Living In London – Renting Property 3- Image via Flickr
Author: Belinda
In previous articles this week, we have discussed moving to London and the basic types of London rental apartments that you can find on the market. There are a number of details that you need to know about renting property in London, and how to go about it so you can be settled into your new home as soon as possible.
If you are renting privately, or through a letting agent, there will be a certain amount of paperwork and documentation that is required before you can sign the contract. Renting from a private landlord may be easier if you have just moved to London, and do not have an English bank account or a credit rating on England yet. If you are going through a letting agent, then you will have to provide traceable references and proof of income.
In London there may be a number of agents that handle a property, and the one who gets the contract in first will get the London apartment. If you find a property that you like and wish to rent it, then you may have to pay a reservation fee. This will ensure that no one else can rent the apartment while the paperwork is being done. The property market can be cut throat and aggressive so you’ll need to move fast on your new home if it is a place that you especially love. The reservation fee will be deducted from the deposit fee, and it is usually the value of about two or three weeks rent. If you do not pass the credit checks or change your mind then the fee will not be refunded.
One of the biggest checks that a letting agent will do is on your references (which must be contactable) that say you are a trustworthy tenant, and that you are able to pay the rent without any financial struggles. You may have to provide up to three years worth of references, and certainly you will have to give your proof of address for the last three years at least. You will also have to provide proof of employment or funds on a regular basis to be able to pay the rent. If you have just moved to London, then you must ask your new employer to provide you with all of the documentation that you need to satisfy a letting agent. You will have to give them your bank account details, as some agents prefer to set up a debit order that will automatically deduct the rental from your account every month.
The problem in London is not providing proof of income or getting the paperwork together; it is finding the perfect London rental. Property varies considerably in price and quality across London and it might be best to get a professional letting agent find your new home, or even better: Use the services of a relocation agent who can have a property available for you as you arrive. Get settled as soon as possible so you can get out and enjoy London.
Living In London – Renting Property 1 of 2- Image via Wikipedia
Author: Belinda
Moving to London can be one of the most exciting things you’ll ever do. It is a chance to live in one of the biggest cities in Europe as well as one of the most cosmopolitan, and you’ll have the opportunity to meet interesting people and revel in the sights and sounds of everything that is English. If you are moving to London for work then the chances are that your employer will provide you with accommodation, but if you are looking for that perfect London rental on your own, then you need to know all about how to rent an apartment or house in London.
There are two main types of rental properties available in London:
Private Rentals: You can rent a property directly from the landlord or owner of the property, which is a private rental. The advantage is that you will not have to pay an agency fee, but the disadvantage is that there is no intermediary available to help if something should go awry.
Letting Agents: You can use the services of a letting agent or rental agent. This does have the advantage of having less of a risk, but if you have recently moved to London you may not have all of the paperwork that is needed to use one of the many letting agents. You should also be careful when using a letting agent to use one of the most reputable agents.
The price of property for rent in London varies considerably depending on the area that you choose to live in. In the most fashionable areas space is at a premium and the prices are extremely high. You will have to weigh up all of your considerations before choosing an area and starting your search. The factors that you will have to consider are the proximity of your home to your work. While you may not be able to afford to stay close to the city and the heart of the business world, you will want to choose a London rental that is close to a major transport route so that you can commute to work easily.
The price of London rental apartments drops considerably as you move out of the centre of the city, but make sure that you are close to amenities so you don’t have to walk for miles to get something simple like bread and milk. If you have children, then schooling is another consideration. Schools are zoned by area so you have to live in the area to enable your children to attend a local school. Many areas that have excellent schools have property that is higher in price.
If you are moving to London one of the best things you can do is to find one of the professional London relocation services that will be able to take care of the details of your move and will advise you on the areas that you should live in and will be able to have you moved in a couple of days after arriving.
