This guide aims to explain the different stages of a rental in London. Once you have found the property that suits you with a real estate agency, here are the different steps to your move in the British capital. From the signing of the lease to the charges, we help you better understand the process of renting in London. Check
www.for-sale.com for more information about property rental in the UK.
Make an offer
The first step when you find your accommodation in London is to make an offer to the owner. In England, this offer is trading. The consultants will take care of this negotiation and advise you at best. Of course, this concerns the price of rent but may also include other elements. It all depends on your date of entry: the sooner you move into the apartment or house, the more likely you are to negotiate with the landlord. Indeed, the latter wants to find new tenants as soon as possible. It is common to negotiate some renovations to make in your future rental. For example, it is possible to ask for the carpet to be changed (in England, most goods have carpet on the floor in most rooms) or for a dishwasher to be installed.
Requesting references and verifying your identity
It is very common to ask for references before signing a rental agreement in London. This is called the form application and the reference check. The purpose of this document is to verify your identity, creditworthiness and “good behavior”. Verification of the accuracy of this information will be done by a private company and not by the owner or agency. Know that England is a very procedural country and that these references are taken very seriously and will be scrupulously checked. Better not to cheat! In this context, you may be required to provide a letter from your previous landlord if you were a previous tenant or someone who has known you for at least 3 years if you owned or lived with your parents. Family members are of course not considered to be authoritative witnesses.
Drafting and signing the rental agreement
The security deposit for renting an apartment or house in London is 6 weeks. But as we said before, this can vary if for example you bring pets. These 6 weeks of guarantee will be cashed by the agency into an escrow account belonging to him. This is called the deposit scheme. The classic lease in England is called AST for Assured Shorthold Tenancy. It is a renewable one-year contract. Again, this term is an average, it is possible to make a contract of 2 or 3 years but if the tenant leaves before the end of the contract, it will still pay until the end of 2 or 3 years.