Finding a house / flat in London

Okay. So you’re sick of living on your mate’s floor and there’s some tension going on in the house. It’s really time for you guys to move on and there is a lot of ways you can do this. So let’s go and explore the options and just give you a bit of an idea of what you’re looking at, how much you’re going to spend and the trap you should definitely look out for.

So there’s a few ways you guys can look for accommodations. There’s Lute, a newspaper that comes out everyday, there’s TNT or there’s Gum Tree, www.gumtree.com. Now this is the most popular way that everyone in London looks for a house. So come into the internet café, log on, and check out Gum Tree. Now Gum Tree does a load of other things other than accommodations. You can buy stuff, sell stuff, chat to people and look for jobs as well but as I said, main reason is accommodation. Alright, now before you click onto Gum Tree, check TNT or Lute. There are a few things you need to look out for when you’re reading an ad and to decide. Now the number one thing obviously is going to be rent. How much of your hard earned pounds are you going to give away? Now the average for zone 2 is probably about 80, 90, 100 pounds per week. That’s pretty good. Now you can decide to live in zone one or zone two. You’re going to pay a hell of a lot more money in rent but theoretically less in transport. Otherwise you can live in 3, 4 or 5 and pay so much more less in rent but more in transport. It’s up to you. Saturday nights not so fun if you’re in Soho and you want to get all the way back home to zone 3, zone 4.  Yeah high. 70 dollar cab ride.

Anyway, so once you’ve decided what zone you want to live in, there are a few things you need to look at in the ad. Now bills are they inclusive or not? Because you don’t want to be paying some extra fee at the end of the month you didn’t know about. Council tax.  Now council tax is the tax you pay your council for that area and they make things look pretty and keep streets clean. Can’t escape it. Everyone has to pay it. It’s crap but you’ve got to do it. Depends on what area you live in as to how much you pay so just make sure you check that out.  Then just see things like how many bathrooms are in the house? How many bedrooms? TV? Washing machine? Dishwasher? Skies always a good thing. Just things that are going to make your stay in London a little more comfy. So once you’ve figured it out, you’ve found a few ads, write down the contact details, grab your adezeb and start walking the streets.

You’ve finally found a house you are willing to go and check out. Now there are a few things you need to look into before you even say yes. Number one shower pressure. Shower pressure in London is shot so make sure you go into the bathroom, turn the tap and check you’ve got a good pressure because you need a good shower to go to work in the morning. Secondly, how far away from the tube or a bus stop because in the dead of winter you don’t want to be walking 40 minutes just to get home. Way too cold. Now how many people are actually living in the house? How many adults? You don’t want to sign a lease for 4 people when there are actually 12 living there. If all of this seems cool and you’re getting good vibes from the house mates and it’s a yes, to secure your house, guys take the deposit with you. Big hint because if it’s a good house it’s going to go so quickly. Pay your deposit. Move your stuff in and guys you’ve succeeded in finding accommodation in London.