Renting in London

I am looking to move out and rent a one bed flat in London around September time. London as you know is hella expensive and I am only on a Grad Scheme wage and I was wondering if you lot had any tips of where to start.

Broad question I Know!

Closest to where you going to work/study

Is renting with someone else absolutely out of the question?

If it is, then I’d say look around south-west London and possibly out to areas like Kingston.

I would say there may be a sweet spot where your combined rent + commute cost is lowest. That may well not be closest to your work place (at least it wasn’t for me).

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Not at all I’m down for a flat share

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Zoopla now has a feature where you can search by commute time…

Defo check Spare Room for flat shares! :house: Student accommodation is also a good shout as bills etc are normally included!

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If you’re happy to share, use spareroom.com or easyroommate.com

If you need to be on your own… I guess areas in the South East might be cheaper as they have less transport options. If not, try further out zones (3+).

Yeah I am not at all apposed to flat sharing , will give it a look! Cheers

Flat shares are easy to find and you can get a reasonably affordable one almost anywhere. If you have any friends in London on Facebook ask on there. I constantly see posts by friends when rooms are available. You’ll probably want zone 3 or beyond but it’s not impossible to find a good sized room at an okay price in zone 2.

What part of London are you working in? Worth considering the commute from where you are looking at.

@TomCoutts you may find you could get a better deal by buddying up on SpareRoom and then finding a flat. Friends have noticed unjustifiably high rents on SpareRoom and it appears that an incoming tenant subsidises the others.
If you go down the renting a room in an existing flatshare, try http://www.moveflat.co.uk/ - they often have some gems.

If you’re renting a flat from an agent do not be afraid to offer £25-50 a week less than the asking rent. It’s a renters market for sure. Do some homework on rightmove or zoopla to ascertain how long properties have been marketed and unlet and use that as leverage to offer a lower rent. SE16 around Canada Water has a glut of new builds, with Jubilee Line it’s convenient for town or Canary Wharf.

If you’d rather not deal with agents and who can blame you, https://www.openrent.co.uk/ is a good option. You’ll save a fair amount of cash on the frankly outrageous tenancy fees for a start. Good luck and don’t be disheartened!

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Moving flat in 2 months, Gave my 2 months notice a few days ago. I have to say Openrent is brilliant. The only fee you pay is ÂŁ20 per adult if Landlord wants an enhanced credit check done.

I would also recommend No Agent seems great for Landlords but they are good for tenants as well. They don’t advertise on their website but on Zoopla and Right Move you can see properties advertised by them with no fees.

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