http://www.housepals.co.uk/rss Latest News from HousePals.co.uk http://www.housepals.co.uk/pages/tips-and-advice/housepals_blog Check back here for all the latest house and apartment renting news from the industry and to hear what's happening here at HousePals. You can also check out the HousePals Facebook Page or or subscribe to the HousePals RSS Feed Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:50:54 +0100 http://www.housepals.co.uk/pages/tips-and-advice/housepals_blog One of the main reasons the HousePals site was created was to help everyone out there that can't afford to pay a money-grabbing estate agent to find a homeshare or flatshare for them.  That's exactly why we've kept our service completely free to use, to give students, young people and anyone who just prefers to live in shared accomodation a chance to join the homeshare market, whatever their budget. Of course, while we see this as one of our major advantages over other houseshare and flatshare finding services, as the number of HousePals members grew and grew, we started to hear some of you asking for a little more. As we always aim to meet your needs and respond to any issues you may have with our service as quickly as possible, we decided to branch out into a new kind of HousePals service. PriorityPal is the super-charged big brother of the HousePals homeshare membership plan, giving members the unique priviledge of being able to contact potential future housemates or landlords before anyone else. PriorityPal was made especially for anyone who wants to get in there ahead of the competition and make sure they find the homeshare of their dreams...and don't lose it to another HousePal. Imagine, for instance, that while browsing the thousands of top-quality, affordable homeshare listings on HousePals, you see a listing for a room for rent in a shared house that you immediately fall in love with. This room is spacious and tidy, with good storage facilities and lots of gorgeous natural sunlight streaming in through the window. It has great views and lovely decor, and what's more, it's being offered at an absolutely bargain price. You eagerly pick up the phone to get in contact with the Landlord, sure this is the shared accomodation room for you. Unfortunately, someone has beaten you to it, and your homeshare dream seems to be slipping through your fingers. Finding the best houseshare or flatshare room for your own personal needs can be slightly tricky at the best of times, with so many factors to keep in mind, but disappointments like this can make it a thoroughly unenjoyable process. This isn't the only way that your ideal homeshare match can escape your grasp either; you might not even get to see a listing for some incredible shared accomodation properties at all, as lucky PriorityPals snap them up before they even get to you. This could be especially problematic if you're looking to set up a homeshare in a hurry, forcing you to settle for a shared flat that isn't quite right for you with incompatible roommates. There's no need to panic though, as the PriorityPal service was launched especially to let HousePals flatshare and homeshare hunters like you ensure your shared accomodation aims are met in double quick time. Just sign up today to discover the HousePals room or housemates you really want before anyone else does. Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:54:12 +0100 http://www.housepals.co.uk/pages/tips-and-advice/housepals_blog Many of you might find the title of this blog post a little strange. Surely, you’d say, if you’ve already come to the Housepals site in search of a homeshare or flatshare, you know where you want to live?  Well actually, there’s a whole lot of difference between knowing you want to share a flat in London, for example, and knowing exactly where in London you’d like your new flatshare to be. For many potential Housepals, especially those who are moving to a new city they’ve never lived in before, knowing how to choose which area to look in when searching for homeshare options can be a tricky business.  With that in mind, we’ve decided to put together a series of easy and informative guides on how to decide where you want your new shared accommodation home to be. For the first blog in the series, we’re going to stick to the basics of what factors to consider when comparing different areas of the same city. That means whichever part of the country you’re focusing on in your search for Housepals or homeshares, you’re bound to find this guide pretty handy! Sadly, one of the very first things to think about when looking for your perfect flatshare location is the cost. While there are a lot of great shared accommodation bargains on the Housepals website, there’s probably no point hoping to find a homeshare in a pricey area, such as the heart of central London, if you only have £70 to spend on rent per week.   Be realistic about what you can afford and your search for shared accommodation is bound to be a lot speedier, but at the same time be sure to read up on local crime statistics and avoid any homeshare areas you wouldn’t feel safe and happy to live in.  Another important factor to bear in mind when choosing a flatshare search area is who your neighbours will be and what kind of people live in the local area. Home-sharing students who like to party hard might want to avoid residential areas that are mainly populated by families or OAPs, for example, while young professionals might want to know there are people of a similar age to meet in the local community.  There are also similar concerns when it comes to the amenities in the area surrounding your new homeshare. If you’ve got to be up early every morning, a club-filled area that’s noisy all night won’t be the best bet for you and your housemates. Similarly, for all you lazy Housepals out there, there isn’t much point living too far away from the Supermarket if you hate walking! Some roommates might even be looking for specialist facilities, such as country-specific food markets or vintage record stores to feed your DJ-ing hobby – only you know what matters most for you in a homeshare location.  