Living in London – Renting Property-- Image via Wikipedia
Author: Belinda
If you are going to be living in London, then you’ll need a place to stay, and there are a number of factors that you need to bear in mind when looking for your perfect London rental apartment. London is a huge city, and is divided into a different areas and suburbs, each having their own personality and amenities. If you are thinking about moving to London, then the best way to find a home is to make a list of the aspects that are important for you and then start looking. While everyone wants to live in quaint Notting Hill, made famous by Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, it may be very unsuitable for your lifestyle and your employment needs.
Moving to London – It’s all about YOU
Find out the exact address of your employers. This will have a big influence on where you are going to live because commuting in London can be a nightmare at the best of times. You don’t want to have to catch three tubes and two trains to get to work every day. You’ll need to find out which public transport services serve the area in which you work so you do not have to spend hours commuting.
Family: If you have children then schools and education will be important. Remember that you cannot send your children to schools that are not in the catchment area of where you live. This can have a massive impact on deciding the type of suburb that you want to live in.
Amenities: If you have pets with you then you’ll need to find a suburb that has parks and areas that you can exercise your pets in. Some London apartment rentals do not allow pets, so you’ll have to add that to your list of questions to ask a potential landlord.
You should also see if your area has a hospital and other emergency services in close proximity.
Moving to London and when you rent a London apartment it will generally fall into two categories. You can rent privately, which means you will be renting directly from the owner or landlord. You need to be sure that you have everything in writing and if possible get the rental agreement check out by an attorney or someone who has some experience in the rental market.
You can also use a letting agency that will help you find a London rental apartment that is in your price range, and they arrange for the contract and documents required for you to be able to rent. You will have to pay a fee for the services of a letting agent. If you are new to London then you might want to contact one of the reputable relocation agents who will help you arrange accommodation quickly and without the hassle associated with being a foreigner.
Finding a home in London is the most important part of moving to London and the sooner you get it sorted out, the more settled you will feel. As soon as you are moved in, you’ll have the opportunity of getting out and exploring your new city.
If you’re moving to London this week (or have already relocated), you’re just in time for the London Restaurant Festival! Spanning the 4th through 18th of October, this culinary event is an ideal way to recognize London’s restaurant scene and the diverse range of cuisines it has to offer, not to mention its top chefs of international renown.
Per the festival website:
“London Restaurant Festival is a citywide celebration of eating out, designed to showcase London’s extraordinarily diverse and exciting range of restaurants and drive footfall.
From 4-18 October 2010 food lovers can explore some of the capital’s finest cooking, from its high-profile Michelin-starred restaurants to coveted neighbourhood bistros.
* Enjoy a Festival Menu at any of the hundreds of participating restaurants
StreetSmart is the chosen charity for the 2010 London Restaurant Festival.”
From markets to debates, quizzes to awards, the LRF offers various events and, but of course, FOOD! So if getting settled into your new London rental works up your appetite, save buying groceries and cooking at home for another day—eating out is all part of the London experience!
Today’s is certainly going to be easier said than done. Your London move will be far less stressful if you don’t leave all the packing to the last minute. That being said, though, you probably want your home to feel as cozy and orderly as long as possible, rather than prolong that feeling of being in a state of transition. I wholeheartedly support that—I am all about my surroundings and do not have an orderly mind unless I have an orderly environment.
The best way to compromise between this and getting that head start so you’re not thrust into chaos in the last hour is in how you approach the possessions you’ve already decided to bring with you (remember? The ones you already sorted out per my advice a few Saturdays ago?). Basically, of the stuff you know that you’ll be bringing to London, start packing the items that you do not necessarily need on a day-to-day basis as of now.
For clothing, that’s easy: pack up the unseasonal outfits, shoes, and coats.
For everything else, it’s a judgment call. Okay, so you do want to bring some of those books? Will you be needing to read them before you go? No? In the box! Those home-office files, DVDs, those mixing bowls and martini glasses…will you be desperate to use them in the weeks preceding your move? No? In the box!
And don’t worry about still needing the household appliances right up until the day you set foot outside your door for good—you probably shouldn’t bring them with you anyway. It’s again a judgment call based on US to UK voltage differences and how you may accommodate that. I’ve written on this topic before at length, so rather than reinvent the wheel, please follow this link to learn more about electrical appliances and UK voltage: http://www.londonrelocationservices.com/blog/london-tips/warning-high-voltage.html. The good news is, you’re probably going to save some packing space by not having to bring most of those pieces. The bad news is, you’re going to have to invest some money either way once you get to the UK, be it on converters/transformers and adapters or new appliances outright.
