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Posts Tagged ‘London property market’

Renting London Apartments: The Current Low-Down on LDN (Part 3)

Friday, March 25th, 2011

Renting a London apartment. Image by canonsnapper via Flickr

Author: Colleen

If you’re moving to London and looking into renting a London apartment, my previous posts have addressed the state of today’s London property market (see “Renting London Apartments: The Current DL on LDN” Part 1 and Part 2). As promised, in this post I’ll address how you can best keep your head above water as you paddle through this super-competitive rental whirlpool of low supply, high demand, and gazumping.

Renting Your London Apartment

This is not a sales pitch; it is a reality. If you’re new to London and unfamiliar with its environment, you as an expat will have the best chance of uncovering a larger supply of properties at your price-point if you enlist the assistance of a London relocation agent. Such service providers will educate you on the local real estate dynamic and exploit their vast lettings agency contacts to exhaust the market in compiling available properties on any given day. And as I’ll explain below, timing is of the essence, so having a relocation guide on your side will help you still be able to make a sound, informed decision in a short amount of time.

Regardless if you enlist a third party to help or strike out on your own, you’re going to want to act fast. You’ll think you’re being schmoozed when an agent encourages you to make a snap decision soon after your initial viewing, and, believe me, I’m the first to want to call these shysters out on giving the hard sell. But even I now understand that, in London, it’s warranted—let’s not kid ourselves that if we hold out to make a second viewing (and then take our sweet time after that to mull it over) that the property of interest will still be there. Remember from my first post: supply is low, demand is high. If you don’t bid on a property, someone else will.

And if you do bid on a property, someone else still will, so be the first to put your money where your mouth is, literally. The best way to avoid getting gazumped is to be ready to pay your holding deposit right away (though there’s no set industry standard, this typically equates to six-weeks’ rent. If you’re a student or otherwise perceived as a financial risk, this deposit may be upped to three-to-six months’ worth). You will also want to offer as close to the asking price as possible and not make many stipulations. Sadly, you don’t have the upper hand in this situation, so you have less negotiating power to be a stickler when it comes to lower rent and what furnishings/improvements to demand…which gives me cause to reiterate my advice on hiring a relocation agent who will endeavor to help you leverage this situation in your best interests to the best of your ability.

Remember that compromise is key, so if you keep holding out for that elusive, “perfect” London flat that ticks every single one of your boxes, I can almost guarantee you’ll lose your chance of getting that near-perfect one that meets as many of your requirements as you can reasonably expect. As I’ll be addressing this Saturday in my “Weekend Warrior Saturday: What You Can Do Today to Prep for Your London Move” post, you should have a clear ranking of priorities in mind to help you more quickly decide what you want most and what you can live without when you’re faced with the inevitable trade-offs across London apartments at your price-point and desired location. No one is immune.

The Silver Lining?

It does appear that incentives are improving for prospective buyers to “buy to let,” which would result in a gradual increase of private London apartments available for rent. If London can see an influx of supply in rental housing, then demand should taper off a bit in relation and hopefully at least minimize the growth in rent prices if we can’t see an absolute decrease in them. It also means more perdy London apartments for you to look at and consider for yourself when you make your London relocation.

Tags: americans moving to london england, canadians moving to london uk, london apartments, london apartments for rent, london homebuyers, london homes for sales, London lettings agency, London property market, london relocation agent, London Relocation Services, relocating to London from US, relocating to london uk from canada, rent london, supply and demand of property in london
Posted in Rent in London: London Apartment Tips | 1 Comment »

Renting London Apartments: The Current Low-Down on LDN (Part 2)

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 19: A bus drives pa...

Renting in London. Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Author: Colleen

If you’re relocating to London and starting to research how to find a London apartment, my previous post addressed the current state of affairs with London property (see “Renting London Apartments: The Current DL on LDN (Part 1)“). Given the high demand for (and low supply of) London apartments these days, a couple other trends have become prevalent within the London rental market.

“Gazumping”

One unfortunate trend in the London apartment rental market that I didn’t address last time is the “gazumping” phenomenon. If you’re not familiar with the term, its concept is a really, really lousy thing that London landlords do to take advantage of the supply-demand situation I outlined in my other post. Let’s say you’ve searched and searched and have finally found your ideal London apartment; the landlord has verbally accepted the offer that the London lettings agent has put forth on your behalf. Already, those long-held dreams of moving to London are reaching fruition, and you’re fantasizing about what your London life will be like with this lovely property as your base…this glorious flat that has everything you want, in the perfect location, for a rent price you can swing, and in which you can already visualize how well all your stuff will fit. Tra-la-la, life is grand.

Hours later (or maybe not even until the next day), when it comes time for the landlord to sign the lease he/she’s already agreed to, oh wait, they’ve since received a higher bid and will be going with another tenant. Are you familiar with the acronym “S.O.L.”? Well, that’s you in this situation. This is when Ashton Kutcher jumps out of the woodwork and shouts, “You’ve been gazumped!”

Sealed Bidding

Traditionally a practice applied to property sales, sealed bidding is becoming more common for renting London property as well. Generally, a sealed bid involves interested buyers/renters putting forth an offer by a certain deadline (literally in a sealed envelope), and then all bids are opened and reviewed at a designated time to evaluate the winner of the property auction—i.e., whoever is deemed to have offered the best price in conjunction with wherewithal to proceed with the transaction quickly and smoothly (a.k.a. “proceedability”).

