Thought it might be helpful to add our personal experience of finding a flat in London. We've currently been living outside Reading and commuting into London, where both my husband and I work. We started out taking a train every day, however this was quite an expensive option and our particular station had infrequent trains into Paddington.
We decided to start driving in, and began a parking renting a space in Chiswick for around 100 pounds a month. While this option is cheaper and more convenient for leaving at our leisure, it now meant we had to deal with glorious London traffic. (We even got to sit on the M4 for 2 hours after it was completely shut down last Friday!)
So we decided it was best to find a place to rent as soon as possible.
We were a little wary, as we had heard that it would be difficult to find a place that would allow cats. Though I had seen places that I really liked on rightmove.co.uk, I just assumed we would have "slim pickings" when it came to pet friendly options. We were also unsure of how much cash we would need upfront, and if our lack of credit would affect this.
We decided it was best to choose a location. We wanted to live close to the M4 (as we have a lot of friends in the Reading area), and close to our jobs. My husband works in central London, but I work near Hammersmith. We started looking around Fulham, Hammersmith, Putney, but decided we liked Chiswick best. Since we parked there everyday, it was easy to explore the area. We started calling agents about flats we saw on rightmove.co.uk and nestoria.co.uk. While many of them had already been rented out, agents would then send a list of current properties they had. We were in contact with around 5 agents/agencies. And had a day of multiple viewings with two of them.
We saw around eleven properties in total around Chiswick, and didn't have any problems finding a place that would accommodate cats.
We also found out that the price can be very negotiable. If you're looking at a flat advertised at 350/week there is a good chance you can get it for something closer to 325/week. We've heard this is because landlords are having to become more realistic in light of the present market. And while there is an increase in properties for rent on the market, there is also an increase in people looking to rent. This means making a decision on a place as soon as possible. We saw a place we liked in Chiswick, but wanted to think about it. A week later is was rented out. Remember to take Council Tax into account as well.
In the end, we actually ended up renting a two bedroom in Kew. We saw it online, but for the price and location thought it would be gone. We immediately put in an offer, and are set move in (cats in tow) on the 11th. They wanted 6 weeks for a deposit, but only the first months rent. Agency fees were around 180 pounds. All the boroughs we looked at had residential parking permits that were quiet affordable. In Kew, we only pay 40 pounds for the year and can park anywhere in the area.
