Social housing in London is very scarce and the waiting lists with the councils can take years for vacant properties. Depending on the size of the property you are needing also depends on the reality of being successful on the housing register. The bigger the property, the longer the wait. The most available properties are studios. Whilst there are advantages of having a social property, if where you live is not suitable, then finding suitable and affordable private rented property is a good option.

When looking for a property you need to know if you can afford it. Looking at your fixed incomings and outgoings you should be able to calculate what you can afford. Nucleus can provide you with an income and expenditure form to complete, and you can see how much you are spending each month. You can download the paper form or a spreadsheet. You need to ensure that any rent you are willing to pay you can afford. Most landlords and agents will also do a check to ensure you can afford the property.

As well as this, you should also check if you are eligible for any other benefits that could help you financially. There are online calculators which you can use to ensure that you are getting all the money which you need.

The government has set out Local Housing Allowance which sets out the maximum amount of rent benefits can pay for properties for each borough. This depends on where the property is and the number of bedrooms. If you do receive benefits to help pay your rent you need to ensure that any private rented property is within the Local Housing Allowance. You can check this here.  

Have a look at some of the following websites:

https://homefinderuk.org/

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/

https://www.gumtree.com/

https://london.craigslist.org/search/apa

https://www.spareroom.co.uk/

http://www.dssmove.co.uk/

http://www.dssaccepted.co.uk/

Read our article to make sure landlord requests are legal.