Settled in London but now looking for new accomodation...

breadmonkey

Hi folks,

Arrived in London mid September and just about managed to get a room in a house share. It was absolutely crazy. Unless something had been first advertised within the last hour, it was already gone.

Now we're looking to move into our own one bed flat. Although we successfully found a place once, it was only the second place we viewed and I still don't really know about the pitfalls of flat hunting.

We're in a good position because we're subletting our room at the moment and can leave at two weeks notice. This gives us as much time as we need to find a good spot. So, I have a couple of questions.

1) We're thinking of looking in around Finsbury park. Anyone have any experience there? From what I've managed to find, it seems as if it's OK around Stroud Rd. but gets a bit sh*holish around Seven Sisters.

2) Letting Agents. We've no experience with them but think it might be helpful this time around to get in touch with a few. I was thinking that we'd walk around some areas and just call into any estate agencies we come across and see if they have anything in our price range. Is that how it works or will they look at me as if I've two heads if I just come in off the street?

Also, we're gonna be looking for somewhere for about £800-£900 pcm which is pretty much the bottom of the range for a one bed flat (as far as I can tell). Will most places not be interested for small ball rent like that?

3) Obviously, I'm going to be very suspicious of any too-good-to-be-true adds and the usual Western Union style scams but what would be the main things to be weary about when a) dealing with landlords directly, b) with letting agents?

4) When viewing a property, should you really look at absolutely everything in minute detail? i.e. turning on the shower, making sure the sinks drain, etc.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. Would really appreciate any info!

Fysh

In terms of price, £800-£900 for a 1-bet flat is on the low end from my experience (mostly around Kilburn, ie the boundary of zone 2 and zone 3). Mind you, I've seen a wide range of quality in 1-room flats going for the same price so the thing to do is look around a good bit to figure out what's average for the area/s you're looking at.

Letting agents are a mixed blessing - some are great, some are the devil. I've had awful dealings with a couple of them, but others have been pretty good. It's not necessarily a bad idea to go through an agency (particularly given that a majority of them will charge you a fee for their services) but be aware that some agencies will try their damnedest to get you to accept something outside of your specifications because they've got it on their books, rather than match you to something suitable.

It's a good idea to spend a few days looking through the likes of rightmove.co.uk, findaproperty.com, primelocation.com and gumtree to figure out what's current in the area/s you're looking at. Be aware that a lot of estate agencies will repeatedly re-list desirable properties that are no longer available in order to get your interest. Also be suspicious of any agency that claims to have a suitable place for you but won't give you the details ahead of meeting you to show you around the place. On the other hand, if you like the look of an agency and they seem to have a lot of properties in the area you're interested in, there's no harm in going in to talk to them (or phoning them). If they look at you funny, they don't deserve your business.

If you're dealing with an agency and you've found a place you like, you should be aware that you'll probably have to pay a holding deposit (typically of the order of one week's rent) to show that you're serious and make them refuse any other offers while your offer is discussed with the landlord. You should get a proper receipt for this. Some agencies will, if requested by the landlord, then require you to provide a reference check (eg through the likes of maras.co.uk).

After that, you'll have to pay a deposit (this should be of the order of 4-6 weeks rent - some landlords/agencies will try for more, but you should be wary of paying more than this as it's not a good sign) and your first month's rent. Make sure you've read this page before handing over your deposit. A brief summary is as follows:

• Within 14 days of paying a deposit your landlord or estate agent must tell you what deposit protection scheme they are using, and provide you with the details.
• Within 10 days of the end of your tenancy, your landlord or estate agent must tell you how much of your deposit will be returned and any justification if they are retaining part of the deposit.
• If you have paid a holding deposit and this is not returned before you pay a full deposit and sign a rental agreement, the holding deposit must be protected in the same way as the full deposit.

We've dealt with an agency who failed utterly to comply with this, but we were lucky - the landlord had held onto the deposit for themselves but returned it to us in full without having to do anything tedious like take them to court. However, you'll save yourself some heartache if you make sure that you know your rights before handing over money or signing any tenancy agreements. This goes doubly for a tenancy where you're dealing direct with the landlord.

When you're viewing a place, it is really important to check everything - check the bathroom ceiling/walls for damp, try the taps to see what the pressure's like, find out whether it's gas/electric heating, find out if the existing tenants have had television/phone services fitted. You might not think it's vital but the rental market in London is sufficiently aggressive that you should be prepared to pay a holding deposit on a place you like within 10 minutes of seeing it. This means you have to know what your deal-breakers are, and you have to be aware of what to look for that might be a problem. Your new landlord might be wonderful in terms of fixing problems that come up, but you'll be better off being able to have them specifically mentioned in the tenancy agreement and/or the initial contents list - otherwise you may end up taking the blame (and the cost) for something you haven't done.

Best of luck with the search!

breadmonkey

That's a great post Fysh, thanks a million.