I have problems renting a room in London

Question

When I finally found a room advertised on Gumtree, I called the guy to arrange a visit. Thing is, when i showed up (at the time he told me to come there) his flatmates told me he was out (he later confessed being asleep). I wanted to pay the deposit yesterday, to keep the room (I'll be moving in in September) and now he wants me to go back there... thing is.... I live in Nottingham! Train tickets are so d**n expensive! Do you have any suggestions?

Answer 1

Are you sure you want to move in with this guy? He doesn't seem serious and careless. Think that you'll have to share with him for quite a while. Do you think he's reliable?

Answer 2

Avoid that sort of landlord like the plague. You haven't even parted with your money yet and the guy is already not a*sed at all. Just imagine if the boiler breaks down and you have to wait for this guy to arrange for someone to come over and fix it... no thanks.

Don't just rely on the Gumtree. Use these other websites too:

http://london.spareroom.co.uk/

http://moveflat.com/

http://www.freeflats.com/

http://www.flatshare.com/

http://uk.easyroommate.com/

Maybe next time you come to London you could stay somewhere cheap and central like the Generator hostel for a couple of nights at least, so that you can do some proper house hunting.

When I'm house hunting, I like spending a couple of weeks just trawling through ads to familiarise myself with the current market prices and then after that I move in for the bargains as soon as I spot one but you can find a good market-rate room after just a couple of days if you really go all out.

Answer 3

I would carry on looking if I was you

Answer 4

He is being totally unreasonable. You arrived at the appointed time to find him out / asleep, so it is his fault. I really wouldn't bother coming back to London given that train tickets are so expensive.

Can you not send him a cheque for the deposit? Or pay by bank transfer or Paypal?

(Also, I'm assuming you've read and signed a contract before agreeing to hand over any money - if not, you should have!)

Good luck :)