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Trying to find good serviced apartments in London for a month long stay
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As the title states, I'm headed to London for business for 4-5 weeks and am trying to find a decent serviced apartment to stay in for the duration. The last time I stayed in London I used a company called Bridgestreet and stayed in one of their places near the Bayswater tube station and it was very acceptable.
I've scoured the Bridgestreet site as well as GoNative and City Base Apartments but have yet to find something that's within my budget, has a washing machine (and preferably a dryer as well), and wouldn't be a horrible commute each day to our office on Great Portland Street.
Any leads or other sites to check would be greatly appreciated. I wish I could just jump on AirBNB and be done with it but my company will not allow us to book rooms through there for liability reasons.
Top Comment:
Budget?
Are modern apartments in London just as noisy as old apartments?
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Hi, I'm thinking of moving into a modern apartment. My current apartment is quite old and badly insulated. I am able to hear everything that my neighbour does, and I am pretty sure they can hear everything I do as well. I have no experience living in a modern apartment and would like to know more. To those out there who are currently living in an modern apartment, care to share your experience regarding the noise? Is it just as bad?
Top Comment: In my experience, the newer buildings are better for airborne noise (e.g. TV, music, conversation) but worse for impact noise (e.g. footfalls, hammers, doors slamming). Neighbours are the biggest factor. And sadly flats do seem to attract the weirdos who like to take every item out of every cupboard in the flat, drop it on the floor and put it back again, slamming the door after. Or drag their sofa from one end of the room to the other and back again every single evening. Or start a training regime involving stepxercise at 11pm. Yes, all of those are true stories :( An advantage the more expensive newer blocks have is that IME the concierge tends to do a better job of keeping on top of people doing ridiculous things like blasting music until 4am or filling the corridor with detritus from their eBay side business.
cool apartment staying at. Whitechapel London.
Main Post: cool apartment staying at. Whitechapel London.
Top Comment:
Cool concept, but it looks cheap and barren
Getting a cat in a London Apartment? : london
Main Post: Getting a cat in a London Apartment? : london
Which sites did you use to find an apartment, preferably in London?
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Which are some good websites to find a place in or near London?
Did you find a place before you landed in the UK, or did you stay at a hotel or Airbnb etc then find a place after you have landed?
Signing a lease before seeing the apartment is stressful but then again staying at a temporary accommodation while not being certain of getting a place is also stressful, any opinions or advice welcome! Thanks in advance
Top Comment: I mainly used a combination of Zoopla, Rightmove, and SpareRoom to find a place to live. I also just walked around in the areas I wanted to live and looked for the For Let signs and took down the number on each sign. r/London also has a wiki with resources and links to find a place to live. https://www.reddit.com/r/london/wiki/living/ Before landing in the UK I made some effort to inquire about listings I had seen on Zoopla, but quickly gave up when I realised that no one seemed to be interested in renting to someone who was not on the ground and without British bank account. So I ended up staying in a hotel for three weeks before moving into a studio I found on SpareRoom. Also just a quick note about the rental market in London at the moment, it is very competitive. Every viewing I arranged there was always a queue of people waiting to see the same flat. I decided I would start making offers the same day as the viewings and found that I still got beat out by others. I have heard stories of people offering above asking price on rent or putting down 6 months rent in advance, but have not personally been asked to do so. Letting agencies like Foxtons, KFH, or Dexters aren't super helpful. You can check out their websites and see listings that you like then inquire about these listings only to find that they have already been let and just have not been taken down from the website yet. I left my contact info and my budget, preferred locations, and needs with quite a few agencies so that they could contact me if any listings matching my parameters just entered the market so I could be the first one to know. No response whatsoever. They are very helpful in arranging a viewing on a place that is currently available, but when it comes to finding new listings it's very hard to get them to care. Again I think this goes back to the fact that there are just way too many people on the market right now and they don't need to expend any effort to get 20 people looking at each property. I know it's a lot to take in, but if you have any questions please feel free to dm me.
Questions from a foreigner about renting in London?
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I'm a 25 year old from Canada. I'm moving to London in a couple weeks, and I have some questions about renting in London. I've been seeing conflicting information online so I'm hoping i can get a little more clarity from some London residents.
