Househunting

letting

ˈlɛtɪŋ/

noun

BRITISH

1. the action of renting out a property.

   "the renovation of houses for letting"

   • a property that is let or available to be let.

     "large houses were subdivided into multiple lettings"

Finding a place to live in London is a Mission Impossible. Meaning, that it is possible, but (remember the movie) it costs ALOT, puts you under stress and in the end there is still no guarantee that everything will be nice and sunny during your tenancy or when you move out.

The good news is, the city and the state are totally aware of the situation, and there's BIG money involved, so there is a System (The System) built around letting. There are laws, guidelines, leagues and associations for landlords, letting agents, Code of Conduct for Letting, London Rental Standard, Letting/Rental Deposit Protection Scheme, and various organisations helping those in need, like Shelter and Citizens Advice.

I am still in the process of paperwork and agreements. The funny thing is, when I visited a London Transport page today to top up my travel card, there was a huge background banner for a London Rental Standard site, which was born in June, 2014, and is an agreement, signed by letting agents, registered landlords and the Mayor of London about terms, conditions, letting and protection schemes for both tenants and landlords.  It provides a bunch of reasonable documentation with list of things to check before going house hunting, during the process, before signing a contract, after signing a contract and when moving out.

And banks even give out special loans to "buy to let". Serious business.