๐ฌ๐ง London ยท Housing
Finding somewhere to live in London
A market that clears in days, a legal framework that is unusually protective, and a referencing process that decides everything before you ever meet the landlord.
The thing people get wrongPeople treat the viewing as the hard part. It is not. The hard part is having your referencing pack โ proof of income, previous landlord, Right to Rent share code โ ready to submit the same afternoon, because the flat will be gone by Thursday.
Indicative figures
- One-bed, Zone 1โ2ยฃ1,900 โ ยฃ2,800Excluding council tax and bills.
- One-bed, Zone 2โ3ยฃ1,500 โ ยฃ2,000
- Room in a flatshareยฃ850 โ ยฃ1,300SpareRoom's London average was just under ยฃ1,000 in 2026.
- Up front, maximum5 weeks + 1 monthDeposit cap plus one month's rent in advance, the most the Renters' Rights Act allows.
- Holding deposit1 week's rentCredited to the first rent or deposit.
- Tenant's notice to leave2 monthsOn a periodic tenancy, at any point.
Checked . Ranges, not quotes โ your Insider confirms the current numbers in London before you commit to anything.
How the market actually moves
Most London stock is listed by agents on Rightmove and Zoopla, with OpenRent carrying a large slice of direct-from-landlord lets and SpareRoom dominating flatshares. A well-priced flat in a popular area gets twenty enquiries in a day and viewings are booked in fifteen-minute blocks, sometimes back to back with other applicants. Offers are made on the spot and accepted subject to referencing. Since 1 May 2026 a landlord may not invite or accept more than the advertised rent, so the winner is whoever can move fastest with a clean application, not whoever offers most.
- Set portal alerts to instant rather than daily โ daily is already too late.
- Rents are advertised weekly (pcw) as often as monthly (pcm); multiply the weekly figure by 52 and divide by 12, not by 4.
- Furnished, part-furnished and unfurnished are three genuinely different products at three different prices.
- Zone boundaries move rents more than distance does โ a stop further out but a zone cheaper is the standard trade.
Referencing and the affordability test
Once your offer is accepted the agent sends you to a referencing company. The usual test is annual income of around thirty times the monthly rent, plus an employer reference, a previous landlord reference and a credit check. Someone new to the country typically fails the credit check simply for having no UK footprint. Paying six or twelve months up front used to be the way round that, but the Renters' Rights Act now caps rent in advance at one month before the tenancy starts, so a UK-based guarantor or a paid rent-guarantor service is the realistic fallback.
- Employment contract or offer letter stating salary and start date.
- Three to six months of payslips or bank statements; company accounts if self-employed.
- A UK guarantor is usually asked to earn around thirty-six times the monthly rent.
- Guarantor companies charge a one-off fee, often a few weeks' rent; read what they cover before paying.
- Right to Rent share code from your UKVI account, or your original documents if you are a British or Irish citizen.
What you can and cannot be charged
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 banned most tenant charges in England. A holding deposit is capped at one week's rent and must be credited against your first rent or deposit, and the tenancy deposit is capped at five weeks' rent for most tenancies. Admin fees, referencing fees, inventory fees and renewal fees are simply unlawful, so an agent asking for one is telling you something useful about themselves.
- Holding deposit: one week's rent, maximum.
- Tenancy deposit: five weeks' rent for annual rent under ยฃ50,000; six weeks' above it.
- Permitted charges are limited to rent, deposits, utilities, council tax, and genuine costs for late payment, lost keys or a tenant-requested change.
- The deposit must be placed in a government-approved scheme within 30 days and you must be told which.
The tenancy itself, after 1 May 2026
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolished the assured shorthold tenancy in England. Since 1 May 2026 almost every private let is a periodic assured tenancy with no fixed end date: you can leave on two months' notice at any point, and section 21 no-fault evictions are gone, so a landlord who wants you out must prove a statutory ground such as selling or moving in. Rent can rise once a year, on two months' notice using a section 13 notice, and you can challenge an increase at the First-tier Tribunal. Tenancies that existed before May converted automatically.
- Ask for the EPC, the gas safety certificate and the electrical installation condition report.
- Joint tenancies make all named tenants liable for the whole rent, not their share.
- You may ask to keep a pet, and the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse.
- Take dated photographs at check-in and insist the inventory records them.
In order
- Assemble the referencing pack before you book a single viewing.
- Generate your Right to Rent share code from your UKVI account, or have your British or Irish passport to hand.
- Open a UK bank account โ app-based banks will do this without a utility bill.
- Line up a UK guarantor or a rent-guarantor service, because paying months in advance is no longer allowed.
- View, offer the advertised rent the same day, and pay the holding deposit only to a named agency account.
- Confirm in writing which deposit scheme holds your money, and keep the certificate.
- Register for council tax with the borough within your first weeks.