# Apartment Rental Help London



## herschey (Jun 2, 2010)

Hi all,

My wife and I are relocating to London next week. We've arranged short term accommodation but will start looking for long term as soon as we arrive. We are looking to rent and wanted to know if typically rentals are done through brokers/agents, and if so, would we need to pay a fee.

We spoke to one broker who wanted to charge a retainer fee, plus £2000 per person, which seemed excessive.

Would love advice on this.

Also, we're looking mainly at SW London (Fulham/Putney) so if anyone has advice on brokers or finding apartments there please let me know.

Thanks!


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## US-UK (May 11, 2010)

I've been looking primarily on primelocation.com. Unfortunately there is a lot of inconsistency with the listings in terms of pictures provided and other details. Some have floor plans, but many do not. Also, when using the contact button on that listing to reach out to the letting agents, they never reply. Even when contacting some agents directly, they don't give back any information and the info they have provided isn't what I was looking for anyway. 

I know that probably doesn't really help all that much, but having made a trip out there last month to start looking at places, I have much better context in what I'm looking at online. 

That being said, I'd recommend getting in touch with many agencies and tell them what you're looking for. They should be able to send you some listings via email.


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## herschey (Jun 2, 2010)

US-UK said:


> I've been looking primarily on primelocation.com. Unfortunately there is a lot of inconsistency with the listings in terms of pictures provided and other details. Some have floor plans, but many do not. Also, when using the contact button on that listing to reach out to the letting agents, they never reply. Even when contacting some agents directly, they don't give back any information and the info they have provided isn't what I was looking for anyway.
> 
> I know that probably doesn't really help all that much, but having made a trip out there last month to start looking at places, I have much better context in what I'm looking at online.
> 
> That being said, I'd recommend getting in touch with many agencies and tell them what you're looking for. They should be able to send you some listings via email.


Thanks for the insight. Are the agents going to charge you a fee for finding an apartment? I had been told be someone the owners pay the fee not the renters, but one agent we spoke to wanted to charge a rather high fee. Thanks


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## MR2Tony (Sep 16, 2010)

herschey said:


> Thanks for the insight. Are the agents going to charge you a fee for finding an apartment? I had been told be someone the owners pay the fee not the renters, but one agent we spoke to wanted to charge a rather high fee. Thanks


I also was shocked that the renter had to pay the outlandish fee, but that's how it is in London. I was told that my company subsidizes this fee and I would end up still paying 500-700 pounds. So I'm just going to hopefully find something on my own. It's tough to do, though. My company, a big multinational news firm, recommended:

gumtree
findaproperty
rightmove
craigslist 

Beware of scams. I was told the scams are usually apparent because the `landlord' can never meet but insists on you sending a down payment to hold the place until they can meet `in a day or two' or some such thing.


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## dextersp1 (Sep 10, 2010)

herschey said:


> Thanks for the insight. Are the agents going to charge you a fee for finding an apartment? I had been told be someone the owners pay the fee not the renters, but one agent we spoke to wanted to charge a rather high fee. Thanks


Are you sure that is an estate agent and not a relocation company/agent? I moved to London years ago (not there now) and my company paid for a relocation company.


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## MR2Tony (Sep 16, 2010)

So I've emailed about a dozne places and got ZERO responses. None at all.

WTF? I have money to spend and they dont want it??? Grrrr ...


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## US-UK (May 11, 2010)

I'll shoot an email out to the relocation company and ask them about that. The advantage I guess is that they're my proxy in this regard so if I get no responses from these letting agencies, I think they start working on my behalf. But my situation is a little different of course. I'll see if anyone can use them and perhaps put you in touch with them.

It's Crown Relocation in this case.


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## lng (Sep 24, 2010)

I've lived in London for 3 years, always rented through an agent and never paid any fees. Also when I moved here my company hired a broker who took me around London and showed me properties for 2 days, but she didn't know the areas I was interested in and ignored most of my specifications. So I wasted 2 days of my life and I ended up finding a place myself. Of course this is just my experience and you could have a useful broker.
My advice, since you have temporary accomodation, wait until you're here and then go see some agents in the area where you want to live. Doing this I got decent but not premium service. A couple of names off the top of my head: Chard, Carter Jonas, Foxtons (very aggressive) etc... Or you can try gumtree, craiglist or other listing sites and get in touch directly with the landlord of the property you like.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Hello out there,

I think you are now experiencing, customer service, England style!!!!!!

Here is a link that may help, UK's number one property website for properties for sale and to rent

Good luck,

Hepa


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## uluvbs (Jan 31, 2009)

Do not pay the fee unless it's with a relocation specialist (i.e., someone who is not currently working as an estate agent). Typically, though, these fees are paid by the company relocating you, but maybe that doesn't apply here? Either way, 2K GBP per person sounds quite excessive. 

My advice is you absolutely DO have to chase the estate agents here (unlike in the US), but do not pay them a fee - ever. It takes a lot of work to find a nice apartment, so I would find out the major estate agents who cover that territory and call them every few days, being as specific as possible about what you are looking for.


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## MR2Tony (Sep 16, 2010)

FYI after a week here I'm still trying to find a decent place. The flats here are mostly in old houses and the accommodations are what we're used to in the U.S., I don't think. The nicer places are too expensive and the cheaper places are, well, cheap. I've been to at least two flats a day to try to find one I like in a 'hood I like with the amenities I like. It's not easy over here and you have to be patient, and you MUST lower your standards. Sad to say, but very true! Even my British colleagues are saying `Yes well you Yanks are so used to American standards, and these are UK standards.'


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## sageeyes (Oct 7, 2010)

Tony, I am in the same boat as you, currently, and my advice is never email the agency and expect a response. If the listing on findaproperty or primelocation tells you who is the agency, do a quick google search and then call them straight away. if one agent has a bunch of listings you like, physically go see them. that has been working the best for me to reach a human being and get information, schedule viewings etc...

don't give up hope. we'll find something eventually!


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## MR2Tony (Sep 16, 2010)

sageeyes said:


> Tony, I am in the same boat as you, currently, and my advice is never email the agency and expect a response. If the listing on findaproperty or primelocation tells you who is the agency, do a quick google search and then call them straight away. if one agent has a bunch of listings you like, physically go see them. that has been working the best for me to reach a human being and get information, schedule viewings etc...
> 
> don't give up hope. we'll find something eventually!


Yeah I talked to an agent here who's called all his cohorts around the city so I've been going all over creation to find something. I got some good advice -- choose a neighborhood to narrow it down, then find something. London's too big to just look everywhere! 

Where are you looking? Do you have a price range? How many bedrooms?


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## US-UK (May 11, 2010)

What areas are you looking in? The first day I had looked at places, it was the same thing. This was around St Johns Wood, West Hampstead and the like. The second day was better; Parsons Green, Putney, Fulham, etc.

My next day is going to take me to Greenwich. 

Needless to say, in my experience anyway, there are too many areas to look so I wouldn't get discouraged right away.


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