Rent first, at least for a year
If you are moving to London from elsewhere, the most useful advice is also the least exciting. Rent before you buy, and rent somewhere you can leave.
London is not one housing market. It is dozens of them, and they behave differently over distances of a mile. The area that looks ideal on a map, priced sensibly and near a station, may turn out to be a forty minute walk from anywhere you actually want to be on a Saturday. Living somewhere for a year tells you what no amount of research does.
The corollary is not to over commit. Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, in force from 1 May 2026, assured tenancies in England are periodic rather than fixed term, and tenants can normally end one with two months of written notice. That gives you more flexibility than the old twelve month fixed term did, which is worth knowing if the first choice turns out to be wrong.
What renting actually costs upfront
Budget for this properly, because it is more than the first month's rent and the rules changed recently.
- Security deposit, capped by the Tenant Fees Act 2019 at five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, or six weeks above that. The cap is per tenancy, not per tenant, so a shared house has one deposit between everyone.
- Holding deposit, capped at one week's rent, and applied to your first payment if the tenancy proceeds.
- Rent in advance, now limited to one month. Requiring six months upfront from someone with thin UK references was common practice and is no longer permitted.
- Nothing else. No admin fees, no referencing fees, no inventory fees. If an agent asks, they are breaking the law.
Two practical points if you are arriving from abroad or starting a new job. Referencing usually wants proof of income at around thirty times the monthly rent annually, and without a UK credit history you may be asked for a UK based guarantor or an insurance backed alternative. Ask what the agent will accept before you fall in love with a flat.
Choose the area on the commute, not the map
Distance in London means very little. Journey time and reliability mean everything.
Before committing, do the actual journey at the actual hour, in both directions. A twenty five minute trip on paper can be fifty in practice, with two changes and a bus that only sometimes appears.
Things worth checking:
- Which lines serve you, and what happens when one is closed at a weekend
- Zones, since travel costs step up as you move outward, and a cheaper rent in Zone 4 can be eaten by the fare difference
- The walk at each end, in January, in the dark
- Night services, if you work late or go out
- Whether you would ever cycle, and what the roads are like if you would
Our guide to choosing where to live covers the wider checks, including flood risk, council tax bands and how to test a neighbourhood properly.
What surprises people about London homes
Coming from most of the UK, the shock is not really the price. It is the shape of the housing.
No loft, no garage, no shed. Storage space that most houses take for granted simply does not exist in a converted flat. This is the single most common reason newcomers end up needing container storage, and it is worth planning for rather than discovering.
Stairs, and no lift. Victorian conversions routinely put flats on second and third floors with no lift and a tight turn at the top. It affects what furniture can physically get in, and it affects what a removal costs.
No parking, and permits. Most inner boroughs are controlled parking zones. Residents' permits are applied for through the council, cost varies by borough and sometimes by vehicle emissions, and there is often a waiting period.
Council tax varies by borough, not just by band, so two similar flats a mile apart can carry noticeably different bills.
Rooms are smaller. Measure before you bring a large sofa or a king size bed across the country. Plenty of furniture that suits a house elsewhere will not fit through a London doorway, let alone into the room.
Bringing a car
Think about this before you move it rather than after.
Central London has the Congestion Charge, and the whole of Greater London is inside the Ultra Low Emission Zone, which charges non compliant vehicles daily. Check your registration against Transport for London's vehicle checker before assuming.
Add residents' permit costs, insurance premiums that are higher in London postcodes, and the reality that many trips are faster by tube. A fair number of people who move to London sell the car within a year.
The move itself
A long distance move into London has two ends with very different problems. The origin is usually straightforward. The London end rarely is.
Book earlier than you would elsewhere. Summer and month ends fill first, and a long distance job needs a vehicle committed for a whole day or more. Our guide to the best time of year to move covers the seasonal pattern.
Sort parking at the London end. A bay suspension often has to be arranged with the borough in advance. Without it, the van may be parked a long way from the door, and that carry is charged.
Tell the company about the access. Floor number, lift or no lift, stair width, and whether the street is narrow. It changes the crew size and the vehicle.
Use storage to decouple the dates. If the tenancy starts a week after you leave, or the flat is smaller than the house you are leaving, containers bridge the gap. Belongings are collected at the old address and delivered to the new one when you are ready.
Do not move what will not fit. Measure the new place first, then decide. It is cheaper to sell a wardrobe than to transport it two hundred miles and discover it cannot go up the stairs.
Frequently asked questions
How much deposit can a landlord ask for in London? Five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, or six weeks above that, under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. A holding deposit is capped at one week's rent, and rent in advance is limited to one month.
Should I rent or buy when moving to London? Renting first is usually sensible. London is many small markets, and a year of living somewhere tells you what research cannot. Tenancies are now periodic, so leaving requires two months of notice rather than seeing out a fixed term.
Do I need a guarantor to rent in London? Often, if you have no UK credit history or are starting a new job. Agents may accept a UK based guarantor or an insurance backed alternative. Ask what is acceptable before you view.
Should I bring my car to London? Check it against the ULEZ rules first, and factor in the Congestion Charge if you will drive into central London, plus permit costs and higher insurance. Many people find they use it far less than expected.
Where do Londoners keep things without a loft or garage? Container storage is the usual answer. Space inside a converted flat is limited, and storing what you need seasonally rather than daily is cheaper than renting a larger flat for it.
How far in advance should I book a long distance move to London? Six weeks or more, and earlier for summer or month end dates. Long distance jobs commit a vehicle for a full day, so the diary fills sooner than for local moves.
Talk to us
RMV Storage & Removals has moved people into London from across the UK and Europe for over fifteen years, with house and office removals, international removals, packing services and materials and container storage delivered to your door, across every area we cover including North London.
If you are moving from a distance, the moving house checklist covers the sequence. Otherwise tell us both postcodes, the floor and whether there is a lift, and get in touch.
Written by Riki Migliori, Director at RMV Storage & Removals. Originally published February 2017. Fully reviewed and updated summer 2026.