How to rent a house in London before actually arriving in the town?

Last activity 18 August 2022 by Cynic

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olbismarkMember31 August 2009 15:05:10

Hi everyone,

I just came across this forum for foreigners who are currently living or planning to live in the UK and I have a couple of questions Id like to ask about.

We are a married couple, without children, from and currently living in Bulgaria, EU planning to move over to UK and settle down in London by the end of the year and we were wondering what the requirements/procedures would be like for us to have a house rented before we actually arrive in UK, so that we have a place to go to when arrive there.

We are interested in having things organized and settled, if possible, before our actual arrival in the town and we hope that things like rental/letting agreement, deposit, first months rentals, any additional paperwork and beyond, which might be required from us, can be arranged in advance before our arrival.

Weve spent quite a lot of time these past weeks browsing through the different real estate and property portals in the UK without much success in getting to know those things.

Also, while it is getting clear for us that there seems to be no cap on the rentals in London and one can easily see a house for letting to be priced in the £5000-10,000 range per week/month, we were really wondering what is considered to be the average or lower end rental in London, for example. Is, for instance, £1000 per month considered the lower end or it is more close to the average for London?

Wed really appreciate if someone can answer some of the questions above.

Thank you in advance for your kind assistance.

Sincerely,

S & O

myrelogenieNew member17 September 2009 07:58:48

Dear S & O

I am a relocation professional and would love to give you as much advise as possible.

My first suggestion would be that you have a visit to London to view potential apartments/houses. If you do not know London or the areas then you really do not want to be choosing something on line, unless it is through a reputable estate agent,

I would recommend a visit to London for a few days to see properties. What is great about the technology that we have today is that you can go back to Bulgaria once you have found the property that you like and everything else can be done via email/fax or phone. The first important steps are 1. referencing (the estate agent will need to reference you and your wife - employment, previous landlord, bank, personal reference)2. You will need to review a Tenancy Agreement and sign once you are happy (always ensure that it reflects what offer you placed) 3. Pay - Once you have signed you will need to pay one months rent, 6 weeks security deposit and any admin or reference fees that the agent will charge you.

If a pre-visit to London is possible then I would recommend coming 2 - 3 weeks before you would like to move permanently. I say this because landlords do not like to wait more than this for a tenant to move in and start paying rent - you want him to leap at your offer and not wait for something better to come along.

London is very expensive and will increase or decrease in price depending on the area you are looking at and the distance you are willing to travel to work or studies. Where will you be working or studying? Once I know area I can give you an average price for that area.

I hope this helps for now

Louise
myrelogenie.com

olbismarkMember17 September 2009 16:18:50

Hi Louise,

First off thank you very much for your valuable information, it's much appreciated.

Can you please give us your contact details (email will do the work best) so that we can reach out to you in case we need to. You can either post it here or if you don't want to make it public you can PM us.

Thank you in advance for your kind assistance

S & O

Soundarya DoughertyMember18 August 2022 08:14:43

Hi Guys,

We are moving to Leeds, UK in a month. Could anyone advise on how to get a house for rent there. We have a 6 year old kid and planning to stay in AirBNB for few days till we find a house

CynicUK / Netherlands Expert18 August 2022 09:24:22

7673

Hi Guys,

We are moving to Leeds, UK in a month. Could anyone advise on how to get a house for rent there. We have a 6 year old kid and planning to stay in AirBNB for few days till we find a house
- @Soundarya Dougherty

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

It depends on what you want. If it's something in the social housing market, forget it, the waiting lists in Leeds are horrendous. Private accommodation is available to rent and a website like RightMove (other similar sites are available, Google is your friend here) will help you find them; this link will take you to a search I just created for Leeds on the Rightmove site.

Air BnB have a website; this link will take you straight to it.

I hope this helps.

Cynic

Expat Team

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