Recommended rental search

[AGTDenton]

I'm currently on the downsize path from a 2 bed to a spare room.
I cant even move to a 1 bed because the prices are now higher than what I'm paying currently.
The rental market has increased by a massive 30% in 5 years. Has anyone's wage done the same?

My main sites at the moment are:
RightMove
SpareRoom
Zoopla
I tried Gumtree but its filtering is terrible I was getting nowhere.

Just wanted to make sure I'm not missing out on any others that folks have used in the past? Agency or non Agency doesn't matter.

Its frustrating that people/agencies don't get back to you, or an ad ends a couple of days later.

[TooNice]

I don't want to recommend Gumtree because you have to navigate through scammers.. but the truth is that I found the two places I stayed in London on Gumtree. Not sure what kind of trouble you are having with filtering, but as I recall, I would search by postcode and set a rental cap. As far as cheap accommodation was concerned, it was hand down the "best". The first place was a bargain: friendly landlord, great location, great price for the size of the property/room. The downside is that it was temporary (under a year), until the landlord found the time to refurbish the place. The second place had an awful landlord, and much older/smaller property (room size didn't change much though), but the location is arguably even better, and for the same low-ish price (for Zone 1 London), I can't say that I was not getting what I was paying for. The thing about Gumtree is that you are more likely to deal with the landlord directly, cutting the middle man (and cost associated with). If a landlord is looking to rent a bedsit, I would think that he'd try Gumtree first. The downside is that if anything goes wrong, you need to hope that the landlord is reasonable.

When I tried the other sites are cleaner, but I find them better when you aren't expecting a bargain.

The same with agencies, but why not try a local one in the area you want to rent? You need to put the effort of going there, but you can be sure at least of what is available, and assuming it is vacant, get a same day viewing.

[csgohan4]

I don't want to recommend Gumtree because you have to navigate through scammers.. but the truth is that I found the two places I stayed in London on Gumtree. Not sure what kind of trouble you are having with filtering, but as I recall, I would search by postcode and set a rental cap. As far as cheap accommodation was concerned, it was hand down the "best". The first place was a bargain: friendly landlord, great location, great price for the size of the property/room. The downside is that it was temporary (under a year), until the landlord found the time to refurbish the place. The second place had an awful landlord, and much older/smaller property (room size didn't change much though), but the location is arguably even better, and for the same low-ish price (for Zone 1 London), I can't say that I was not getting what I was paying for. The thing about Gumtree is that you are more likely to deal with the landlord directly, cutting the middle man (and cost associated with). If a landlord is looking to rent a bedsit, I would think that he'd try Gumtree first. The downside is that if anything goes wrong, you need to hope that the landlord is reasonable.

When I tried the other sites are cleaner, but I find them better when you aren't expecting a bargain.

The same with agencies, but why not try a local one in the area you want to rent? You need to put the effort of going there, but you can be sure at least of what is available, and assuming it is vacant, get a same day viewing.

Agree with above, had a hit and miss with gumtree with scammers and dodgey landlords in my time. Best to look for an area you want to live, find out what local estate agents are in the area and contact direct or look at their list of available properties online. But best to call as they might have a few not yet advertised.

Whatever you make sure they protect your deposit. Unfortunately most estate agents aren't good in giving your money back immediately, expect at least 3-6 months delay for your deposit to be paid back.

[AGTDenton]

Thanks guys - I'll give Gumtree another go - as long as I'm not missing an obvious source.
Zoopla just appears to be a copy of Rightmove with less on it.

I'll look into protecting a future deposit was unaware it was possible.

[csgohan4]

Thanks guys - I'll give Gumtree another go - as long as I'm not missing an obvious source.
Zoopla just appears to be a copy of Rightmove with less on it.

I'll look into protecting a future deposit was unaware it was possible.

If you go via gumtree your deposit will unlikely be protected and any dispute you will not win. Make sure a contract is signed and it isn't dodgey. However generally the deposit on gumtree is a lot less than if you went mainstream with an estate agent

[Peter Parker]

Worth noting a new site http://www.onthemarket.com/ starting tomorrow to try and compete with Zoopla and Rightmove :-

http://www.theguardian.com/money/201...ghtmove-zoopla

I vaguely know one of the devs that has been working on it, but haven't been told anything about the company or code.

[AGTDenton]

Worth noting a new site http://www.onthemarket.com/ starting tomorrow to try and compete with Zoopla and Rightmove :-

http://www.theguardian.com/money/201...ghtmove-zoopla

I vaguely know one of the devs that has been working on it, but haven't been told anything about the company or code.

Thanks, good spotting.
I'll keep an eye on it, but I don't think enough will appear on the site in the timeframe I have to move.

[DanceswithUnix]

I know sometimes it isn't possible, but I remember the first house I bought was a heck of a lot easier than I thought it would be moving out of rented.

So just in case you haven't tried, I would go talk to your bank and/or a mortgage advisor and see if they can help. It sounds like things like 35 year mortgages are becoming common place these days which gets the monthly cost down quite a bit.

[Dooms]

Last 2 places before this one I'm in have been found on Gumtree, you soon start to notice whats a good ad and what isnt but man they go quickly.

