The flat that was used for the set of upcoming movie London Boulevard starring Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley is available for rent.

Private landlord advertisement on Gumtree:

Stunning two bedroomed maisonette in private
mews with outdoor terrace (£600 pw)

In the heart of Notting Hill, this secluded Mews, was recently used for the set of London Boulevard, a film to be released with Colin Farrell in 2010. This stunning two bedroomed flat offers a boutique style living space with contemporary fixtures and fittings, lime stone flooring and private outdoor terrace.

Situated on the top floor the property comprises a bright reception room with a small modern kitchen, excellent master bedroom with a second terrace leading from this room, with a smaller -sized second bedroom.

Botts Mews is conveniently close to the shops, bars and restaurants of Nottinghill, as well as 2 tube lines (Nottinghill Gate, and Bayswater) and numerous buses providing a useful transport link around London.

This is a fully serviced let with a well equiped kitchen, (utensils, crockery and cutlery), washing machine, microwave, towels, and bedlinen. Cable TV and broadband internet connection is also provided. Superb location ! References required. Available for both a short and long term rental. £650.00 per week including all bills.

Come on Farrell fans, here is your chance!

Link to the advertisement in Gumtree
Link to London Boulevard in IMDB
Photos: Gumtree

At least 5,500 properties owned by the London councils are unoccupied, more than 3,000 of which have been vacant for three months or more, revealed Evening Standard last week. Here are some numbers:

Now Ealing council is planning to launch a scheme that gives young people the opportunity to jump the queue for affordable housing if they agree to learn renovation skills. The council will identify privately owned properties which have been left unoccupied for more than three months.

Sounds like a full time job!

Experts say that the demand for rentals in London is increasingly on the rise:

“A rising number of more mature households in the private rented sector is likely to mean that it is not just studios and one-bedroom flats that will be required but, increasingly, small houses and family homes for those with children who have been unable to gain a foothold on the housing ladder,” says Yolande Barnes of Savills.

Read the whole story in FT Weekend.

As part of the program to help raise standards and improve choice and mobility for London tenants, the Mayor has launched a new website called The London Rents Map that provides information on the average rents for private accommodation. Unlike existing search portals which show asking prices posted by estate agents and individuals rather than rents achieved, it is based on actual market rents. The data used in the map is supplied by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and is based upon market rents from private rented sector lettings. This information is contributed by landlords, agents and tenants across England. The information published on the site is based on a sample of private tenancies created over the most recent 12 months available.

Jump to The London Rents Map.

Foxtons will not be happy to see this.

Careless scammers are copying their  property descriptions:

FAKE FAKE FAKE 2-bed flat in Chelsea for £150.

Foxtons original ad 2-bed flat in Chelsea for £650 per week.

So if you’re not familiar with the rental prices in London and you see a “real bargain” -  Google one of the sentences in the ad to find out in a second if it’s worth contacting “the landlord”.

PS! Visit Tenantista Zone to discuss fake ads!

The latest FindaProperty.com rental index for October 2009 is here!

From the London market overview:

• The SUPPLY in London rental market has been falling by 18.8% from the August peak and 13.2% in the last month.

• STOCK LEVELS remain 30% higher than a year ago. The stock of flats dropped by almost a fifth (-19.2%) since the peak in August, including 13.8% in the last month. The number of houses on the market, meanwhile, has dropped by 16.8% since the August peak and almost 10% over the last month.

• RENTS increased by 1.6% in October to £1,636 pcm, the second consecutive monthly rise in line with falling stock levels.

• The annual rate of decline in rental values went to -4.6% from -5.7% in September.

• YIELDS have gone up slightly from 4.47% last month to 4.5% in October.

• There are now 4 boroughs showing POSITIVE ANNUAL GROWTH, with rents higher than they were a year ago – in Havering, Kensington & Chelsea, Enfield and Barking & Dagenham. Demand for properties in the most desirable, affluent boroughs is driving the wider London recovery, with the five most expensive boroughs (Kensington & Chelsea, City of Westminster, Camden, Hammersmith & Fulham and Barnet) all recording positive month-on-month growth.

• The boroughs which recorded the LARGEST PRICE FALLS in October are at the mid to lower end of the market (Lambeth, Sutton, Redbridge, Lewisham and Merton).

Download the full report here: FindaProperty.com Rental Index October 2009

Renters have started to run background checks on property owners, writes The Observer. As the number of mortgages in arrears has soared, tenants’ concerns are well founded.

So what are our options?

First, if you’re renting through a letting agent, ask them what type of background checks have they run on the property owner.

Without landlord’s consent we can confirm that their name matches the one on the property deeds. Log on to Land Registry – information for one property costs £4.

Landlord’s permission is needed for the following checks:

- Basic check for £15.88 with TenantVerify reveals an individual’s credit score, outstanding debts, whether there have been any county court judgments filed against them, and their main residence for the last six years.

- More comprehensive check with TenantVerify for £30.88 gives you the landlord’s contract of employment, earnings and character references.

