Brits, need a flat in NW London: where should I go online to apartment shop?

[Pandora II]

I've never rented so I can't help there.

DH and I will be renting our current house as soon as we complete on the new one, so I suppose I should go and find out about it.

More and more people are renting their properties out privately - but they will still want references and to interview you as well.

Trinity, where are you based in London? I'm just south of the river.

 

[gwendolyn]

Wow, thank you for all the replies and well-wishes, ladies!!

Ok, your comments have inspired a few more questions (sorry!):

Council tax: is it the norm then for the landlord to pay the tax, or the tenants, or does it just depend? Obviously if I can save £1500 a year or so, I''d like to.

References, Part Deux: Getting a letter from payroll about my job could be problematic for me because I''m in the middle of waiting for my work permit to be approved so that I can be hired by my school district. I''ve just sent the deputy head of my school an email asking her if I can get a form from payroll before the work permit is finalized (I think it''ll be a couple more weeks--cutting it REALLY close for the start of school on Sept. 1st--because I haven''t been asked to submit my passport yet even!). If they can''t verify my work status since it''s in limbo, can James just be the only person on the lease? If so, can we get that adjusted once my work permit/job status is confirmed?

Just wanted also to report that I''ve got 5 places lined up for viewing on Monday and am awaiting confirmation for a 6th! Hopefully there will be one that really works well for us to start our new life together!

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 8/6/2008 10:35:22 AM
Author: gwendolyn
Wow, thank you for all the replies and well-wishes, ladies!!

Ok, your comments have inspired a few more questions (sorry!):

Council tax: is it the norm then for the landlord to pay the tax, or the tenants, or does it just depend? Obviously if I can save £1500 a year or so, I'd like to.

References, Part Deux: Getting a letter from payroll about my job could be problematic for me because I'm in the middle of waiting for my work permit to be approved so that I can be hired by my school district. I've just sent the deputy head of my school an email asking her if I can get a form from payroll before the work permit is finalized (I think it'll be a couple more weeks--cutting it REALLY close for the start of school on Sept. 1st--because I haven't been asked to submit my passport yet even!). If they can't verify my work status since it's in limbo, can James just be the only person on the lease? If so, can we get that adjusted once my work permit/job status is confirmed?

Just wanted also to report that I've got 5 places lined up for viewing on Monday and am awaiting confirmation for a 6th! Hopefully there will be one that really works well for us to start our new life together!

Sorry, it's up to you to pay council tax (the landlord would just pass it onto you anyway)... remember to register, and to get your names on the electoral register.

It should be possible for James to be the one to supply references etc. If he's never rented before it could be more difficult - he will probably have to supply credit checks (Experian are the normal people for this) and possibly bank statements etc. You will also need to pay a deposit up front - will be at least a months rent, plus you will normally pay a month in advance.

For non-professional landlords, renting out is a risk - you are inviting strangers into your beloved and expensive property. If they don't pay on time (or not at all) you can be left having to cover two mortgages. You want to be sure that they won't call a plumber and leave you with a £100 bill because they can't be bothered to read the manual and work out how to turn on the washing machine. You want to be sure that they are a) not going to invite loads of friends over and trash the place and b) sublet the property to a load of illegal immigrants (I've seen 2 bedroom flats with 14 people living in them!!).

To avoid all the above, they want to be as sure as possible that you will pay on time, look after the place and are basically nice people who aren't going to have the neighbours complaining and the police knocking on the door every night! Hence the request for so much info...

If you go to the SE1 Forum, they have a lot of posts on renting etc which you might find helpful - different area of London, but the info will apply there too.

Have fun looking!

 

[trinity911]

Date: 8/6/2008 9:33:59 AM
Author: Pandora II

Trinity, where are you based in London? I''m just south of the river.

Hiya Pandora,

I''m in leafy West London - maybe we should think about having a mini London GTG once Gwen''s managed to find somewhere!

Gwen - my colleague put just her name on the lease altho she''s sharing with her bf cos he has bad credit history so just James'' details should suffice.

Agree that private landlords take a risk but that''s why many of them ask for 6weeks deposit as well as 1st month''s rent in advance to act as a buffer. There are usually clauses in the contract about subletting rooms (i.e. inviting lots of friends to stay for long periods of time) for which they can evict tenants so they do cover themselves. I helped my ex draw up contracts for his tenants so I''m kinda of familiar with this stuff.

The advantages of going private are
(a) not paying admin or reference check fees
(b) not paying inflated rents that are found via estate agents cos the landlord is being charged for ''management fees'', which are then passed to the tenant
(c) more leeway to ''prove'' you''re a reliable tenant at interview and
(d) as Pandora said, there are lots of properties out there cos of the credit crunch etc

Having said that, nothing wrong with estate agents, it depends on what takes your fancy!

Gwen - I take it neither you or James are studying any more? I know there''s a reduction in council tax for students...

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 8/6/2008 11:24:34 AM
Author: trinity911

Date: 8/6/2008 9:33:59 AM
Author: Pandora II

Trinity, where are you based in London? I''m just south of the river.

Hiya Pandora,

I''m in leafy West London - maybe we should think about having a mini London GTG once Gwen''s managed to find somewhere!

Gwen - my colleague put just her name on the lease altho she''s sharing with her bf cos he has bad credit history so just James'' details should suffice.

