Renting in London. Advice please

NOWSE

Help and advice would be much appreciated in relation to my daughter's situation regarding renting a flat in London. We live in Lancashire and have no experience in this.

Two days ago she was offered her first job after graduating. The job is in WC1 and, as we have no contacts in London, she needs to find accommodation in the area. She spent yesterday fruitlessly searching for a flat. It seems as though some letting agencies advertise properties that they don't have, merely as a "come on" to get people in. They then either say that all that they've got is either for a much higher rent or that they require a search fee to be paid before they can help. My daughter's euphoria at getting the job has given way to a feeling of being dispirited at ever finding somewhere suitable to live. My wife and I have been searching the web on her behalf, but feel we are going into it blind as we have no idea of the bone fide or reputation of the companies.

My daughter tells us that her ideal area would be N1(Camden) but she may have to re-assess this. She has a budget of £600 per month.

SerenaGoode

NOWSE wrote: »

My wife and I have been searching the web on her behalf, but feel we are going into it blind as we have no idea of the bone fide or reputation of the companies.

My daughter tells us that her ideal area would be N1(Camden) but she may have to re-assess this. She has a budget of £600 per month.

You could try gumtree.co.uk. For £600 per month her best bet may be to go for a shared house, which can also work well as you maybe meet a few people that way.

Camden isn't the cheapest, she might want to look slightly further out. Areas such as Tufnell Park, Archway, Finsbury Park, East Finchley might be worth including in the search area.

Agencies often are complete rubbish. the direct approach may be preferable. If there's anyone she could stay with for a week or so it will be much easier to search from London than from a distance.

do_it_today!

Hi :hello:
I agree with op re. looking at house share options for a number of reasons...

1) budget - more likely to find a place in that price range
2) meeting new friends and to find her way around
3) The house is already set up and she wouldnt have the stress of sorting things out
4) if for whatever reason its not suitable she wont be tied to staying there for 6 months

Gumtree is good for posting wanted ads aswell as searching accommodation she might also want to check out the loot too

good luck

Generali

I'd try Gumtree too. There're loads of flatshares in London, almost none of which are north of £150/week.

http://www.gumtree.com/london/2478_1.html

There's a 'Wanted' section too so she could think about putting an ad in there. Avoids LAs, they're mostly parasites.

neilp

I would second all of that, but add that she would be likely to get more for her money in south London than north. I lived in Brockley in SE London for a year. It was a great area, with very good transport links, and rents were significantly lower than friends and colleagues in areas like Camden were paying. I would probably second advice about looking for a shared place, though she may find a studio in a less desirable and/or popular area in her price range.

One other piece of advice, as someone who moved to London with no idea what living there was like is to be sure to budget for commuting costs and time. Particularly if she rents a place that is close to the top of her price range, I would recommend trying to be on a good bus route to work. Using buses saves a fortune, and I personally find them far more agreeable than the tube.

Hope this helps - it is REALLY tough to move to London, especially with no previous experience of living there. I would be happy to offer any other suggestions I can.

firesidemaid

when i used to live in london i used loot for both house-share and renting flats.

i too used to work in paddington and live in brockly/ladywell. if you live near good transport links then it can be easy.

then i moved to kensal rise (from own flat to a share) and just had a zone 2 annual pass - much cheaper and because it was an annual/gold card i got money off other train fares too.

has she tried asking the company she will be working for if they have an internal 'for rent etc' board?

good luck x

PasturesNew

It is always easier to look when you're in the area.

It might be worthwhile contacting the employer to see if the other staff know of anybody who would be prepared to rent her a room for 2-3 months max as a lodger while she sorts it out at her leisure.

beingjdc

I had a nightmare finding anywhere when I first moved to London, online at least. I eventually found a flat by walking past an agents and seeing it in the window, viewing it on the spot.

It was a not-very-nice one-bed flat, but sadly they are now around £720 a month, so if she can stretch to that it's near Canada Water, which has a bus to Holborn or a pretty good tube service on the Jubilee line, so I guess change at Waterloo for the WC1 area, or get off at Green park and walk up. Here's one next door.

http://www.hollandproperties.co.uk/site/go/viewParticulars?propertyID=39423

You won't get a 1-bed flat to yourself near London for much less than that, sadly. N1 (and Finsbury Park etc) do have a lot of decent sized studios which may come close to the budget, but I agree with previous posters, you're best off starting out by sharing. Does she really not know anyone else from University who has ended up in London? A lot of people seem to drift here!

DrFluffy

Watch post code searching. N1 is not Camden as in Camden town... Most of N1 is Islington - not Camden (two different boroughs), includes Angel, Canonbury, De Beauvoir Town (iick!)[SIZE=-1], [/SIZE]north Dalston and the edges of the East End...

DrFluffy

This might be useful - It's a student page (University of London), but links to reputable agents etc (left hand navigation bar): http://housing.london.ac.uk/cms/area-guide/top-ten-postcodes/n1.html

beingjdc

DrFluffy wrote: »

Watch post code searching. N1 is not Camden as in Camden town... Most of N1 is Islington - not Camden (two different boroughs), includes Angel, Canonbury, De Beauvoir Town (iick!)[SIZE=-1], [/SIZE]north Dalston and the edges of the East End...

Yes, google 'London Postcode Map'. Kentish Town is another place that's good for studios and in the Camden area, and it's NW5 I think.