“With almost ten people for every available property in Notting Hill landlords can look forward to an excellent return on any refurbishment work they perform.”

- Tom Mellon, Foxtons lettings manager, for The Hill.

10 people for every available property?!  Mad!

*Zoopla.co.uk

I was looking at this photo thinking – what, in heaven’s name, is that?!

Estate agent Hamptons description in the ad explains: “A slide that whisks you down through a trap door from the master bedroom into the reception.”

Check out Rainbow House on Portobello Road in Notting Hill W11 – a 3 bedroom house to rent for £4500 per week.

Woohoo!

Interesting new widget from Gumtree – Rent Smart Widget shows how your monthly rent compares to other properties in your area.

My place is currently a couple of hundred pounds cheaper than the average!

From The Westminster’s Reporter.

Residents at risk of losing their homes because of difficulties with mortgage or rent payments can now apply for an interest free loan under a new council scheme.

The lettings market is starting to recover as increased sales activity and the return of corporate tenants soaks up the surplus rental stock, reports FT Weekend:

- Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) sees fewer properties becoming available;
- FindaProperty.com said that the number of properties fell by more than 6% in September;
- Savills sees renewed interest from corporate tenants and relocation agents;
- Tim Hyatt of Knight Frank said: “We are achieving rents just shy of asking price – but this is still around 10% lower than a year ago.”

Read the full article here.

We spotted this ad on Albion Street W2 next to St. George’s Fields: “London Home To Rent £375.”

St. George’s Fields is a gated residential building complex just 5 minutes from Marble Arch and Hyde Park. It has an underground car parking facilities, and is surrounded by its own 2½ acres of wooded gardens.

There’s more information about the home for rent on St. George’s Fields website:

Kendal Steps
1 bedroom flat
495 Sq/Ft Total

Well presented second floor apartment, extending to approximately 495 sq ft and benefiting from natural light and amazing view from the west-faced balcony.

The Accommodation Comprises:

ENTRANCE HALL: FITTED KITCHEN: NATURAL BRIGHT AND SPACIOUS LIVING ROOM WITH BALCONY: WELL PRESENTED BEDROOM: BATHROOM

Amenities Include:

ON-SITE ESTATE OFFICE: UNDER-FLOOR HEATING: ON-SITE MAINTAINANCE CONTRACTORS: UNDERGROUND CAR PARKING

Click here to view the ad with photos.

Kendal Steps East Side © St George’s Fields

There are 300 apartments in these 5-storey early 70’s buildings.

Walking down the streets of central London you can see a lot of “Shop To Let” signs. One would think it must be a good time to rent commercial retail premises. According to the latest “Main Streets Across The World” report by Cushman & Wakefield, the prices in the capital haven’t fallen that much though.

In the UK, high street retail rents continued to soften around the country, falling by 2.4% over the year to June. However, the key streets in Central London have remained resilient and, indeed, rents have continued to increase in some locations in the capital. Moreover, the occupational market now appears to be showing signs of stabilising and, following a raft of retailer bankruptcies and administrations in early 2009, the worst of the retailer shakeout may now be over.

76 New Bond Street, Francesco Biasia store.

New Bond Street W1
Most expensive street in UK, ranking 6th in the world.
Rent: 5,885 EUR sq.m/yr

Oxford Circus

Oxford Street
Annual Rental Growth 2.9%
Rent 4,101 EUR sq.m/yr

Covent Garden
Annual Rental Growth 4.3%
Rent 3,550 EUR sq.m/yr

Brompton Road
Annual Rental Growth 0.0%
Rent 3,098 EUR sq.m/yr

Download the full report.

Search for commercial property for rent:
Convenient list of available shops with really good maps Shop Property
Commercial property for rent Primelocation

The decline in rents that we have seen since the middle of last year appears to be ending, declares Knight Frank in their latest residential market review. It will take some time for the level of rental stock to return to normal levels but a lot of ‘forced’ landlords have begun to slowly shift properties back into the sales market.

- The fall in central London rents continued into the early summer – Knight Frank’s prime London rental index confirms that for the three month period to the end of June 2009 rents fell by 1.9% on average. On an annual basis in June rents were 19.3% lower than they were in 2008.

- It has been more expensive properties that have borne the brunt of the rental falls – with rents on properties costing up to £500 per week falling only 11.3% over the year to June,
and those costing over £1,500 per week falling by 27.3% over the same period.

- Most central London sub-markets have been hit by falling rents. Chelsea and Kensington have been particularly affected with declines of over 26% in each area. Only the City – with a rental fall of just 9.7% over the past year – has been partially protected from the downturn. The City benefits from a high proportion of lower priced properties which have been better performers during the downturn.

- The autumn market is likely to be characterised by hard negotiations for landlords – but significant rental reductions from here are unlikely. The traditional busy September market could see the beginning of rental increases in some areas – as demand from new employees and their families comes into the market.

Click here to download the latest research from Knight Frank.