House/flat renting help and/or advice in London?

[Beate]

I am afraid you won't be qualifying for housing benefit if you have an income but there are some good websites out there dealing with benefits and what people are entitled to in general, I will try to look them up for you.

I would advise generally to not spend much more than a third of your income on accommodation although that can be hard to do. I think you will have to share with a flatmate. It makes it much more affordable but can be full of pitfalls depending on who you share with. Even the tiniest studio will cost you more than £100/week I'd say.

[canadian_turtle]

I am afraid you won't be qualifying for housing benefit if you have an income but there are some good websites out there dealing with benefits and what people are entitled to in general, I will try to look them up for you.

I would advise generally to not spend much more than a third of your income on accommodation although that can be hard to do. I think you will have to share with a flatmate. It makes it much more affordable but can be full of pitfalls depending on who you share with. Even the tiniest studio will cost you more than £100/week I'd say.

I just rent a bedroom right now and spent more than a third already! Though admittedly it includes all my bills. I was hoping to find something for no more than £700 a month including bills, but then I don't know how high those roughly will be in the UK.

Thanks, if you'd be able to look up those websites I appreciate it. When I originally came here in June 2010 I was told by the job center I didn't qualify for job benefits as I had to have worked in the UK for at least 3 months. 9 months of struggling to get by on my savings later I get told that wasn't the case at all and I could've gotten support!! But they wouldn't give me anything backdated and coincedentally that same week I found a permanent job so int he end I didn't get anything at all but had seen all my savings go down the drain (and I had lived, and still live, very soberly not spending money on going out every week or anything that isn't necessary really). So I really want to prevent that from happening again and get what I am entitled to.

[Celini]

You will definitely have to share I am afraid. There is several website specialised in "Find a flatmates", my cousin and a friend both used them and found some decent people/rooms.

they used mainly "easyroomate" and "spare-room"

[Beate]

Councils here are incredibly difficult to deal with sometimes. I came here to study and when that year was over and I had a degree I started looking for work - it only took me a month but I went to the job centre to sign on and was originally also told I could not claim for anything - until the lady talking to me was corrected by a colleague or supervisor who set up jobseeker's allowance for me. A month later it was then incredibly difficult to stop the cheques coming, I kept receiving and sending them back! I think they are either overworked or understaffed (and often enough a bit stupid as well, ahem).

[canadian_turtle]

You will definitely have to share I am afraid. There is several website specialised in "Find a flatmates", my cousin and a friend both used them and found some decent people/rooms.

they used mainly "easyroomate" and "spare-room"

Thanks! I have been browing spareroom this afternoon but have seen mostly flatshares for 3, 4 or more people! Kind of ridiculous I think. Many of the 2 bedroom houses that I've come across that I liked are £900-£1000 a month, perfect if I had one other person to share the cost with. So I am not sure why so many seem to share with 3 or 4 :/

I will have a look on easyroom though!

[Kaybeelon]

I don't want to scare you but be aware that there are also scams.

Don't send anyone any money whatever they promise you until you have seen the property and have a contract and a key ... Especially when something sounds (and looks on the photographs) too good to be true, it probably is. When I was flat hunting last year I came across 2 flats in "good" areas (Camden and Kentish Town) on Gumtree with amazingly low rents. In both cases the alleged landlords were not based in London (one in the North of England and one in the US for "work reasons") seemed very friendly and helpful and more interested in good tenants than in a lot of money. They did everything by e-mail and asked for a deposit before you could even see the place. They didn't even give the exact address. Something sounded fishy and I googled the text of their adverts only to find that several people had already fallen for exactly the same text (word for word) in different places, pa*d a deposit, and never heard from the "landlords" again - obvioulsy a scam.

Something that happened in the flat above ours a couple of years ago was that a guy posed as an estate agent with the landlady (I don't know how she fell for that) and with a number of potential tenants. He advertised the rent as roughly half of what the owner was really asking. That sounded like a real bargain and the police who asked us to describe him said it seems that within a few days several people pa*d him a deposit (he promised them the flat) and on the first of the month we had several dissappointed people standing infront of the house wanting to move in ...

I am sure most landlords are genuine, but as I had never heard anything like that on the continent I was quite shocked when I came across it here.

Good luck!

[Beate]

The more people you share with the cheaper it gets and the better accommodation you can afford. There is a big flat on the river opposite us, it has a lovely big roof terrace and there are at least 6 young people living in it - that's the only way they can afford it I am sure. I am quite jealous of the place but not jealous about sharing with them all!

[Celini]

So I am not sure why so many seem to share with 3 or 4 :/

because the more people share, the more affordable the rent is...

I remember when my cousin was looking for a room, I went with her to her first "interview" (yeah, about that, be prepared to be questioned by the potential flatmates... you basically don't chose whether you like the room and the flatmates... they will decide which one of the dozens of applicants they prefer!), and there was 6 flatmates to share with!!! I guess it's fine when you are young and/or still students... I just couldn't cope with so many people!

[canadian_turtle]

I don't want to scare you but be aware that there are also scams.

Don't send anyone any money whatever they promise you until you have seen the property and have a contract and a key ... Especially when something sounds (and looks on the photographs) too good to be true, it probably is. When I was flat hunting last year I came across 2 flats in "good" areas (Camden and Kentish Town) on Gumtree with amazingly low rents. In both cases the alleged landlords were not based in London (one in the North of England and one in the US for "work reasons") seemed very friendly and helpful and more interested in good tenants than in a lot of money. They did everything by e-mail and asked for a deposit before you could even see the place. They didn't even give the exact address. Something sounded fishy and I googled the text of their adverts only to find that several people had already fallen for exactly the same text (word for word) in different places, pa*d a deposit, and never heard from the "landlords" again - obvioulsy a scam.

Something that happened in the flat above ours a couple of years ago was that a guy posed as an estate agent with the landlady (I don't know how she fell for that) and with a number of potential tenants. He advertised the rent as roughly half of what the owner was really asking. That sounded like a real bargain and the police who asked us to describe him said it seems that within a few days several people pa*d him a deposit (he promised them the flat) and on the first of the month we had several dissappointed people standing infront of the house wanting to move in ...

I am sure most landlords are genuine, but as I had never heard anything like that on the continent I was quite shocked when I came across it here.

Good luck!

Thanks for the warning, that sound like an absolute horror story! I am really cautious with everything I do and definitely wouldn't give anyone any money until I've seen the place and have everything in writing. Furthermore for my work in Australia I helped backpackers find long term accommodation and have heard a lot of the scams in the book so I hope that prepared me enough to not fall for anything myself *crosses fingers*

[canadian_turtle]

So I am not sure why so many seem to share with 3 or 4 :/
because the more people share, the more affordable the rent is...

I remember when my cousin was looking for a room, I went with her to her first "interview" (yeah, about that, be prepared to be questioned by the potential flatmate... you basically don't chose whether you like the room and the flatmates... they will decide which one of the dozens of applicants they prefer!), and there was 6 flatmates to share with!!! I guess it's find when you are young and/or still students... I just couldn't cope with so many people!

That's the problem I'm encountering. My rent doesn't have to be £300 if that means sharing with 4 people, I'm perfectly fine p*ying double and sharing with one. But I assume that people who share a house/flat between two are either partners or long term friends that went house hunting together. It's tough when you're just on your own looking for something (more so, as you say, the decision isn't even yours). I figured a tiny place just to myself would be easier to find - but reading all the advice so far, I guess not. I really do wonder how other professionals that are no longer in the student age category yet are single do it, surely people don't share a flat with 4 others when they're in their 40ties?