Home is where the heart is, but what happens when you want to move? There are lots of options out there these days when it comes to renting property, from huge, extravagant homes to simple, small apartments.
This list of the best places to rent property in the UK will help you find the perfect place for your needs, whether you’re an expat living in London or just looking for somewhere within walking distance of your new job.
Whether you have £1,000 or £100,000 to spend on rent each month, there’s something here for you. Here is our list of the top 10 best and renowned property portals to rent a property in the UK.
1) Property Buy Rent UK
Property Buy Rent is a renowned property search engine in the UK that has plenty of accommodation options for both short-term and long-term stays. The website has been designed carefully by experts according to international real-estate property standards.
Unlike most other rental sites, Property Buy Rent allows you to search for individual rooms instead of entire properties, which is ideal if you’re just looking for a place for one or two people. And, unlike some other services on our list, Property Buy Rent doesn’t charge any property listing fees.
The website lists all types of accommodation from flatshares to family houses and all areas of Britain are covered including London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. The team consists of legal experts who have extensive experience in property-related matters.
2) Rightmove
Rightmove is a great resource for finding rental properties. You can search by location, price, number of bedrooms and other criteria. If you are looking for accommodation outside of London it’s worth checking Gumtree as well.
It also includes details about communal areas, parking spaces and appliances such as washing machines, so check before you move in!
3) iMove
When you need to relocate, nothing beats having a direct line of communication with your future landlord. iMove can put you in touch with one of its exclusive property partner networks across England and Wales who will be able to advise you on finding your new home.
Using iMove’s search engine gives you access to everything from studio apartments to luxury detached homes. You can even browse by budget!
4) Gumtree
Gumtree is an online classifieds site that allows you to post free ads for housing and more. As a bonus, Gumtree also has a handy property-for-rent section that makes it easy to search available homes.
We’ve included it on our list because its simplicity makes it so attractive to landlords who want a simple solution for marketing their properties. It can be used by anyone looking to rent out a room or house as well as those looking for long-term flats.
5) Letting Web
Finding a good letting agent is like finding a new best friend, one that will find you places to rent and even negotiate for you. Weeding out bad agencies from good can be tricky, but there are some tips to follow: ask friends or colleagues who they use; search online for Letting Web and see what comes up.
This is a great website that allows you to search rental properties in just 3 steps. Their aim is to make renting process safer, easier and smarter.
6) Zoopla
When searching for new homes, Zoopla is an invaluable resource. Part of what makes it so useful is that its interface is clean and very easy to use. It also includes a free price-checker tool that automatically pulls real-time data from other websites such as Rightmove, helping you better gauge whether you’re looking at a good deal or not.
If you don’t want to pay anything, there are basic tools available on Zoopla’s website too. If you do decide to sign up for one of their paid services (such as Zoopla Pro), they offer helpful resources like mortgage calculators and home-buying guides. They even have a section dedicated to landlords who need help finding tenants.
7) Spare Room
SpareRoom is one of several flat-letting websites that help connect landlords and tenants. The site boasts more than 20 million visitors per month, which gives it a good amount of traffic for finding new flatmates.
It helps you find places by region, several bedrooms, price range and size. You can either offer your spare room or search for potential roommates—or both! For those looking for a short-term rental, there’s also a section dedicated to vacation rentals.
8) Lets House Share
This website is a great place for tenants and landlords alike. Landlords can list their rental properties, while tenants can search through them and contact landlords directly.
In addition, both parties can interact on Lets House Share’s social media platform, which includes over 80K followers. If you are looking for a room or apartment to rent, you should definitely check out Lets House Share.
9) Rent Smart Wales
This portal covers rental property and lets landlords and tenants find each other. The site is simple to use, is free for landlords, and has a good selection of properties available. Landlords can advertise their properties online or they can choose to be included in newspaper advertising.
Tenants can search by price range, location, number of bedrooms and more. Landlords can also create lists with specific criteria such as no pets or non-smokers only so that tenants know exactly what they are getting into before signing a lease agreement.
10) eBay Classifieds
Over 9 million people use eBay to buy and sell goods, making it one of the best-known classified websites in Britain. If you’re looking for a place to rent, eBay’s classified listings will give you access to thousands of rental properties from landlords looking for tenants.
You can also sell items or advertise anything else you have for sale. Listings are free on eBay, but there is a small insertion fee if you want your listing to appear at the top of search results.