I’m starting a series of articles on the top tips for renting a London Flat, and today is about when you should look.

Right now is an extremely difficult time to rent a flat in London. We at Pimlico Flats don’t have any vacancies now, don’t have any vacancies coming up, don’t expect the next vacancy until next February, and have a longer waiting list than you can shake a stick at, and this is from a business that normally advertises 2 – 5 vacancies a month. During renting conditions like this a tenant needs to refine their searching abilities to their best. So when is the best time to look?

Property doesn’t generally come on the market until after the existing tenant hands their notice in, which is why there is no point looking until a month before, and if you don’t need a flat till next Spring I wouldn’t do any serious looking, just begin to familiarise yourself with what’s available, what prices are, which are the areas you like. So when you do start looking you can filter things down easily and not waste your time looking at unsuitable flats. A good place won’t stay on the market long, so the danger is that if you are spending a lot of time looking at unsuitable flats, you will be in one of those when someone else better organised sees & takes the bargain flat!

If you have a particular start date to a tenancy you may have to budget for paying for a void to get the right flat. This might be a point worth negotiating on, but if the rent is fair the landlord is unlikely to be prepared to hold it empty for you, because there should be others willing to take it straight away. If they are prepared to hold it for you, it is most likely a sign that you are paying a higher rent than others are offering. The exception would be where there is a property which needs some work doing to it. Under those circumstance it might be worth offering to pay 50% of the rent (this secures you the tenancy) but don’t occupy the flat whilst the landlord does whatever work is necessary. This might work particularly well for you if you want to move some belongings in the flat, or use it occasionally before you move in (coming down to London for a few days to arrange courses etc). It’s win win – you get part use of the flat, for a part payment, and the Landlord gets a part payment & free access to the flat for maintenance (no trying to work around occupants, or awkwardness over access).

It’s quite common for Landlords specialising in Student lets to tailor a routine around term times, so they rent a house out to students for 12 months from June to June (the Academic Year runs October to October) charging the incoming students 50% for July, August, September. The Landlord gets 3 months to redecorate the house & do safety certificates & maintenance. The Landlord also gets the Council Tax paid (flats rented to students are exempt). The students get somewhere to store their belongings whilst they are home for the summer.

Sofa

No one will want you to vacate just before Xmas, so if you are renting starting 1st May for 12 months you won’t have a problem, if you are thinking 1st March for 9 months then no one will give you a contract finishing 1st December (unless they don’t know what they are doing). Tip – you may want to take a 6 month contract and hope that they let it roll over into a Periodic Tenancy, in which case you can give 1 Month notice when it suits you.

Bear in mind that the best deals are where a property is sitting empty, as the landlord will be keen to let it ASAP. They will usually accept a discount if you can move in quickly – every day the property sits empty the landlord is foregoing rent. They will often favour a tenant moving in straight away paying a lower rent vs. full asking price but the property sitting empty for another two weeks.