Any tips on flat hunting?

[Tarah_Srethwatanakul]

How many months ahead of my move should I start flat hunting? What are the best times of the year to flat hunt? Are there any particular good sites/agencies?

[Howard_Gray]

2-3 months, sometimes less. Gumtree, Spareroom are best for rooms; for apartments and houses use zoopla

[Stephan_J_F_Heller]

Winter is cheaper. You don't need to search in advance. 2 weeks max. Flats come and go super fast. Best is to move in somewhere short term and do full time hunting for 2 weeks. Schedule viewings back to back. You get about 8-10 done per day if you stay in one area. Good luck

[Alastair_McFarlane]

I'm not sure about best times of the year - I only moved here this year! However, while it's best to have a look to make sure you can find things in your budget a few months ahead, don't expect a flat to stay on the market that long. I found mine in the first week of viewings, after a week of proper searching, and we moved in 3 weeks later. I'd say no further ahead than 6 weeks or so.

As for sites, check out zoopla and rightmove, both good sites. The agencies differ depending on what area you're looking in. All I can say on that one is that we moved with Mann Countrywide, and while their fees were a little on the pricey side, they were really good.

Hope this helps, best of luck in moving!

[Roy_Willis]

I agree with this completely - there's no rush and its so much easier to do it when you're already there and can react fast. As was said above, flats come and go crazy fast in London.

[Dylan_Richards]

Yup, besided rooms, Gumtree is actually good for renting flats as well, and also houses! I found my flat for rent on there, it's great!

[Kelly_Alexander]

As was said before by someone, it's not a very good idea to start looking too early and I had bad experiences with flats flying off the market while I was still sorting my things out in the previous country as well so yeah, I agree, best to keep an eye on things all the time and not worry about it too early on - a flat will come along before you even know it.

[Alexander_Bastien]

2 weeks maximum, the market moves very quickly. If you see anything before that, it will be gone by the time you get here.

[Nelson]

Yet if one is picky it is good to start early to learn the market. It took me quite a while to get comfortable with accepting a place (first learn the market then find a very good compromise - this can take weeks if one is working at the same time)

[Nic]

You’ll probably want to already be in London when you start looking, but it’s a good idea to spend some time on rightmove.co.uk or zoopla.co.uk beforehand to get an idea of what’s available at what price in the areas you want. Either site will have 99% of all flats available through estate agents.

If you want to share, moveflat.co.uk often has very nice things without involving agents. Sharing is very common in London, and it’s a really good way to discover a new city and meet the locals.

Aside from that, trust London estate agents even less than you would other estate agents - make your own mind about the flat, don’t listen to what they say, and take the listings with a grain of salt. It’s not always awful, but better be wary.