Context - my role in London pays 52k annually pre-tax and I'm looking to rent in west or northwest zone 3, either a studio or 1 bedroom. I also have a couple thousand in savings but I'm hoping not to spend that.
- What monthly rate will a landlord be willing to rent to me at? I'm hoping I can get a place in the 1400-1500 monthly range. Does that seem reasonable for my salary, will a landlord be willing to rent to me at that price with my salary?
- How difficult is it to rent a flat in London? Specifically, I've seen stories in UK news about rental listings that get 50+ viewings. However, when I look on rightmove, Zoopla, and open rent, I'm seeing flats that have been listed for 2 or 3+ weeks, and some even that have had price reductions.
- How common is it for potential tenants to offer above the monthly asking price or to offer to pay multiple months up-front? Here in Canada, and especially in Toronto, it's very common in the rental market. Is this something that is also common or expected in the London rental market?
- Is there anything else I should know about renting in London? Any tips of tricks?
Thanks!
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How to get an apartment in London quick?
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Hi everyone! My partner and I are moving this week to London (visas all sorted and ready to go)!
From what I’ve learned about the London housing market, I know it’s super competitive and can take weeks to get an apartment. I know a healthy dose of luck would be involved, but we really want to do everything we can to get an apartment quick.
This is our current plan: -Once in London, wake up at 6am and look at all of the website (Zoopla, OpenRent, Rightmove) and call for viewings -We were also thinking of opening a Wise account as soon as we arrive in London and start transferring 6 months rent (based on our max budget) asap just in case we find something and need to secure it quick.
Is there anything we can do to be more competitive? Are there any other bargaining chips we can offer other than 6 months rent up front or bidding higher on rent? We have no UK credit
Top Comment: Open the wise acct now, no point in waiting. Its a numbers game, ask to view anything remotely nice, do it as soon as its posted. Offer to pay 6-12 months up front and make that clear. Helps to have at least one job nailed down first. Also, if you have a US Amex, do the global transfer as soon as you have an address and start your job to start your credit file.
I've never had this much trouble finding an apartment in London. I might just move away.
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Just some commiseration.
I've lived here five years, and moved flats about 5 times. I'm moving again, and I've never had nearly this much trouble finding a place. I've sent dozens of messages since mid-August and only had one response to set up a viewing - we'll see if that even goes through.
There's been a housing crisis here for years, it seems (where doesn't have a housing crisis?) but this is just insane. It seems like everybody who posts a flat gets hundreds of messages in a matter of hours. It's just too much for anybody to manage, let alone read. You'd have to auto-decline like 80% of them to even stay on top of it.
I have to move out in a few weeks and it really looks like I won't find a place to live. I can probably find a sublet for an exorbitant price to bide more time, but that doesn't guarantee I'll find a longer-term place.
It honestly feels antagonistic, like I'm being squeezed out. I don't know what I could do differently. I'm honestly convinced that this city is not worth the cost. This process is forcing me to confront the question: what am I even doing here? Why am I trying so hard to find an apartment here? Do I even want to be here at all?
I don't think I do anymore. It's just not worth it. This really feels like a city in decline. Over the years I've lived here I've become jaded and bitter about it. I'm so sick and tired of going to pubs, of dreary beige weather, of having to plan social events weeks in advance, of nobody talking to strangers, of dating apps, of ugly buildings, of "catching up" with acquaintances every 3-6 months because we never see each other since we live in different zones, of paying so much for transportation, of having to choose between a social life and a savings account, of it being cold for 80% of the year, of barely seeing the sun.
I think next Spring I'm out of here. I just need to save up some money first, then I'm gone.
Top Comment: Sometimes in life you just have to close one chapter and start another. Sounds like its time for a new chapter for you.
Central London rental prices - Are some of these apartments just sitting empty?
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I'm looking to eventually move to central london as my salary has gradually risen as has my partners. I think combined we are very well off, but some of the prices for 2bed1bath apartments in central are still way too expensive for us. I'm seeing these apartments go for 5k+ and just wondering if some of these apartments are sitting empty? Have they been bought up by foreign investment to pad portfolios? Are there really that many people out there paying this much?
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