Finding rental homes in London Made Easy

Here’s a guide to help Londoners find their next rental home in 2024-5

Finding rental homes in London can be both exciting and challenging due to the city’s expensive house prices and lack of rental availibity. 14% of all London property is now worth more that £1,000,000.

1. Online Property Sites: Online property portals are convenient for browsing a wide range of rental properties. Websites like Zoopla (www.zoopla.co.uk), Rightmove (www.rightmove.co.uk), and PrimeLocation (www.primelocation.com) offer extensive databases of rental properties in London. These portals allow you to filter listings based on your preferences, such as location, budget, number of bedrooms, and amenities. But bear in mind that many properties are never advertised as they are snapped up by people who contact local letting agents.
2. Estate Agents: Estate/Letting agents specialise in helping Londoners find rental properties.  Many estate agents in London cater to both sales and lettings, so it’s worth contacting a few in your desired area to see their available properties. Some well-known estate agencies in London include Foxtons (www.foxtons.co.uk), Savills (www.savills.co.uk), and Knight Frank (www.knightfrank.co.uk). However, you would be well advised to try the smaller agents where you will have much less competition. Some properties are getting over a 50 tenants trying to secure it on the first day! Often, the best houses and flats are rented on a word-of-mouth basis, where tenants introduce their friends to their existing landlord. Remember, most landlords in the UK are just private ‘buy to rent’ landlords, not large corporations. More.
3. Word of Mouth and Networking: Don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth when finding a new home. Let friends, family, and work colleagues know you’re searching for a property in London. Everyone knows someone. There are 1.5 million private landlords with up to 5 properties so if your boss is rich he is probably one of them
4. Property Management Companies: Property management companies oversee rental properties for landlords and property owners.  Try in the City JLL (www.jll.co.uk), LIV Group (www.livgroup.co.uk), or Cushman & Wakefield (www.cushmanwakefield.com) are not bad.
5. Local Websites like https://nextdoor.co.uk/
6. These are a gold mine of local people, which will help push you in the right direction. 76.2% of private landlords live within 20 miles of their rented properties.
7. Airbnb. After speaking to a holiday home agent, Airbnb is another resource to help you connect with landlords with local properties. In 2023, there were many stories of landlords leaving Airbnb after seeing poorer-than-expected returns. Even if they are not looking for long-term rentals, they will always be open to out-of-season long lets (2-3 months).

Remember to exercise caution and do thorough research when searching for rental properties in London. Be wary of scams and always view properties in person before committing to a contract.