Renting a flat in London - why is it such a nightmare?

[Hassled]

DS1 and his GF need a flat pronto - he starts work in London on the 13th Sept. They're looking for £700pcm (so somewhere in the sticks - don't really care where except North of the river), 1 bed - and getting absolutely nowhere. He's tried Gumtree, anything we can think of - can anyone recommend any good sites or agencies? Does demand just outstrip supply at the moment?

I would use Rightmove. Just put in an area in the search box and a price limit. Then contact the agents direct.

Watch out for unfair tenancy terms though from the bigger well known agencies.

Thanks - we've had a look there but will persist. Everywhere that looks possible is gone when DS1 rings up - and he's checking constantly.

What should we be looking for re unfair tenancy terms?

Has he looked in loot? A short sub for the online version used to pay off for me. You do have to get in early, as anything halfway decent will go quickly at £700/month.

With Rightmove you need to change the 'time added' bit. I've just searched within 1/2mile of my postcode (e18) and there's a few in Walthamstow for that sort of price.
Does he know roughly where he wants to be? you could try googling local estate agents, you'd probably have more luck direct than rightmove.

Sorry, change time added to last 24 hours/3 days

this one

residentail area
good transport links from Carshalton to Victoria

maybe price will allow them to move there and with the difference would supplement their travel cards...

try find a property.com they have quite a range.

these:

www.findaproperty.com/searchresults.aspx?edid=00&salerent=1&areaid=6758&bedrooms=01&maxprice=700&radius=4&ns=2

Unfair terms usually involve high tenancy renewal fees every 6 months IME. If at all possible, he should try and get a fixed 1 year tenancy so he does not end up moving in 6 months time.

Also make sure his tenancy deposit is held in a proper tenancy deposit scheme, the boiler has a certificate of less than 12 months old and that there is a signed Inventory and Condition check done before he moves in which he should go through with a fine toothcomb noting any amendments on the day he arrives and send a copy of the amended version back to the agent.

Also avoid anything that requires him to have the flat cleaned by professional cleaners recomended by the agent. They always charge a fortune as the agent takes a cut.

It is a bugger right now (I'm flat hunting too) - all the flats in your DS's price range will be going quickly as students are snapping them up. He needs to decide on a general locality and call agents daily to find out what is available and visit them that day if possible. Does he have some friends he could stay with in London?

Why is he so set on north of the river? He'll get a lot more for his money (and be able to live a lot closer to the centre) if he lives south. The overground rail links are excellent

agree with LB

You're all complete stars - it turns out he hadn't done the Time Added thingy, and now actually has some positive leads - Walthamstow is looking good. This is all adding to my general twitchiness re him going out into the Big Bad World and surviving :o.

I spent some happy years in Camberwell and Peckham, so I'm with you on the benefits of South of the River, but he won't be budged (annoyingly).

BeenBeta - many thanks - will pass all that on.