How to Find Accommodation When Moving to London

So, you’ve got your Youth Mobility Scheme visa and you’re ready to move to London. You’ve got your flights booked and you’re excited for the adventure. But where are you going to live?

Unfortunately, finding a decent place to live in a busy city like London is not a particularly fun nor easy exercise. It’s a highly competitive rental market which can be tricky to crack.

But planning in advance where you’ll stay for at least the first few weeks after you arrive in a new country will make your move so much easier. In fact, it’s one of the key strategies that we recommend to help you survive the first weeks after moving.

Those first few weeks are the most difficult, and you’ll have enough on your plate without needing to worry about accommodation. So, where should you plan to stay initially after moving from Australia London?

Having a temporary bed when you arrive

One strategy is to just book a hostel or have a temporary place to sleep planned for the first few weeks from the day you arrive in London. This buys you a bit of time to look for more permanent accommodation as an Australian in London.

Once you’re on the ground in London, you could then start looking for flatmates on websites like Spare Room and Badi, or for an apartment on Right Move and Zoopla.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to predict how long it will take you to find something. So, if possible, make a refundable accommodation booking that you can cancel if you’re ready to move into your own place sooner than expected. And be prepared to extend your hostel booking if the process takes longer.

Hostels, Airbnbs and friends’ couches

At the very least, it’s worth booking a bed in a hostel for the first two weeks after you arrive. That way, you’ll at least have somewhere to sleep on those first nights. You’ll also have the opportunity to meet lots of other travellers.

Hostels are obviously cheaper than hotels, but they can still be quite expensive in London. And spending weeks sharing hostel dorms with different strangers each night might not be the best introduction to your new city.

You could also consider booking an Airbnb for the first weeks or month. Some hosts will give a discount for longer bookings, but even then, this probably isn’t going to be that cheap in London.

If you happen to know someone in London with a spare bed – or even a couch – it could worth reaching out. That will help you to save a bit of money. Even if you don’t, if you’re on a really tight budget, you could see if a stranger on Couchsurfing is willing to host you for a week or two. Although, that comes with its own obvious risks.

Should you try to find a permanent place to live before arriving?

There are obvious advantages in having a place to live lined up before you arrive in London. The main benefit is that you won’t need to spend your first weeks stressing about where you’re going to sleep! Instead, you can spend that time enjoying London, making friends, and perhaps even starting a new job.

Finding a good place to live before you arrive can be really tricky, though. If you’re still in Australia, it’s particularly difficult as you won’t be able to personally inspect the property or meet your housemates yet in person.

There are sadly a lot of scams out there, too.

The last thing you would want is to commit to a multi-year lease before arriving in London… only to realise that the place doesn’t match the photos, it’s located hours away from your workplace, and you don’t get along with the housemates.

This is where the service offered by Crenns Properties, a Working Holidays for Aussies partner, can be extremely useful for Australians (and New Zealanders) moving to London.

Crenns provides furnished rooms to Aussies and Kiwis in London

If you want to secure accommodation in London before you arrive, we recommend getting in touch with Crenns Properties. They are a family-run business that specialises in providing accommodation in shared houses to Aussies and Kiwis.

They have been doing this for over 25 years, and they own their own houses in West London. These are all close to the Tube and are run and managed by Crenns.

The Crenns Properties team makes it as easy as possible for you to move in. In fact, they’ll even send instructions on how to get to your new house from the airport.

Their rooms are fully furnished, so you don’t need to worry about buying furniture. Each room has a lock on the door. You’ll share a kitchen, bathroom and laundry facilities.

There’s a good chance that your housemates will be other Australians or New Zealanders who have also moved to London. Meeting other people in a similar situation to yourself on day one not only makes your transition easier, but Crenns’ tenants often make lifelong friends with other housemates!

The best part is that you can choose either to sign up for a short-term tenancy (starting with just a 1-month stay when you first arrive in London) or you can stay long-term. So, if you don’t want to commit to a longer contract in advance, you don’t have to.

You can book a room before you arrive, so you have somewhere to live right away. There are options for both couples and singles. Your deposit will be registered and you will be given a proper contract.

The rooms vary in rent between around £150-£210 per week (roughly AUD300-400). That’s a similar price to staying in a mixed dorm at a hostel in London, and you’ll get a room to yourself!

You can check what rooms are currently available on the Crenns Properties website.