Finding a rental property in the UK is, in theory, a very easy thing to do. However, when you actually embark on the mission of finding one, an avalanche of considerations and dilemmas could hit you and threaten to render the whole process a nerve-wrecking experience. This nearly happened to us (My wife and I) recently.
We are in the process of moving home because of my wife's job relocation. We currently live in a two double-bedroom fully furnished apartment and we wanted to move into a similar property but were quite determined to have a couple of things in the new property that we don't have in the current one:
1) at least a small garden
2) a kitchen with windows
We took time off work on a Friday and viewed, in all, 11 properties before deciding to take the very last property which we viewed and fell in love with immediately. The only two things this property does not have are:
1) a garden
2) windows in the kitchen
Our journey from our stated 'must-have's to what we actually got was a tricky one. There was a massive number of 'new considerations' that kept cropping up as we started viewing properties, seemingly, out of thin air. To name a few of these 'new considerations':
1) The manner in which the letting agents operate - are they more towards the landlords or tenants?
2) Is it an uphill walk when you go towards the station? (Believe it or not)
3) Is there loft space for additional storage? (Although we had pledged to each other that we would throw away the stuff that we have not been using but still holding onto them as treasured possessions)
4) Colour of carpets if any;
5) Carpets in bathrooms (Really??!!)
4) Colour of carpets if any;
5) Carpets in bathrooms (Really??!!)
These new considerations only came into contention after we started viewing properties and grew to become important issues that could not be easily ignored. Add to that the fact that we were racing against the clock and we did not have any more holidays left to view more properties, I think, we were quite close to hitting the panic button.
Despite all this we did find the process quite enjoyable! We enjoyed seeing different houses, being able to go into other people's houses and getting a glimpse of their life styles, in terms of their choice of furniture, kitchen appliances, books, bedding, air-fresheners, toiletries etc. I think it appealed to our combined sense of curiosity that had crossed borders and was well and truly into pure nosiness.
My wife thought the process was much like choosing a partner - ie: you never end up with your stated 'must-have's but still fall in love with it??
My wife thought the process was much like choosing a partner - ie: you never end up with your stated 'must-have's but still fall in love with it??