London Relocation Ltd. once again wishes you happy packing for your upcoming move to London!
As I continue to have fun tinkering with our new customer management system, I don’t want to entirely neglect our blog, so here’s a quick tip on saving £££ in London: Living Social (http://livingsocial.com/).
By signing onto Living Social, you will receive daily email offers on top-notch London restaurants, spas, and events. This isn’t your usual annoying, spammy email; they’re genuinely great offers for genuinely great London venues, giving you an insider’s advantage on substantial savings. If you expect to be moving to London soon, this is an ideal site to check out now!
Now, I might sound like I’m stating the obvious, but there are certainly plenty of people moving to London who would benefit from following this advice as they schedule when to property-search:
The sooner the better.
That’s right. Especially now with the summer rush to snatch up reasonably priced properties, you’ll want to get the head start. Generally, in this local property market, you can secure your London flat up to 6 weeks in advance. So, if you can look this far ahead, please do. Otherwise, last-minute finds may only stay on the shelves within 24-48 hours of your viewing them, leaving you little time to search for other properties as a basis of comparison to feel confident in your decision.
That’s why when you employ an accredited relocation specialist like London Relocation Ltd., you will see around 20 properties to show you the full spectrum of what’s out there in your desired area and price-range. You can feel secure that deciding within a day or two is not a rushed judgment, as we will also educate you before and during that viewing day to better inform your choice. Never to fear, though, if you don’t have that much lead time. It can make for sparser pickings, but that’s why we’re here—to optimize your findings.
If you’ve visited or are moving to London, you know that the Tube will become an essential part of your daily commute. As you ride this subterranean serpent, you will note the string of advertisements lining its walls for our entertainment as we work oh-so hard to avert eye contact with all other passengers. Among these adverts is sometimes the miscellaneous poem or Underground fun-fact. I’ve accordingly decided to go spelunking through the Transport for London and other websites today to share some of this trivia with you:
Branding
London Underground has been known as the Tube since 1890, when the first deep-level electric railway line was opened
The Underground name first appeared on stations in 1908
LU’s world-famous logo, ‘the roundel’ (a red circle crossed by a horizontal blue bar), first appeared in 1908
Stats
Total number of stations served: 270
Total number of escalators: 412
Length of network: 402km/249 miles
Proportion of the network in tunnels: 45 per cent
Number of miles/km travelled by each Tube train each year: 76,800 miles/123,600km
Number of passengers carried on the Tube each year: 1,073 million
Busiest stations: During the three-hour morning peak, London’s busiest Tube station is Waterloo, with 51,100 people entering. The busiest station in terms of passengers each year is Victoria with 76 million.
You’re never alone at Aldgate station on the London Underground. It’s built on one of the biggest plague pits from 1665, where more than 1,000 bodies were buried in the space of two weeks.
In March 2001 a “fresh, watery, floral” fragrance called “Madeleine” was introduced at a number of stations in a touching attempt to make the Underground a pleasanter place to be. It was taken out of action the very next day as people reported feeling sick.
In a twist worthy of a horror film, a new species of mosquito has evolved in the dank, closed-off world of the Tube. Descended from bird-biting mosquitoes that colonised the tunnels when they were being dug, these bugs dine on rats, mice and humans – and have evolved as rapidly in a century as most animals do in thousands of years.
If you think the Tube can be uncomfortable today, spare a thought for the Victorians who travelled in the first trains. These original, cramped carriages had tiny slits for windows and were popularly (or unpopularly) known as “padded cells”.
Many Tube stations were used as air-raid shelters during WWII, but the Central Line went one better and was actually converted into a massive aircraft factory that stretched for over two miles, with its own railway system. Its existence remained an official secret until the 80s.
