Jayne Dowle from The Times has written a good article for those that are new to renting: Ten things you need to know about…renting

There are a couple of things that were new even (!) to us. Rentright.co.uk has developed a Residential Rental Price Index (RRPI), which we definitely want to explore. And if you really want to be a true London tenant, you’ll note that the UK television’s most memorable comedy about renting is Rising Damp (photo above).

There’s a lot of buzz over the company, The Property Bureau, that has apparently failed to pass on several rents from tenants to landlords. Read all about it here.

What a nightmare. No word from the letting agent but they say there is more than one similar complaint against them. The landlords should definitely pay more attention to who they trust, and choose an agent who is ARLA registered. They have a bond scheme that will pay if landlords or tenants should the letting agent fail to do so.

We’re about a week late with our post, as the launch of the sale in this development was on February the 21st. Bezier is the name of this new residential building complex that will be built in between the City and Shoreditch in EC2, right next to Old Street roundabout.

There will be 200 apartments in the two 16-storey buildings. The construction will start in March and should be completed in 2010. The developer is Tudorvale Properties Group.

See the development’s homepage HERE.

Remember when we talked about the unfair fees that letting agents are claimed to charge? Well, the National Landlords Association is celebrating today, as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has finally done something about it – they issued High Court proceedings against Foxtons, one of the biggest agents in town.

They are not the only ones who are being accused of charging unfair fees – just one the biggest that gets more complaints, and is therefore good to hang as an example.

We don’t know yet whether this will make the letting agents change their terms but the case will surely clear some air in the charges department.

Sotheby’s is selling the flat that The Beatles once rented together:

Often referred to by enthusiasts as “The Beatles Flat” this was the only apartment all Beatles shared in 1963 after all four moved to London from Liverpool when “Beatles Mania” first hit. Early in their careers, the flat was used for a famous photo shoot for the December 1963 edition of The Beatles Book which included an iconic shot of the band looking over the balcony into the stairwell of the building.

The building is on Green Street, Mayfair, London W1. Photos from Sotheby’s.

The founder of spareroom.co.uk, Rupert Hunt, says that record numbers of people have been taking in lodgers in recent months. More and more financially stretched homeowners are taking in a tenant to avoid problems with paying the mortgage. Times adds that even Kate Moss has a lodger. How hip is that?! Read more here.

Alright, for those of you who cannot decide whether to give it a try or not – here’s a list of pros and cons of renting an apartment for a holiday/short term stay:

Pros:

+ more space
+ layout may offer more privacy than a hotel would (separated rooms)
+ more freedom
+ more freedom to entertain guests the way you want to
+ more privacy
+ more homely feel
+ apartment embraces the culture of the local area more than a hotel room
+ pets usually welcome
+ you don’t have to eat out all the time
+ a refrigerator stocked with your favorite foods
+ a fry-pan in the kitchen
+ a washer and dryer in the apartment instead of continually sending clothes out for cleaning
+ rates are per apartment and not per person so there can be significant financial savings from sharing the apartment
+ for longer period might be financially more reasonable than a hotel

Cons:

- involves more internet research (no kidding!)
- in case of emergency, no immediate help
- usually not cleaned every day, if at all
- bed sheets not changed every day
- less security
- breakfast not served
- more likely to disappoint you
- more likely to surprise you unpleasantly
- less chance of additional amenities, like a sauna or pool area
- less chance of services in the same building
- deposit payment, which will raise the sum you have to pay before you can move in

Do note that this is just a guide as there are so many different types of services and apartments. Hopefully you’ll be more willing to give the short term rental a try, once you’ve gone through all the pluses and minuses. Once you know what you are getting yourself into:) The list is updatable, so if you have any pros or cons to add – please put it in the comments and we will add it in the list!

Foto: Buildings overlooking Green Park in 2004

Refrences used:
Luxury Serviced Apartments Vs Hotels: The Top 5 Reasons To Stay At Luxury Serviced Apartments iSnare.com
Serviced Apartments vs Hotels, Which is Better ApartOtels.com
12.01.2008 Hotel Rooms vs. Apartments Russell Cocker’s Documents
12.13.2005 The Corporate Apartment Alternative USA Today

Actor Colin Firth is opening up the first eco shop today in Chiswick, called Eco Age. You might be interested in checking out their working example of an eco kitchen and a “grey-water” loo. Among many other things, the shop sells designer textiles, wallpaper, and crafted furniture.

