Guide to Renting in London
Congratulations on staring your study in London! 🥳 Being a prospective tenant is not always easy, but this guide will provide you a good starting point.
Decide Where to live in London
Based on information published by Zoopla, a British real estate renting
site that provides information for prospect renter and buyers, the
average rent in London is roughly
ÂŁ1249
per month. The average rental price for the rest of the UK is only  £676
per month.
It is essential for you to consider the safety of the neighbourhood,
your potential commute time to workplace, and whether the neighbourhood
culture fit your interests.
Some of the Fantastic Neighbourhoods
-
KENSINGTON, KNIGHTSBRIDGE
Best for:Â Museums, shopping, ultra-luxe boutiques, also-ran hotels
What you won’t find:  Historic sights
Here, one expensive neighborhood genuflects to another, and barely anyone you meet was born in England. South Kensington and Brompton draw the most visitors to their grand museums; and Knightsbridge is where moneyed foreigners spend and show off—London now has the most billionaires in the world, nearly twice as many as New York or Moscow. They can’t legally change most of the facades, so to satisfy their hunger for more space, the big trend among the rich is to burrow downward to build underground rooms—the “pleasure caves” of Kensington. Privilege has long had an address in Kensington—that’s a reason those edifying institutions were located here to begin with, away from the grubby paws of the peasants—but it also is home to a core of French expats; you’ll find the cafes catering to them on Bute Street. Kensington Palace, at the Gardens’ western end, is where Prince William and Kate live when they’re in town. When you travel west to Earl’s Court, you experience a considerable drop in voltage. It’s a frumpy zone deprived of a contingency to the park with undistinguished eats and sleeps; the rise of King’s Cross and Shoreditch for younger travelers has reduced it to near-negligible stature. Your parents may have stayed here once, but you shouldn’t. -
THE CITY
Best for: Old streets, the Tower of London, St Paul’s, financial concerns
What you won’t find:  Nightlife or weekend life, affordable hotels
Technically, this is the only part of London that’s London. Other bits, including the West End, are under the jurisdiction of different local governments, such as Westminster or Camden. The City, as it’s called, is where most of London’s history happened. It’s where Romans cheered gladiators. It’s where London Bridge—at least 12 versions—touched shore. It’s where the Great Fire raged. And, more recently, it’s where the Deutsche Luftwaffe focused many of its nocturnal bombing raids, which is why you’ll find so little evidence of the aforementioned events. Outside of working hours, the main thing you’ll see in The City is your own reflection in the facade of corporate fortresses; west of Liverpool Street station, even most of the pubs close on weekends. Although it encompasses such priceless relics as the Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower Bridge, the Bank of England, and the Monument, many of the area’s remnants are underfoot—the spider web of lanes and streets dates to the Roman period, with names that hint at their former lives (Walbrook is where the river Walbrook, now hidden underground, flowed down to the Thames; Honey Lane, Bread St., Milk St., and Poultry all once hosted food markets.) Buildings have come and gone, but the veins of The City have pumped in-situ for thousands of years. -
VICTORIA & CHELSEA
Best for:Â Boutiques, low-cost lodging, town homes, wealthy neighbors
What you won’t find: Transit options, street life, museums
Victoria doesn’t technically apply to the neighborhood around the eponymous train station—Belgravia (to the west) and Pimlico (south and east) take those honors—but the shorthand stuck. Most of the area, which is residential or uninterestingly workaday, was developed starting in the 1820s in consistent patterns of white stucco-terraced homes. The area around the station, which is being redeveloped in a massive works project, contains two outlier West End theatres, but little else. Just north, you’ll face the brick walls of Buckingham Palace Gardens. Chelsea, to its south, has a history of well-heeled bohemianism—Oscar Wilde, James McNeill Whistler, and the Beatles all lived here—although it’s known more as one of The City’s most exclusive (and some would say insular) communities. A stroll past boutiques and pocket-squared residents on the King’s Road, turning ever-more corporate and indistinct, is not the adventure it once was.
Be aware of the Council Tax
Council Tax is an annual fee that your local council charges you for the
local services it provides, like rubbish collection and libraries.
Normally you pay it in 10 monthly instalments, followed by two months of
not making any payments.
How much Council Tax you pay depends on:
your personal circumstances, your personal circumstances, how much
the council needs to fund its services.