One of the most difficult aspects of living in London is the accommodation. If you’re not prepared to spend at least 400.000 buying a property, you better look for the right rental.

London is the second most expensive city in the world, just losing for Moscow. Believe me, finding a flat, or a room in London is a tough job, and expensive. With what I pay here for a single room, without living room and a tiny kitchen I could have a 3 bedrooms flat in Brazil.

London is divided by zones. If you get a tube map, you’re going to see that there’re 6 zones, the first is the area for all London top attractions. Town centres, museums, Thames, best parks, and usually where the best companies are settled. To live in zone one having a flat for yourself, one bedroom, you’re going to pay an estimate price of 300 a week. To live in Covent Garden, one of the most charming areas of London, you’re going to spend an average of 1400 per month. If these prices are too much for your budget, you can live in London for cheaper, sharing a flat with someone else, a bunch of people from all over the world, or choosing for zones 2, 3, 4 It gets cheaper as far as you’re from the centre.

I moved 9 times in 2 years here. I lived with all kind of nationalities, people from Australia, Malaysia, Spain, Brazil, Turkey, Vietnam, Philippines, Portugal, Italy, Africa, France, Lithuania, Switzerland. I lived in Fitzrovia, paying 240 per month and living with 20 people, and in zone 2, having my own room and living with another 2 girls for 500 per month. The options are infinite, and it all depends on the kind of life you want to have.

Here are some tips you’re going to need when deciding where to live:

Live in the reality that your money can pay

Realize! You’re not going to find a miracle flat, central location, brand new with huge spaces for cheap. The furniture usually is not very new, carpets are all over the place, the colour of the wall is probably not your favorite, flats here are not as bright as in a beach. If it’s a house, the garden is probably very small, and you can easily see your neighbor’s garden (it means: no privacy!). You’re going to find carpet in kitchens, bathrooms without window, bedrooms with very small ones, and the storage area is usually shared with more people than it can support.

Where to look for

If you are looking on the Internet you can easily find web sites that provide lists of houses for rent. One of the most famous in London is called gumtree.com. It can be very easy to find a room there, there’re all kinds of places and prices. But, be careful, people that call them agents and advertise in websites usually put prices over the one that an agency or the landlord would ask for. Search is the word. If you think a room is too expensive for the location or the picture you’re seeing, don’t even go to visit, you might be paying way too much for what could cost even half of the price.

I know agents that charge 2200 for a flat that the landlord asks only 800 per month. I would preferably go directly into a proper agency, talk face to face with the agent, look at the pictures and have faith that most of my money is going to the landlord.

On the other hand, if you’re not looking for a flat, but only a room, you don’t have too many options. You might have only the websites or some acquaintance (or friend) to give you a hand. When you’re going to visit a flat, speak with the people at the house about what they do to be sure you want to live with them. Speak with the person that’s showing you the room about terms of payment and minimum stay. It’s very important to know what’s the person’s relation with the flat, if he/she is the owner, the agent from an agency or someone that’s trying to make money by renting for someone else. Never give deposit or rent without proper documentation proving your payment. Ask as many questions as possible, don’t leave with doubt. If you still think that there’s something wrong with the transaction, ask copies of ID of the person you’re giving money to.

Don’t rent unless you visit it. Don’t go for pictures. The rooms usually look bigger than they really are. If there’s no possibility of coming to London to see the room before you’re moving, the best solution is stay in a hotel or a hostel for some days. It’s not difficult to find a hostel in London, most of them are in touristic areas. You might be sharing the room, but don’t worry about your bags, you’re going to find lockers all over the place.

Location

As I told before, if you want to live in zone one, you’re going to spend more than in zones 2 or 3, and at the same time think about how much you’re going to save if you take the tube everyday anyway. For example, if you decide to live in zone one and your job is in zone one but in the other side, you might need to take the tube everyday (as the traffic in London is always, doesn’t matter the time of the year, chaotic!), so why don’t pay cheaper in zone 2 and take the same time?

It’s very wonderful to be living in front of shops, parks and touristic places, but if for your budget and distance from your work or school it won’t be the best idea, don’t think only about the best views, but as well about saving money to spend in different things as shopping or holiday trips

Another thing about location is that most of the advertisements in the websites show a tube station that’s actually the most famous in the area but not exactly at the doorstep. Check with the agent before visit the flat where is the closest tube station and how far it’s. And don’t forget the buses! London can be a 24 hours city, but the tube closes at 00:30, if you don’t want to pay taxi every time you stay out until late, you better have a bus stop close as well.

Pay attention for details

Before rent, take a lot of care of what you’re renting. The furniture and the general condition of the flat are of your responsibility once you rent it, so be sure you tell your agent or landlord about what’s not in a good condition, because when you leave they might ask you to pay for the damage.

What most of the agencies do is write on which were the furniture and damages or even take pictures before you move in. It’s the best way to be fare with both parts. If anything breaks (the washing machine is the most common thing to break), contact your agent as soon as possible. He has the responsibility for furniture and electronic stuff. Remember, nothing is yours, you’re renting.

Once I broke the glass of a very old window of an old flat in Edgware Road Station. I was just trying to open the window and the glass literally broke in my hands. I called the agency and they sent a carpenter. What the guy told me was that it was a very old window and it should have handles in the bottom (basically it was not my fault). What the agency told me was that I should pay or “no deposit back”. In the end I paid 110 for an old window. So, be careful with old windows!

Fees

Don’t discuss! If you don’t want to pay the fees your renter is asking, look for another place. The only answer you’re going to receive if discussing is that someone else is able to pay and a “see you later”. Usually you’ll have to pay an agency fee for rental, which can be between 30 and 150. The deposit is the security if you run away. It really depends, sometimes you’ll pay only 2 weeks rent, others 6.

Good luck with the hunting!

Some web sites with further information:

Average price of a room in London:

http://www.thelondonlink.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2414&Itemid=3

Average price of a flat in London:

http://www.hurford-salvi-carr.co.uk/price-index.aspx

Looking for your dream flat:

www.gumtree.co.uk

http://www.hotproperty.co.uk/renting

http://www.foxtons.co.uk/

If you decide to buy:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/uk_house_prices/counties/html/county37.stm