ECO AGE
213 Chiswick High Road
Chiswick London W4 2DW
www.eco-age.com

Via Homes&Property Photo Homes&Property 30.01.2008 (pdf)

ARLA‘s president Robert Jordan said at their annual conference that licensing of all lettings agents would be the solution to bad practice in the rental market. Especially now that the flat house sales will encourage insufficiently qualified agents to go into lettings as a survival mechanism:

“This is a very great worry, because if agents are not already involved and qualified they could be a risk to the market. Unqualified agents, together with amateur landlords, are responsible for the majority of problems in the private rented sector. The missing link is that government should bite the bullet and license all lettings agents and landlords.”

Via PR Newswire Foto from the conference brochure (pdf)

Cheval Apartments has replied to us already. The 2-bed Cheval Place Knightsbridge apartment is available for the required dates! We shall contact the tenants to find out if they are ready to make some decisions but also have to face the fact that plan B is still not out of the picture. No matter how nice the apartment looks – apparently it is not that easy to change old habits, and convince “hotel-people” to start using holiday apartments all of a sudden. We definitely need to write down what the pros and cons of renting a holiday apartment are.

Here is the plan for Cheval Apartment and the two hotel options the family is considering:

13 Cheval Place, Knightsbridge SW7 1EW
Bedrooms: 2 (1 double, 1 single) Bathrooms: 2
Serviced apartment
Price: £1690 per week + VAT i.e. total cost 10 days i.e. 9 nights £2173 + VAT 17,5%

Number Sixteen hotel
16 Sumner Place, South Kensington SW7 3EG
Double Deluxe room with size: 26m2
Price: £265 per night Total cost 9 nights £2385

54 Boutique Hotel
54 Queen’s Gate, South Kensington SW7 5JW
Suite FiftyFour
Price: £376 per night Total cost 9 nights £3384

Saturday’s Financial Times reports that London agents are are seeing up to 25 per cent more activity in their lettings business compared with a year ago. Many agencies have waiting lists of tenants and new lets take just a few days to fill. Most of this demand is from young professionals and City workers who don’t want to buy into the weak housing market.

We know you have been eagerly waiting for some news on our short term rental search.

Well, after 11 days of intensive search it is still too early to make any conclusions. Our last enquiry flew out only today. To Cheval Group, a company that has quite a few luxury apartments for rent in London. We realize today that the chance of something good being available on such short notice is slim. So we have asked them to just let us know what is available at the end of February. This one would have been most suitable:

13 Cheval Place, Knightsbridge SW7 1EW
Bedrooms: 2
Serviced apartment
Minimum stay: 7 days
Price: £1690-2300 per week + VAT i.e. total cost 10 days i.e. 9 nights £2173-2957 + VAT

Photo: Cheval Group

We know that anything is possible in London but would you believe that you can have a home here for 25 pounds to 60 pounds (including all utility bills) a week? Camelot Property is looking for people to occupy temporarily vacant properties. In return for cheap accommodation the Guardians take care of the building. Not sure if the owners of the properties are too crazy about the advertising line that Camelot is using, though – Looking for an adventurous way of living? … Not sure if I would trust an adventurer to house-sit my home!!! Well, actually, not everyone qualifies, as their criteria list shows, so not to worry:) Find out more about becoming a housesitter here.

Illustrative video: trailer for a movie Housesitter

AllAgents.co.uk is another website for rating agents. It seems to be a lot more user-friendly than ROEA.

We tried adding a company that was not listed – Findlay Property, and then tried to rate City & Urban estate agency. It took me just a few seconds to fill out the forms, as they were really simple. The data was not published automatically though, so they must review it before publishing.

Perhaps the site is of help to someone, although I am not sure how they can ensure me that the bad rating is not from competitors and good from the company itself?