One recurring myth I keep seeing in cyberspace surrounds the sole Tube birth that occurred in 1924. The infant’s name was allegedly Thelma Ursula Beatrice Eleanor, but, as cute and/or demented as that would be if those were really her initials, it was actually Mary Ashfield Eleanor.
And since this city can’t get enough of its ghosts, I would be remiss not to share that Farringdon, Covent Garden, and Kennington stations are said to be haunted…wooOOOOoooo… (from Train Spotting World)
July 25th brings us a posh English event straight out of Pretty Woman (as an aside, I saw a woman walking down Kensington High Street last week in that exact same polka-dot dress. Timeless, I suppose…). From the Guards Polo Club website:
“Cartier International Day, in association with the Hurlingham Polo Association, is the world’s greatest spectator polo day. The main highlight of the day is the afternoon match for the Coronation Cup, which features the very best English players. [...]
Action on the field is not confined to the afternoon though. Talented and up and coming England players will take to the field at 11am to play for the Golden Jubilee Trophy. As the standard of polo is now so high in the UK, this game is the perfect opening for the England International later in the afternoon.
However, Cartier International Day is so much more than polo. Cartier entertains some 600 guests from the world of stage, screen, literature and fashion over a gourmet lunch prepared by Anton Mosimann. All visitors can have the opportunity to visit the unique and extensive Retail Village which offers everything from a cooling glass of champagne to a luxury dog bed; from a beautiful polo painting to the very latest Audi.”
There are assorted full-day itinerary packages that you can purchase through different organizations that will offer morning and afternoon food, cocktails, etc. (such as the Chinawhite package referenced on the Guards Polo Club website)–simply run a Google search for the event to explore the possibilities!
Once you’ve done all the leg-work in finding your London flat, you can then enjoy the pleasure of paying for it. In London, signing a lease agreement on a flat requires you to pay:
- 1st month’s rent in advance
- 6-week deposit
Bearing in mind that rent prices in London are quoted in weekly terms, to arrive at a monthly figure, you must multiply the weekly rent price by 4.33—i.e., times 52 (# weeks in a year) and divided by 12 (# months in the year). So, for example, if your negotiated rent price ends up being £300 per week:
1st month’s rent = £300 * 4.33 = £1,300
6-week deposit = £300 * 6.00 = £1,800
Total amount due to lettings agency/landlord = £2,100*
(*not inclusive of admin fees, which vary by agency. If you are placed through London Relocation Ltd., this fee is waived)
The best way to pay the amount due to the applicable agency/landlord, then, is by bank transfer, as it helps you avoid:
- carrying massive sums of cash around;
- waiting for a non-UK bank check (‘cheque’) or traveller’s check denominated in a currency other than GBP to clear, which can take several days if not weeks; or,
- incurring 3-5% charges for using a credit card.
To facilitate this process, part of London Relocation Ltd.‘s service is getting you set up with your UK bank account, so we’re a worthwhile investment!
As promised in my earlier post, our video footage is all shot and edited and ready to deliver to your monitor. Make sure your volume is turned up for this one!
We hope that our promotional video will give you a better idea about our service and what you can expect when we pick you up on your viewing day. We don’t want there to be any anxiety lying in the unknown, as there’s already enough of that involved in an international move!
And so, for your viewing and listening pleasure, please follow the link below to our promo:
Well, today is already shaping up into an interesting (if not a bit nerve-racking) day…we’re trying to act normal and go about our day-to-day business with a camera on us. No, we’re not on the latest episode of Big Brother, and Yvette Fielding isn’t here trying to stir up paranormal activity in our old mews office—we’re filming a promo video for our business!! We want to give our prospective clients a sneak-peek at the people behind the scenes—behind the web forms, emails, and phone calls—so that when you do arrive in London to attend your property viewings, you’ll know exactly who you’re working with.
We like to think of ourselves as a small business with a heart—we’re all expats here in London from the United States and Australia, so we’re each personally invested in what we do, mentally and emotionally. We know how many varied stressors a relocation can entail no matter what the circumstances are that bring you to the UK—whether you’re a student, transferring employee, or professional beginning a new job and a new life overseas, and whether you’re moving over as an individual or a family. London Relocation Ltd. has experienced it all, and we want you to benefit from this collective experience so that you don’t have to waste your time, money, or peace of mind unnecessarily. We hope that our new video montage will provide you this reassurance in our services in advance of your travels. Cheers!