Agree that private landlords take a risk but that''s why many of them ask for 6weeks deposit as well as 1st month''s rent in advance to act as a buffer. There are usually clauses in the contract about subletting rooms (i.e. inviting lots of friends to stay for long periods of time) for which they can evict tenants so they do cover themselves. I helped my ex draw up contracts for his tenants so I''m kinda of familiar with this stuff.

The advantages of going private are
(a) not paying admin or reference check fees
(b) not paying inflated rents that are found via estate agents cos the landlord is being charged for ''management fees'', which are then passed to the tenant
(c) more leeway to ''prove'' you''re a reliable tenant at interview and
(d) as Pandora said, there are lots of properties out there cos of the credit crunch etc

Having said that, nothing wrong with estate agents, it depends on what takes your fancy!

Gwen - I take it neither you or James are studying any more? I know there''s a reduction in council tax for students...

Definitely - anyone want to come and oggle the pretties in the Earth Gallery at the Natural History Museum with me? They are amazing (and it''s free

).

We''re getting quite a bunch of Londoners on here. Yay!

 

[gwendolyn]

Oh, you guys are the best! So helpful!!

One more question about the council tax (which I did figure I would have to pay, but asked just to be sure): it is on the property, so it''s one charge for both James and I, right? Like, if we''re in tax band F (for example), and it''s listed as £1500 for the year, that''s not £1500 for me and another £1500 for James, right?

And it''s fine to take photos when we view the flats, right?

Thank you thank you again!

 

[Pandora II]

Council tax is on the property not the person, so its one charge split between the occupants.

Not sure about taking photos - we weren''t allowed to take any when we were looking to buy.

 

[trinity911]

What Pandora said about council tax. I think we''d all be homeless if it was charged individually!!

If you go through estate agents, they tend to take pics so you can go by those, otherwise you can do what FI and I did when viewing the place we bought, i.e. one us of distract the person showing us around while the other takes sneaky pics of rooms using cameraphone on pretence of ''taking another look at the space''

 

[Rhea]

I dread having to look for another place.

Fees varied a lot when we were looking. Some people want a cleaning fee at the end, others charged a ton of money for references. C hadn''t rented before and neither had I in the UK. We just asked about every little thing. I remember flat out asking them to list every fee and when it was due. Don''t afraid to ask anything and everything, it''s your flat to live in and your money to spend at the end of the day.

We couldn''t take photos. I made a list, half page per property. Address, ppcm, all fees I knew about, council band (ask the estate agent what band the property is in and then look up the current council fees on the council''s website), pros, cons, etc. It was easier to stay organized than I thought it would be. Of the 12 or so places we saw we liked 4. One was too expensive we decided, one not in the best location, and then the last two came down to practicalities - ie, we knew my parents/friends would visit from the US so a closed off living room, to be used as a 2nd bedroom was better than an open plan living area for us. We told the estate agent we wanted it on the day we viewed it.

Good luck!

 

[gwendolyn]

I just wanted to pop in and thank you all again. Your insights and experiences have been invaluable. I''ve got a nice list of properties that we are set to view on Monday. I''ve made a list of the vital info for each one (like you did, Addy) and will either take pictures (if I''m allowed) or draw crude floorplans to help remember the set up of each, in case we don''t find a clear winner.

We are off to London tomorrow to be there bright and fresh for Monday morning viewings. Yay!

 

[Rhea]

Sounds fun, good luck!

No pressure or anything but keep in mind that you probably want to make a quick decision. We booked viewing at a couple of places to take place in 48-72 hours but by the time we got there the property was gone. We also decided on a place, waited 48 hours to say we wanted it just to make sure, and it went as well.

How many places do you have lined up to see?

 

[gwendolyn]

I'm hoping none of these are gone by Monday. We've got seven lined up to see, and I booked most of the times on Wednesday, since I was hoping to go see them Friday (but one of my favourite properties wasn't available to view until Monday). They are all (with the exception of one) in the same area (South Oxhey) which is lovely and wooded and residential and not big-city feeling, which is what we want. There are a few that are good (on paper) for different reasons, so if some of them are gone by Monday (which I hope they aren't), I'm hoping we'll still have at least one option that we like and don't just take because it's the only one left. Three of them aren't technically on the market yet, apparently, so they shouldn't ALL be gone (she says as she crosses all her fingers and toes) but it is something I've definitely worried about. Not much I can do about it now, though; we're driving about 5 hours to see them and I definitely wanted this one property to be on the list, so Monday it is! We'll try to make the best of whatever options are available to us.

 

[gwendolyn]

Thought of one more question about references--if most estate agents have you go through a third party company, does this third party company require your physical presence in order to do whatever it is that they do? Like, an interview or something? James and I will only be in London tomorrow, and about half or more of the estate agents we''re using are local, and we can only just barely afford this one day in London to view properties, let alone more money to travel down there again to pay to have our references done. I''m hoping the estate agents just give us some forms to fill out that we can mail to the reference people, since that will be much easier to do from 250 miles away.

 

[trinity911]

Hey Gwen,

As far as I know, the agents liaise with your reference giver and you don''t need to be involved further. They''ll bill you for the reference check but don''t require your physical presence.

Hopes this helps. Flat hunting can be stressful, you have my sympathies! Good luck x