Is rent by the week common in the UK?

Question

I have been looking at flat prices and noticed that most if not all were listed by the week. Does that mean there are no leases (commonly a 12 month lease in the US)? What stops people from raising the rent each week?

Answer 1

The price per week is just to show what it will be costing - it doesn't mean that it is just a 1 weeks lease. Different areas use different customs to show the rent - I used to rent out apartments in the north of england at the cheap end of the market, and always advertised a weekly figure. At the same time I was leasing more upmarket apartments in London and the advertised price was always monthly. It just depends on the local market.

The leasing agreement itself will show how long the term is (typically a short term assured lease will be 6 months in the UK), what notice periods are applicable (typically 1 month), etc etc. Just make sure that when you are comparing possible options, you are comparing apples to apples and you can't go wrong - ie make sure you convert all to weekly rents or all to monthly rents - so for instance 100 pounds per week is more expensive than 400 pounds per month.