there property agents out there that let out rooms, and ARENT total morons? As the ones I used this time absolutely are, and they rip you off for the pleasure.

Help!

adamh87

Don't use estate agents in London; they're the devil's own spawn.

Ask online (Facebook, Twitter etc.) and ask at your place of work/university for rentals - it's a much better way of getting the word out. The fact these people already know you should be enough - it's always worked for me!

If you try spareroom/gumtree, be prepared to turn up with the deposit (or at least a cheque book) and if it seems kosher, go for it. The rental market moves incredibly fast, I've moved half a dozen times in as many years in London, and have always had to make a quick decision.

Remember there is an upside to renting - if you don't like it you can move out in a month!

Happy hunting

MrJester

adamh87 wrote: »

Don't use estate agents in London; they're the devil's own spawn.

Ask online (Facebook, Twitter etc.) and ask at your place of work/university for rentals - it's a much better way of getting the word out. The fact these people already know you should be enough - it's always worked for me!

If you try spareroom/gumtree, be prepared to turn up with the deposit (or at least a cheque book) and if it seems kosher, go for it. The rental market moves incredibly fast, I've moved half a dozen times in as many years in London, and have always had to make a quick decision.

Remember there is an upside to renting - if you don't like it you can move out in a month!

Happy hunting

Yeah they're just crap not worth the extras you're supposed to get like maintenance etc.

A friend at work said he was moving out of his place, but its a bit further out than I'd like to be.

It moves so fast that literally no one replies from spareroom, i bet unless i check todays listings and msg them and say ill take it there and then thats the only chance

BlaEm

I've not used it personally but a friend had some good success with "Speed Flat-mating":

http://www.speedflatmating.co.uk

Effectively people looking for a room to rent and people with a spare room meet at the same event, where you can talk to each other and see if you get on before viewing. They do the events by area, which should help if you're only finding places through friends which are too far out. There are a few event organisers / companies which do these.

Again, this isn't something I can vouch for personally but I would say getting on with your housemates is so important, more so than the zone for me!

dimbo61

Try easyroommate as well

libellule69

Best put in an Ad yourself in Gumtree or Spare Room. You can specify exactly what you want and where. I am a landlady and I have always had really good tenants that way. It's a headache, I know but there are good places out there.

Good luck!

Cissi

JoeJester wrote: »

Yeah they're just crap not worth the extras you're supposed to get like maintenance etc. /

You do realise that LAs work for the LL, not the tenant??? And while LAs are often pretty useless, at the end of the day it's the LL who is responsible for authorising maintenance etc. Not much the LA can do if the LL isn't prepared to spend any money. But it's important to remember that you're not the LA's customer, the LL is - and you're the LL's customer, so that's who your beef is with.

You haven't replied to my question on your other thread: have you actually given notice? If not, you may find that it isn't as simple as just moving out on the last day of the current rent period. I fully appreciate that you don't want to stay in those living conditions and your LL sounds horrendous but if you don't stick by the rules it could end up costing you a lot of money! If you report the issues to Environmental Health (especially the lack of electricity) they may declare the place unfit for habitation, in which case the LL would have to provide alternative accommodation (eg a hotel) or agree to release you from the tenancy. If you simply move out they could pursue you for the rent for the remainder of the tenancy and that could get very messy (and potentially expensive for you).

gnimia

See also Moveflat.co.uk - designed for sharers in London.

MrJester

Cissi wrote: »

You do realise that LAs work for the LL, not the tenant??? And while LAs are often pretty useless, at the end of the day it's the LL who is responsible for authorising maintenance etc. Not much the LA can do if the LL isn't prepared to spend any money. But it's important to remember that you're not the LA's customer, the LL is - and you're the LL's customer, so that's who your beef is with.

You haven't replied to my question on your other thread: have you actually given notice? If not, you may find that it isn't as simple as just moving out on the last day of the current rent period. I fully appreciate that you don't want to stay in those living conditions and your LL sounds horrendous but if you don't stick by the rules it could end up costing you a lot of money! If you report the issues to Environmental Health (especially the lack of electricity) they may declare the place unfit for habitation, in which case the LL would have to provide alternative accommodation (eg a hotel) or agree to release you from the tenancy. If you simply move out they could pursue you for the rent for the remainder of the tenancy and that could get very messy (and potentially expensive for you).

That statement is counter intuitive, simply because I have absolutely zero communication with whoever the LL is. So I am the LA's customer.

Oh, yeah notice given ages ago I am due to move out on the 18th, may extend a couple weeks if I need more time to find a place. The LA is pretty flexible so it seems.
I would always stick to my agreement unless in extreme circumstance, the LA has been known to let people out of the tenancy due to the poor conditions here, example I have spoken to a previous tenant (he is still friends with a current tenant) and they agreed to end his contract because of the bad living conditions and the rat infestation. The contracts are only 3 month and then typically 1 month rolling with these guys, they know they are an in-between company and treat their tenants as such so it seems.

inatdeepend

I kid you not, when I was looking for a room to rent in London when I was working there on a 12 month contract. I was in a pub talking to my friend about what to do, saying pretty much same thing as you (spareroom full of fake and rubbish ads etc) and there was a woman sat at the table next to us with her friend.

After about 20 minutes of me and my friend talking about that and then other work things, the woman came over to me and said she was trying to let out a room but was having exactly the same problem but the other way round and would I like to go and see the room. Ended up staying 9 months (only because my contract finished early and I moved).

Random but it worked!

xylophone

Have you tried Church newsletters in the area you favour?

You can ask the editor to include your "room wanted" ad?