Here in London, Advice on Renting

After months of shipping, and packing, and saying goodbyes, I'm happy to say that my wife and I are finally in London...phew! 

Now...the next step, finding a place to live.  I've been reading the forums, checking out Loot and Gumtree.com, and going to letting agencies. However, we have some specific criteria, and I was hoping to get some ideas, opinions, advice from the wiser and more experienced souls out there.

The situation:

Location: On the west side. My wife is going to school near the Baron's Court tube stop so we're looking around there and points west: Hammersmith, Action, Ealing, etc. We're open to other suggestions but it really needs to be near the Picadilly Line.

Budget: B/c I'll be supporting us thru the next year, we have a tight budget. Looking for something £125/week or less.

Type: Probably a studio/double studio. Ideally, we'd have a one bdrm. From the research we've done on loot and with some of the local agencies (we're in Ealing currently) this seems impossible.

Preference: We'd like to have our own place. We've given some thought to sharing because of the cost of renting. We haven't brought that much stuff over with us, but we did ship about 9 boxes of clothes, books, and furnishings, so we need a little bit of room.


So...if anyone has any advice given our specifics, please let me know. Our current plan is to keep seeing places via Loot and the various letting agencies we've signed up with (Foxtons, Rolfe East, etc.) Thanks for your help...

I think you're limiting yourself too much to Piccadilly line stuff.  Once you are more familiar with navigating the Tube, it won't seem like a big deal.  The most important thing is your budget.  Changing tube lines can be a pain but I don't think that should be the key thing you focus on.  That's JMO though.  I find the tube easy to navigate and if I found the right flat with all the things I wanted and amenities nearby, safe areas, etc. I'd not let the tube line be the reason I don't take it.

Unless its the Northern line... nothing could make me live along that!

I agree don't stick to the Piccadilly line station areas.  I would try Kilburn/Westbourne Park area which has good tube and bus connections. Kilburn in particular has some cheap flats. On your tight budget I would definitely consider a flatshare, it will cut your bills as well as your rent. Stay away from Letting Agents (sorry letting agents!) if you can as they charge you all kinds of fees which a private landlord won't and definitely stay away from Foxton's - there's been loads in the media about their unscrupulous practices in the last few years.

Try www.upmystreet.com to get a sense of areas.

Hi,

Location: On the west side. My wife is going to school near the Baron's Court tube stop so we're looking around there and points west: Hammersmith, Action, Ealing, etc. We're open to other suggestions but it really needs to be near the Picadilly Line.

Like the others suggest, I wouldn't limit yourself to the Picadilly Line.  The District Line goes to all the places you listed, and switching Tube trains is easy once you get the lay of the land.

Budget: B/c I'll be supporting us thru the next year, we have a tight budget. Looking for something £125/week or less.

I think this is pretty ambitious.  To give you an idea, my girlfriend and I have a one bedroom apartment in Finsbury Park - a neighborhood that, when mentioned, makes many Londoners make a face and say "Really?" - and we're paying nearly £250/week.  While it's probably not outside the realm of possibility, I think £125/week is unrealistic for anything decent that you're not sharing.

good luck,
Carl

You'd be hard pressed to get a decent 1 bedroom flat in Cambridge for 125/week.  You could get a room in a shared house though.

Get on rightmove.com and look in zone 3 as that may be the only area you'll find that price level...and Kilburn is no longer really cheap as it's now one of those up & coming places...dollis hill might be possible.

I, like others, seriously doubt you're going to find much for £125/week.  That's a very unrealistic budget for property in the western half of London.  That price would be very do-able for a house/flat-share (even with just 1 other couple), but definitely not for a stand-alone property.  I just asked my estate agent-husband who has worked ALL over London and he quipped the only place you would find prices like that are in Canning Town :p (East London).

Also: stay away from agents, as they will eat up your budget quickly via fees like admin charges, credit checks, etc.

(P.S. A quick search found some tiny places in Hanwell, Brent Cross, and West Ealing, but they were all SINGLES, tiny and not especially close to train/Tube links)

Location - west London is good, but look at District line as well as the Picc.  SOmewhere like Hammersmith is great for transport, and your wife may find that she could get a bus to school which would really cut costs.

As for getting a flat, you are really limiting yourself.  You will almost certainly find that for £125 per week you will get a pretty crappy studio, or you could get a really nice room in a shared house, with more room for your stuff.

I don't agree that you should stay away from all agents - the good ones take only credit check fees of about £70 - but for a house share you are better on Gumtree.  For a flat for that price, I would say Foxtons are unlikely to be able to help.

Vicky

Thanks all. We've been looking at flatshares.