impossible to get an apartment in London

freelancerTax

hi,
i just moved over to london with my girlfriend - we are currently staying with a friend in london while we look for somewhere permanent to live, heres the problem.

i have work lined up untill the end of may (i work freelance and earn good money) and written proof of this from the company i will be working for but my girlfriend is looking (no joy yet). i cant get a fupping bank account as i have no proof of address (girlfriend got a bank account as she had 2 forms of id - passport and drivers licence, i cant drive)

agents wont even entertain the idea of renting a place to us even though i have bank statements showing substantial amounts of money on the balance

it seems if you dont have a history in the uk they make it impossible to get settled. any one have any advice on how to get over this first few steps

cheers,
FT

Monkey61

Hey,

What you need to do is change the address of your Irish bank account to the address of where you are staying now then get them to post you a statement. This will take a few days as you have to do this in writing and then they will have to post something back to you (you could have done this before you moved, but never mind) - but then you will have a proof of address. BINGO.

Once you have this proof of address then you can set up a bank account immediately and then you can get a flat. Make sure you have some previous landlord references (even get your girlfriend's or your own family to write one up for you) and that is all you will need. Sorted.

amcalester

When I first moved over Lloyds TSB opened a bank account for me with just my passport as proof of id, I had no proof of address.

Maybe try them if you havent already.

You could also look at short term rentals in the mean time, have a look on gumtree or any of the flat share websites.

Best of luck.

exiledelbows

I've been living in the UK nearly 2 years and lived in 3 places and have never used an agent, they look for years of rental references and charge exorbitant fees on 'background checks'. I've got every property through gumtree and never had a problem, the private landlords hate agents as much as you do and have always left us alone once the rent hits their account every month.

Once you get a place sorted everything else gets easier, bills/council tax are transferred into your name and then the banks will be happy to have you. Good luck

freelancerTax

hi all,
thanks for reponses -
i will try lyods tsb on monday hopefully i can open an account there

@exiledelbows: is gumtree the only site like this - 99% of what is up there that is not an agency is a SCAM

tman

Stay away from agencies if at all possible... They're an absolute shower of bastards to deal with over here!
As has been said, gumtree is the place to go
I had no problems starting an account with Lloyds as well, can't remember them asking for more than a passport

Best of luck with the search, it can be very daunting!

exiledelbows

Hi Freelancer,

It's the only one I've used (granted not in London) and while you do have to sieve through a lot of crap the rewards or there. I haven't heard of any other decent websites but i'll ask my friends

Monkey61

Also to echo that Gumtree are fine - everyone uses them. It is easy to spot a scam because a flat will be advertised for far less than the going rate, so if you specify a normal price range; then it will turn up genuine ads. If it looks too good to be true; it probably is!

Also look at the ads in the windows of newsagents in the area you want to live in; there are loads of these and they are often better prices than Gumtree.

And the LLoyds website seem to say that you only need your passport, so that sounds like good luck.

freelancerTax

thanks everyone for the replies,
very helpful

i will take it all on board and report back any success!!

cheers,
FT

amazingemmet

Avoid agents like the plague in London. Too much hassle and near impossible to get your deposit back. I second gumtree, I've got places through there with no problems. Craigslist can also be ok.

pietromas

I had no such problems when I moved, and just as well, as I had no savings and no proof of income (as I hadnt started work yet obviously).

My problem was just finding a place. Eventually, out of desperation, I called into Flatland (I think thats what they are called) and they lined me up with a number of viewings that day (for £100 iirc). I took the first half decent place, and wasnt asked anything about my finances by the building manager!

Chin up. Keep trying. Keep explaining to them.

vinylbomb

A third vote for Gumtree, I used it while I was there, lived in 3 different places and never had a problem

freelancerTax

Thanks for the support!

Got a viewing on Monday morning off gumtree

then I'm off to loyds to open a ****(er) account

FT

Fysh

You should bear in mind that rentals in the UK for £25k/year or less are legally required to use a Deposit Protection Scheme; if you're taking a room in a shared house you'll probably just be taking over someone else's agreement and pay them their share of deposit, but you should ask what the situation is with the DPS. If an agency isn't talking to you about putting your deposit (typically 6 weeks rent) into a DPS program, walk away. It's also worth noting that most agencies will typically charge a fee of somewhere between £50 and £200, which may cover things like Maras background checks if the landlord has required them. (Certain agencies will require fees of up to £400, but frankly that's a bit extreme and you should probably avoid them).

watna

Wow, a 6 week deposit. Really? That sounds very prohibitive. I must remember that!

Fysh

watna wrote: »

Wow, a 6 week deposit. Really? That sounds very prohibitive. I must remember that!

It's not always the case if you're taking a room in a house share but for self-contained flats & apartments it's usually the case. Apparently it's down to landlords being concerned that the tenants will abscond in the last month of the tenancy without paying rent, leaving the landlord to cover the cost of any damage to the place. (Though the cynic in me also thinks that it may also be in part due to landlords viewing the deposit as "free" extra money on top of rent).

freelancerTax

Opened a loyds tsb account today- all I needed was a passport

saw a flat that I found on gumtree, the landlady was really understanding and resonable, pity the flat was right next to a busy underground track. but now there is hope!!

FT

freelancerTax

hi all,
just saw a nice one bed (conversion, house split into 4 apts) in harringay just off wightman road - its 200 a week

anyone know anything about this area ???

cheers,
FT