Spareroom and Rightmove are ok but most seem to be gone before they have appeared in my listings.

Facebook can work if you are after a flatshare. If you know the area you are wanting to live in do a search for groups "<location> rent" or "<location> flat" etc etc and might find some groups there.

[scaryjim]

... I'll look into protecting a future deposit was unaware it was possible.

Deposit protection is mandatory for Assured Shorthold Tenancies, but if you're looking to rent a room with a resident landlord you won't have an AST and you're very unlikely to get them to secure your deposit as it costs them money and is a lot of hassle. If you're renting a single room in a house in multiple occupation (i.e. everyone in the house has a separate tenancy and can lock their own room) you'll probably be on an AST so your deposit *must* be secured. If you're not sure what any of that means, do some serious research before getting into a tenancy, as it'll make a big difference to your rights further down the line (if you end up as a boarder or lodger you have a lot less rights, incidentally).

If smaller properties are more expensive than where you are now, can I ask why you're moving? Seems counter productive to me. If you *have* to move, I don't suppose you know any other people who are also looking to rent and you could get a joint tenancy on a larger place with? It could end up being cheaper for all of you.

As to contacting agents - always ring. I've never had any problem booking viewings immediately when I've rung places (and I've been doing a lot of this in the last couple of months, incidentally!).

... make sure they protect your deposit. Unfortunately most estate agents aren't good in giving your money back immediately, expect at least 3-6 months delay for your deposit to be paid back.

If you have an AST and the deposit is protected that can't actually do this - there are time limits for how long they can make you wait and if they keep delaying you can raise a dispute through the protection scheme: the whole point of DPS is to stop landlords delaying the return of a deposit. They try to fob you off with BS, but there's no reason you should accept it.

[nicktids]

Call all the agencies in the area you want and tell them what your looking for

You will be spammed with all their ads for the future but when they see something that is good you will get a call.

Don't know your situation and age but have you considered house shares as you could get a bigger place for cheaper, in London there was a site called Speed flat mating to meet the people currently in the place first in a pub in the area.

[AGTDenton]

Deposit protection is mandatory for Assured Shorthold Tenancies, but if you're looking to rent a room with a resident landlord you won't have an AST and you're very unlikely to get them to secure your deposit as it costs them money and is a lot of hassle. If you're renting a single room in a house in multiple occupation (i.e. everyone in the house has a separate tenancy and can lock their own room) you'll probably be on an AST so your deposit *must* be secured. If you're not sure what any of that means, do some serious research before getting into a tenancy, as it'll make a big difference to your rights further down the line (if you end up as a boarder or lodger you have a lot less rights, incidentally).

Good point, my current one is protected but yes its now a question I'm asking private renters.

If smaller properties are more expensive than where you are now, can I ask why you're moving? Seems counter productive to me. If you *have* to move, I don't suppose you know any other people who are also looking to rent and you could get a joint tenancy on a larger place with? It could end up being cheaper for all of you.

The current landlord wands 25% more and I cant sustain it, my wage would never go up by that much in one go. My plan is therefore to downsize and save money. Maybe in the future I'll move in with friends as that almost happened last year but it fell apart from their side.

As to contacting agents - always ring. I've never had any problem booking viewings immediately when I've rung places (and I've been doing a lot of this in the last couple of months, incidentally!).

I have had a couple of "we'll find out and call you back" and they don't, But I have had 2 successful ones.

If you have an AST and the deposit is protected that can't actually do this - there are time limits for how long they can make you wait and if they keep delaying you can raise a dispute through the protection scheme: the whole point of DPS is to stop landlords delaying the return of a deposit. They try to fob you off with BS, but there's no reason you should accept it.

I'm going to dig out my paperwork and see what on earth I signed 5 years ago.


The good news is that February appears to be the time for the rental market to pick up, this morning 10 properties were added to my inbox by Right Move and a further 10 or so by Spareroom so finally some choice. Viewing 3 tomorrow.

[AGTDenton]

Don't know your situation and age but have you considered house shares as you could get a bigger place for cheaper, in London there was a site called Speed flat mating to meet the people currently in the place first in a pub in the area.

Thanks Speedflat looks London/large town based and incidentally run by Spareroom which is where I'm actually looking for house shares. Some good ones came up today so going to view tomorrow.

[badass]

It sounds like things like 35 year mortgages are becoming common place these days which gets the monthly cost down quite a bit.

What happens when interest rates increase?

If you can't afford a house on a 25 year mortgage then you can't afford it.

[dudefellow]

I found my first rented room on Gumtree; it's hit and miss but definitely worth browsing. Setting up an automatic alert can relieve the tedium of manually checking the thing.

SpareRoom is where I found the house share I'm moving in to soon. The 'early bird' thing gets on my nerves, but it's worth just biting the bullet and paying a few quid to the gate keepers to get decent pickings on the lettings/shares put up for punters.

The best lettings are, unfortunately, offline. Friends of friends always get preferential terms and have the advantage of being 'spoken for'. Obviously this requires more work than just using a web service but that's where the best value deals are at.

[AGTDenton]

If you can't afford a house on a 25 year mortgage then you can't afford it.

If only you could just buy a home for a home and leave the investment people to mess about on their own.