As Sue Hillman of It’s Your London was so gracious to provide her month in review yesterday, I figure today I’ll throw in a mini May Day bank holiday weekend-in-review of my own.
Saturday morning we caught the overground train from Liverpool Street station and rode it out to Bishops Stortford, about 45 minutes outside of the city (and near Stansted Airport). Well outside of the labyrinth of urban streets, we then hopped off the train and onto our bikes to embark on the remaining 30-mile journey to Cambridge. [side note: If you're not bringing your bike over when you move to London, which I didn't, you can easily rent one throughout the city. I unfortunately don't have a particular shop to recommend from personal experience as yet...I won't slam the East London business where mine for last weekend came from, but let's just say the bike was not up to par for the distance we told them we'd be going. I ended up with a heavy cruiser with skipping gears and just no power at all in the pedalling, when clearly a road or hybrid bike would be in order.]
Once within Cambridge’s city limits, we washed up and regrouped at Arundel House Hotel for a rewarding pint in the conservatory to cure what “aled” us (*hardy har*). The hotel was located just off the River Cam near Jesus Green park, which made for easy walking into the University center for more libations at The Anchor (where Pink Floyd’s founder, Syd Barrett, used to be a regular) as we watched the brave souls that still went out punting under the ominous purple sky. Dinner was at Loch Fyne, a reasonably priced, quality seafood restaurant with locations scattered throughout the UK. The next day brought us even cooler air and greyer skies, but this didn’t keep us from wandering the University, perusing the wealth of information within its bookshops, poking around the miscellaneous wares of its outdoor market, and warming back up at The Eagle pub with pints and a traditional Sunday roast. Within one of the several intimate little rooms in which you can tuck yourself away is a historic ceiling written all over by members of the U.S. Air Force and RAF when they hung out here awaiting their commands during World War II. Having blacked out the windows for concealment from the outside, inside they drank, smoked, and burned their legacy on the ceiling using candles and lighters. An easy-enough train ride (only an hour or so) delivered us back to London for a restful evening.
The following bank holiday Monday brought an old college roommate of mine into town. She had already seen London’s major sites during previous visits, so I showed her the neighborhoody side of London with lunch at The Troubadour in Earls Court (its downstairs music club has seen the likes of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Joni Mitchell) and a wander down Portobello Road in Notting Hill, where we grabbed dessert in the form of a £2 Red Velvet cupcake at The Hummingbird Bakery. Just when the chilling winds of this unusual cold snap were getting the best of us, it was time to duck into the Adelphi Theatre for some lyrically and visually haunting indoor entertainment—namely, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies. While I didn’t find the songs as memorable as those of Phantom, the vocal quality of the performers and dazzlingly different set design helped it stand strongly on its own.
So this just goes to show you but a few of the countless iterations of things you can do over a weekend once you move to London—and do it so easily for really not that much £££! When London Relocation Ltd. finds you your new home base within just one day, you’ll have so much extra time to venture out like this on your own.
Heading into a UK bank holiday–holla’!!! Quite recently, I was asked by friends from home what a “bank holiday” is exactly, so allow me to clarify here.
UK bank holidays are mandated days off for the nation, just like holidays that are observed in any other country. Started in 1871, the bank holiday was established as a day during which banks would be closed and, thus, no trading taking place. Today, banks continue to be closed and everyone gets off of work nationwide, though the random shop or so may remain open (recall the ghost town of Easter’s bank holiday weekend). England, Wales, and Scotland each enjoy 8 of such permanent days off (we get an extra in 2010 for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee—woohoo!!), while Northern Ireland gets 10.
