As rentals in Lisbon are considerably lower than Maidenhead for a ‘like for like’ property finding a 1 to 2 bed flat for our client Antonio has been has been a challenge! In fact our search continues as even a 1 bedroom flat in central Maidenhead is around triple the price of an average property in and around Lisbon.
Despite everything the Beast from the East could throw at us it did not stop us carrying out our home search. We travelled from Muswell Hill in North London to Stoke Newington in the North East and Whitechapel in the East and beyond.
Relocating to Paris has proved to be a completely different experience to relocating to London! We have now had first hand experience twice, firstly over ten years ago when we were relocated to Paris with the help of our agents who found an apartment for us in the 15th Arrondissement of Paris. We had no idea though how different the Parisian housing market was compared to the London market until earlier this month when my son and I travelled to Paris (as he is studying at La Sorbonne) to find an apartment for him. We thought it would be easy to arrange a few days’ viewings with Parisian Rental agents and have something sewn up within a couple of weeks. However after speaking with quite a number of agents face to face we were told that it would be as easy as we had hoped. Firstly landlords often require a French guarantor; Landlords are not in a hurry to rent as the law is very much in favour of the tenants so landlords only want to make sure they have the right tenant and like to “interview” the tenants before making up their minds in deciding whom to let to. Viewings tend to be on an “open house” basis where there are more than ten tenants looking at one property. We also discovered that it was not unusual for some agents to show you a video of a rental property on line and would only agree to show the property after a months’ deposit and agency fees are paid up front – clearly a scam in our eyes!
Comfortable rooms with a view
When it comes to looking for a short term stay wherever in the UK serviced apartments tend to offer better value for money when compared with hotels. This is because they are tastefully fully furnished temporary homes for individuals and families and with regular housekeeping and bills included in the rate this often costs far less than room in a hotel. They all have fully fitted kitchens with all the necessary kitchen equipment thus living/staying in a serviced apartment is an authentic home away from home experience with the added benefit of hotel style living.
Initially Alice’s home finding brief was to look for a traditional 2/3 bedroom apartment in West Hampstead as this was the best location for the commute to work for Alice and school for her daughter. However, just a few days before they were leaving France to come and view the properties we’d selected they had to change the brief. The school had called to say that the place they thought they’d secured was not actually available. Alice had to rethink her plans and find a new school. The best school for her daughter was located in Gunnersbury to the west of London, so it was back to square one for us and we had to redirect the search from West Hampstead to Ealing/Chiswick and Acton as Alice’s commute to Holborn was of equal importance as her daughter’s commute to Acton. Hence all focus turned to the end of the Piccadilly line.
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