Join me in my next and last post of this miniseries to learn how you can up your proceedability and overcome all these obstacles in your quest for the ideal London apartment for your London move.

Tags: americans moving to london england, canadians moving to london uk, gazumping, london apartments, london apartments for rent, london homebuyers, london homes for sales, London lettings agency, London property market, london relocation agent, London Relocation Services, relocating to London from US, relocating to london uk from canada, rent london, sealed bids, supply and demand of property in london
Posted in Rent in London: London Apartment Tips | 4 Comments »

Renting London Apartments: The Current Low-Down on LDN (Part 1)

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Author: Colleen

If you’re planning your move to London, after procuring a job and visa, your next critical task is to find a flat to let in London. My esteemed London Relocation colleague Mat Paramor (our Head of Corporate Services—he’s the guy you want to talk to if you need to transfer your company’s employees to London!) has passed on the latest London property market trends and statistics, so I thought I’d distill the gist of it down for you to enhance your grasp on the current climate here.

London Apartment Supply

As of last summer, London encountered a serious shortage in available apartments for rent due to a few factors:

1) Landlords have increasingly opted to sell rather than let their London flats;
2) The increase in required mortgage deposits has discouraged renters from becoming buyers, so a generally older demographic that would have been looking to purchase a home have remained within the rental pool; and,
3) As the rental market becomes increasingly competitive, there’s less turnover in tenancy as renters renew their leases rather than take their chances in that atmosphere.

This shortage is particularly noted in the London neighborhoods consistently favored by expats: Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill, and Hampstead.

London Apartment Rent

How does this impact you if you’re relocating to London and need to rent a London flat? Time now for an Econ 101 lesson: Supply & Demand and their impact on Price. The impact of scarcity in supply is clear as far as being more limited in your options at your price level. It also means expectations of where to set that price level may need to adjust:

If you’re not familiar with the economic concept of supply and demand, I’ll break it down. Basically, when supply of a product decreases, the demand for it increases. So if there are fewer available London apartments out there, that many more people will be clamoring over each one of them. This makes it very easy for landlords to then place a premium on their property for rent, to take advantage of the increase in demand. If people out there will pay it, why not charge it, right? Now, generally, as the price of a product increases, demand for that product goes down—who wants to pay more for something, you know? So the graph at the left shows us the theoretical state of equilibrium when price is aligned with the demand for a product as well as the available supply of it.

I’ve now manipulated the graph above to produce this next one, which shows how the market seeks out a new level of equilibrium when that Supply line is shifted to the left (to reflect the decreased quantity of available properties in London) and Demand concurrently shifts to the right (to reflect the increasing number of tenants looking to rent in London). As you see, those two lines now intersect at a higher price-point.

The London lettings agencies with whom we collaborate are forecasting average rent increases of 7-8% in prime London locations for 2011 over last year (whereas sales are predicted to rise only about 1% in price). Stick around for my follow-up post on what you can do to conquer this market and rent a London apartment that you’ll love to live in after your London UK move.

Tags: americans moving to london england, canadians moving to london uk, Chelsea, Hampstead, Kensington, london apartments, london apartments for rent, london homebuyers, london homes for sales, London lettings agency, London property market, london relocation agent, London Relocation Services, Notting Hill, relocating to London from US, relocating to london uk from canada, rent london, supply and demand of property in london
Posted in Rent in London: London Apartment Tips | 5 Comments »

London Relocation’s Promise and Guarantee to YOU!

Friday, December 31st, 2010

As London Relocation looks forward to a new year, it’s time to declare a resolution of our own…

Our Promise and Guarantee:

London Relocation is dedicated to its clients. Our needs assessment and analysis is thorough for each and every one.

During this process, however, if our comprehensive assessment should reveal that we cannot indeed help you, we will not take you on as a client; such is typically dictated by the market, not us. Regardless, finding a London property while unfamiliar with the local market is a difficult task, so we will do our best to educate you whether you go on the road alone or with our assistance.

As our client, please bear in mind that there are extraordinary circumstances that London Relocation cannot control, which may result in our not being able to place you on the first day. For instance, as the London property market is in high demand—and therefore very fast-moving—all of your top three property choices could be taken by other viewers before that first day is yet completed. Factors such as this cannot be helped. We, of course, stand by you in these situations and will take you out again for additional viewings as necessary, until we place you in the ideal property for your needs.

We are in business to get you settled not only quickly, but also in the right place for you.

If it does not happen during the first viewing day, we will re-evaluate the situation and take you out again.

YOU come first until you’re happily settled in your new home.
We stand by you.
We care.

We promise and guarantee we will help you find your new home, and most often this does happen within just one day.

Tags: flats to let in london, flats to rent in london, london apartment, london apartments, london move, London property market, london real estate, London Relocation, london relocation agency, London Relocation Services, Moving to London, rent london
Posted in London Relocation & What People Say About Us, Rent in London: London Apartment Tips | 1 Comment »

London Relocation’s Property Tip-o-the-Day

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Author: Colleen

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.

Tags: colleen, london flat, london move, London property market, London Relocation, London Relocation Services, London relocation specialist, move to London, Moving to London, relocating to London from America, relocating to London from US, relocation agent
Posted in Rent in London: London Apartment Tips | No Comments »