Thus, London observes Christmas, Boxing Day, New Years, Good Friday, Easter Monday, and, coming up this Monday, May Day. Filling out the balance are the creatively dubbed Spring Bank Holiday and Summer Bank Holiday, which essentially equate to the timing of America’s Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, respectively. What differs with these days in England, though, with the exception of Christmas, is that they don’t really coincide with any particular mode of celebration. Example: in the States, Thanksgiving serves the purpose of giving thanks for our blessings, and we celebrate with turkey and the works. The 4th of July is a day of barbeques and fireworks to celebrate the U.S.’s independence (true that England celebrates Guy Fawkes Day with fireworks, though it’s not an official bank holiday). And days like Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc. serve to commemorate specific turning points in our history and the people that contributed substantially. The bank holiday, though? It’s a play day off work. It’s an excuse for the Brits to use vacation days on the prior Thursday/Friday and/or subsequent Monday/Tuesday to flee the country for a long holiday weekend.
Perhaps I’ve mispoken. I do believe there is, in fact, one tradition that coincides with a UK bank holiday weekend: crap weather. That’s right, after enjoying (through our office windows and on pictures/forecasts on our computer monitors) the exhilerating warmth of actual sunshine for the last week or so, the clouds have rolled in and cool breezes are kicking up just in time for us to have some time off to enjoy the outdoors: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/apr/28/weather-bank-holiday-rain-forecast
But, as is also British tradition, we will “keep calm and carry on” with our days of freedom. For the schedule of 2010 bank holidays, consult this link: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/governmentcitizensandrights/livingintheuk/dg_073741. And for a schedule of 18-25 fabulous London flats to view within a single day if you’re relocating to London, consult this one
While I rarely indulge email forwards, this is one that I received that really made me giggle. I wish I could credit its clever author (I suspect it was a Brit), but as it came to me through a chain of email forwards, I will have to post it anonymously and just give the disclaimer that I am not the author. Hopefully it causes no offense—I figure since it makes fun of everyone (or, as the British would say, it’s “taking the piss”), we can all take it in good spirit. What fun is life, after all, if we can’t laugh at ourselves, especially during times of international uncertainty when we should unite?
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.” Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A Bit Cross.” The English have not been “A Bit Cross” since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from “Tiresome” to a “Bloody Nuisance.” The last time the British issued a “Bloody Nuisance” warning level was during the great fire of 1666.
The Scots raised their threat level from “Pissed Off” to “Let’s get the Bastards.” They don’t have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line in the British army for the last 300 years.
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from “Run” to “Hide.” The only two higher levels in France are “Collaborate” and “Surrender.” The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France ‘s white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country’s military capability.
It’s not only the French who are on a heightened level of alert. Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout loudly and excitedly” to “Elaborate Military Posturing.” Two more levels remain: “Ineffective Combat Operations” and “Change Sides.” The Germans also increased their alert state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs.” They also have two higher levels: “Invade a Neighbor” and ”Lose.”
Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels .
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
Americans meanwhile and as usual are carrying out pre-emptive strikes, on all of their allies, just in case.
And in the southern hemisphere…New Zealand has also raised its security levels—from “baaa” to “BAAAA!” Due to continuing defense cutbacks (the air force being a squadron of spotty teenagers flying paper aeroplanes and the navy some toy boats in the Prime Minister’s bath), New Zealand only has one more level of escalation, which is “S**t, I hope Australia will come and rescue us.”
Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from “No worries” to “She’ll be right, mate.” Three more escalation levels remain: “Crikey!’, “I think we’ll need to cancel the barbie this weekend,” and “The barbie is cancelled.” So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.
Hopefully that gave you a bit of a laugh at the international community you’ll be living near and among when you relocate to London. When that time comes, there’s no need for you to raise your personal alert level—London Relocation Ltd. will be here for you to find a high-quality, conveniently located London flat where you can feel safe and without stress.
Direct: 
Today’s is certainly going to be easier said than done. Your London move will be far less stressful if you don’t leave all the packing to the last minute. That being said, though, you probably want your home to feel as cozy and orderly as long as possible, rather than prolong that feeling of being in a state of transition. I wholeheartedly support that—I am all about my surroundings and do not have an orderly mind unless I have an orderly environment.
