Finding a place to live in London is tough. There are many decisions to be made before you even start the looking process – Where do we want to live?, Is their good transport options?, Is it a safe area? etc. The good news however is that you have plenty of choice.
When we first arrived we were jobless and limited by our arrival budget. Because we were unemployed it was easier to find share housing options. As such we moved in with a South African fellow in Putney (SW London, Zone 2). Putney is great leafy suburb and we are right next to the High St and Thames and we have three forms of transport (train, tube, bus) at our disposal. And while we have loved living here, we thought it was time to find our own place. We are getting married soon.
Last week we started looking and straight away we found a great one bedroom flat, king size bed, heaps of storage space, fully stocked kitchen, the works. It was a bit out of our price range but we put an offer in taking 20 quid off the asking price p/w and got accepted. We paid our holding deposit. Filled in reference check forms and started planning our moving date. However, yesterday the agent rung up and told us the landlady had moved one of her friends in, even after accepting us as tenants. What a punch in the guts this was for us.
We now have only 9 days before we have to move out of our existing place into another one. This means that we’ll be spending today and tomorrow frantically looking at places, hoping to find one and be accepted straight away. We don’t want to be homeless. I’m sure we’ll find an even better one now but it’s just such a hassle.
Good Luck! I’m sure you will find something over the next couple of days…
Otherwise you guys will just have to come home :)
Man that sucks! I think that you definitely have a much better option renting directly instead of flatsharing. If you’re willing to pay some rental agencies can give you a list of available properties in an area and basically have viewing rights on all of them for the day. It might be a quick way to go this weekend. Good luck!
Yeah good luck guys – keep us posted.
Yeh it’s times like these we remember how damn suckful the UK can be. John and I were quite happy you were moving nearer to us! Oh well.
Anyway if it comes down to it you are more than welcome at our place if need be. So long as you don’t mind sharing a bed with the two cats (kidding!).
I hope you guys find a suitable place soon. I guess the other one just was not meant to be.
That’s ridiculous! If that were the USA I’m sure you could sue the landlady for that!
Though J&K’s place is probably closer, you’re always welcome to come back here and crash on our couch. Hey, you could even check out Top of the Rock while you were here… :-)
Man that sux!
There is no good news yet. We spent most of yesterday finding and checking out places. None of which were spectacular or even above ok.
We have to kind of make a decision today though so we have enough time to make the paperwork go through.
Ahhh!!!! The joys.
Benji and Michelle,
My house is going to be empty from 11th Nov – 20th Nov and then my room is going to be vacant until the 5th Dec.
I would actually be really grateful if you guys could house sit (and there is storage space to keep your stuff) for at least a while, if not until 5th Dec.
Let me know if this is going to work, and we will work out the logistics.
Laura, you’re a legend! I’ve just rung Mich and Ben to let them know in case they haven’t seen your message!
Why sue when physical violence is so so much more rewarding. Looks like the rental market is the same as the propery market in the UK where gazumping is so so popular – bastards!
Chiswick.
Go West young Bender.
That’s so crap you guys. Really sorry. Meanwhile I think I have finally found a place in Cambridge after weeks of looking. It’s outside my budget, but at least it’s really nice and central (which is good, cos I’m never going to be able to afford to go anywhere … ever again …)
Hope you find a nice new place soon – with that king size bed ;)