A final thing to think about, and one of the most important reasons to choose a certain flatshare location, is the transport links and parking facilities. No-one wants to face a long and expensive commute each morning or walk miles and miles every time they want to visit friends, so a well-connected homeshare is vital if you don’t own a car.  As this blog comes to an end, we hope you now know exactly what to type in the Housepals search box, but if you don’t, look out for the rest of the series where we’ll tell you about the different areas in the UK’s most popular homeshare cities. Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:53:46 +0100 http://www.housepals.co.uk/pages/tips-and-advice/housepals_blog The first question for any future Housepals housemate to ask themself before they even start looking for their perfect shared accomodation home is of course 'where do I want to live?' If you can't make up your mind on that one vital question, you're not going to get very far in your search for a housemate, as there are literally thousands of homeshare possibilities out there for you. With that in mind, we've decided to make the decision process that little bit easier by giving you a bit of information on what it's like to share a house or flatshare in some of the most popular areas of the country. Where better place to start, then, than with the English capital city, London. As London is a huge place with many different areas, each containing a huge variety of homeshare options, it's going to take more than one blog post to take you through the city's top shared accomodation locations. That's why we've split the the capital into three smaller segments and will start by running you through the best that North London has to offer for any potential Housepals flatshare and houseshare tenants.    Willesden Green Willesden Green is situated in the North West of the city on the largely reliable Jubilee line and has a good network of buses travelling to all areas of the city. This area tends to have large homeshares for around 6 people, with double rooms usually costing around £320-£370 per month.  While the area lacks good shopping facilities, it has a variety of friendly pubs, bars and takeaway restaurants to offer houseshare tenants and is one of the cheaper areas to drink in London, attracting lots of backpackers in the Summer. This does mean the area can get a little rowdy at night, but the charming Gladestone park provides a relaxing place for roommates to escape to during the day.    Kilburn Kilburn is one of the cheaper areas of London to live in, with homeshare rooms beginning at around £300 per month and a great array of bargain-filled shops and markets as well as the usual high-street stores. There is a large residential community housing a mixture of different nationalities, meaning Housepals from all parts of the world will fit in and can enjoy an impressively varied restaurant scene with food from every culture available. The area has a bit of a gritty reputation but is being developed and does have pretty good bus, train and tube links to other areas of the city.   West Hampstead This zone 2 area of North-West London is a tad more expensive and upmarket than neighbouring Kilburn, with an average shared accomodation rent price of about £120 per week, but remains fairly grounded and not too snobby. Shoppers will be in heaven with everything from cheaper chain stores to posh boutiques available nearby, with a good range of upmarket restaurants and bars also on hand for a fairly civilised night out.  HousePals homeshare residents are bound to feel safe in West Hempstead and will also enjoy good transport links to other areas with 3 different train stations servicing the area, making it a favourite with young professionals.    Camden Camden town in the centre of North London is well-known as the alternative heart of the city, filled with people from all walks of life with lots of unique and independent fashion stalls and shops for every bizarre wish you could ever have. Camden is usually bustling with people and has a thriving pub, club and live music scene for homeshare tenants to enjoy. With its own tube station and rooms in shared accomodation starting at the £100 per week mark, Camden has fast become a favourite with younger, livelier Housepals housemates.    Shoreditch Once a fairly rough area, Shoreditch has reinvented itself as a hotspot of all things arty and creative, causing rents to rise sharply, but you may still find yourself a bargain if you choose a larger shared accomodation property or share a room. The international, arty community has also brought with it a large host of trendy bars, galleries and restaurants, though cheaper fare is still on offer at nearby Brick Lane curry houses. A number of tube stations and bus routes in the area also means Housepals tenants will find it easy to get around the city when sharing a home in Shoreditch.  With any luck you'll now know which North London shared accomodation location is perfect for you, but if none of these areas take your fancy, come back to the site soon for our Housepals homeshare guides to the rest of the city.    Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:52:46 +0100 http://www.housepals.co.uk/pages/tips-and-advice/housepals_blog If you’ve made it this far, then congratulations. The fact you’ve even found this page means you’re the lovely kind of person who isn’t too selfish to even consider sharing their living space with other people in shared accommodation, and we like you for it! Of course, for even the most easy-going of people, there are some things that make flatshares or homeshares a little different from living alone. People are all very unique and each have their own quirks and habits, so learning to live with others in shared accomodation is not always going to be plain sailing. Fortunately though, there are a few things you can take into consideration to ensure that your homeshare doesn’t become a nightmare and that you’re showing your new roommates and housepals the respect they deserve. Follow these simple guidelines, and instead of a homeshare-warfare situation where borrowing milk is enough to set off a veritable world war 3, you’ll find yourself with new friends that will really last and fond memories you’ll keep with you for life. The first thing to bear in mind whenever you move into a flatshare or houseshare with other roommates is that even though you’ve all decided to live together in one big, happy Housepals home, it doesn’t mean they’ll want to see you every second of the day. Respect each other’s private space and need for time alone away from the rest of the house, and only go into your housemates’ rooms if they’ve actually invited you to do so, even when they’re not in. A second common cause of trouble when it comes to sharing a house is how to go about bringing home guests. Always check with your housemates whether they mind you having friends over and limit the time they spend in your shared accommodation as it’s not fair on your rent-paying roommates to let someone stay too long for free in your shared apartment or house. Once you’ve got that sorted, it’s time to take on the tough task of money matters. Naturally in a homeshare, there are some things you’ll need to pay for together, like toilet roll and washing up liquid, so it’s important to keep a kitty and make sure all your housemates are paying their fair share. You’ll also have to consider how best to share out who pays for each of the bills within your new houseshare, to avoid one person taking everything on, and especially ensure that each housemate keeps track of how much they use the home phone. As no tenant in a homeshare ever wants to live surrounded by someone else’s mess, it’s a good idea to set up a cleaning rota so your shared accommodation is always neat and tidy. If you decide to cook communally, a shopping rota might also be a good idea, otherwise stick to eating only the food you buy - no-one likes a biscuit thief! With these helpful tips, you should find your flatshare or houseshare to be an entirely rewarding and enjoyable experience.  If anything does still bother you about your new housemates though, the best way to deal with it is always to calmly let them know so you can fix the issue, and if it still doesn’t work out, there are hundreds more Housepals out there to choose from! Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:01:31 +0100 http://www.housepals.co.uk/pages/tips-and-advice/housepals_blog Traditionally, if you had a spare room for rent in your house or apartment, you’d have to take a few photos, write up an advert and submit it to an estate agent or room-finder service where it would be totally out of your hands. You’d then be forced to wait, sometimes for weeks or months, to hear from potential homeshare tenants who’d noticed your ad before finally being able to set up a meeting. You’d probably find that half the people you met were entirely unsuitable and would never fit in well in your home, wasting your time as well as theirs. This frustrating process could go on for some time until you finally found a roommate that was right for your shared accommodation property, meaning you could lose out on hundreds of pounds worth of rent while waiting to get things sorted. Thankfully, Housepals has turned this process on its head and given you, the potential new landlord, the opportunity to go out and find your homeshare tenants for yourselves. Not only does this mean you cut out all the time spent waiting for new housemates to come to you, it also means you don’t have to go to the trouble of putting together an advert, taking perfect photographs of your rooms and writing eye-catching descriptions. Our Housepals finder search tool lets you browse all the tenants looking for apartment shares and houseshares in your local area and click for further information on any listing that catches your eye. This means you can find out lots of details about each potential new Housepal at the touch of a button, easily eliminating any unsuitable candidates before you even pick up the phone to contact them. Criteria covered by our roommate-finder profiles ranges from age and sex to political persuasions, occupation, faith and diet-type. Don’t want to spend your evenings bickering over the current government’s tax policy?  Worried about your new roommate accidentally cooking up a meaty communal dinner for your vegetarian household? Stop worrying; with Housepals you can avoid any bad homeshare matches from the very start. Of course it works the other way too. Male landlords won’t want to accidentally contact female Housepals looking for all-girl apartment shares and there’s no point inviting someone round for a shared flat viewing if they’re going to take one look at your pet moggy and walk straight out the door. That’s why Housepals also lists information on what each potential new housemate is looking for, including rent category, the age, gender and smoking habits of the other housemates and whether the shared flat or house comes with any pets. When you combine these two sets of information, you’ll discover that finding your perfect new homeshare tenant is easier than ever with Housepals’ help. Not only that, you’ll also have a happier shared home, full of the kind of people you’d like to spend your time with and not the tenants from hell, all in record time. Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:00:26 +0100 http://www.housepals.co.uk/pages/tips-and-advice/housepals_blog Housepals is pleased to say that our numbers are growing. Each new day brings many more potential tenants, housemates and landlords to our site, so there’s more of an opportunity than ever to find a perfect shared accommodation match. Landlords will of course be excited about the fact that a huge number of future housemates will be browsing their listing, but be warned, putting your ad out there is only half the work. Without an ad that really stands out to housepals looking for a flatshare or homeshare, your property could get passed by. Luckily, we at Housepals have had a lot of time to see exactly what works and what doesn’t when it comes to shared accommodation listings, and we’re willing to pass on what we’ve learnt to you, the landlord. By far the most important thing we’ve got to say is pictures matter. Humans are very visual creatures and with such a huge list of potential apartment share and houseshare options in front of them, it takes at least one good photos to really get your ad noticed. What’s more, even the most luxurious, cosy and homely rooms may not grab your potential tenant’s attention unless they are photographed in the right way. It may take a little extra effort, but ensuring the rooms in your homeshare property are shown at their best will make heaps of difference. Make sure every room in your apartment share or house share has been cleaned to perfection and any excess furniture removed to avoid clutter before you take a photograph. Wait until the room is flooded with natural light and take the photo from just outside the room, perhaps standing on a chair, to show it as fully as possible and not make it look smaller than it really is. You’re already halfway there towards making sure it’s your rented accommodation that every roommate on Housepals is clamouring to get their hands on. The next step is the actual wording of your ad. Ringing up potential landlords or visiting each prospective flatshare or houseshare is an extremely time consuming process, so Housepals tenants always want to know as much as they can about a shared property before they even consider it. You should be especially sure to mention any specific features that few other homeshares on Housepals from the surrounding area might offer, such as great views,a refurbished kitchen or a lovely garden. Other crucial things to mention in the description of your shared accommodation property include information on the utilities included, who the browser’s new Housepals would be and what facilities are provided within the flatshare or houseshare. You might even want to let them know a little about you, as the right landlord can make or break a homeshare deal, but don’t make the text too long as housemates are busy people. Right, now that’s done, the only thing that’s left to do is make sure you put these Housepals tips for landlords to good use and find yourself some tenants for your shared accommodation property! Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:56:09 +0100 http://www.housepals.co.uk/pages/tips-and-advice/housepals_blog Just over a decade ago when the rest of the nation was preoccupied with Millenium fever, Michael Brown was busy formulating an idea he believed could transform the home share market and allow more people to save money during increasingly tough times. Working as an estate agent in London at the time, Michael, 38, was seeing increasing numbers of customers coming in looking for flat shares and rooms; a service his employer did not offer at the time. All this wasted potential got him thinking. Most of the individuals that came in were students or young professionals just getting onto the career ladder, unable to afford a place of their own. Michael could do little but point these home share seekers towards another estate agent, where they would be charged a high commission for the house-finding service. From this sudden flash of inspiration he began the process of setting up HousePals, an accommodation site for everyone! Michael's revolutionary strategy was to set up a site where landlords and housemates could connect directly, eliminating the costly rent cut of the estate agent and allow for much more flexibility for the person searching for somewhere to live. Using his expertise as an estate agent, Michael has been able to keep well in tune with current market trends and adapt the UK based Housepals website more fully to meet the needs of each user. Both would-be landlords and would-be housemates can set up a Housepals profile to be added to the site's listings without paying a penny and start searching for the perfect roommate for their new home. In addition to the obvious financial savings to be gained through using Housepals to find your new housemates or tenants, the site also gives an increased level of flexibility and choice over the usual routes. Private browsing using the site's convenient search function allows users to more easily factor in their own preferences when it comes to a diverse array of factors including the exact location of the property, house facilities, age and sex of the other tenants and asking rent. Essentially, no longer does an estate agent need to make any presumptions about whether a property is suitable for you, which is surely a huge bonus. Clearly, given impressive year on year growth of the Housepals brand since the site's creation in 2001, the public are in agreement with Michael that Housepals represents a revolutionary yet practical way to connect with future housemates. With more and more people joining Housepals by the day, the volume of listings on the site looks set to grow and grow, offering users an ever more varied supply of possible home share opportunities. And as an add-on for those who want to enhance their room finding chances, House Pals also offers a PriorityPal service, where premium subscribers get the chance to contact advertisers before regular users, giving them an even better chance of finding the perfect tenant or house share. This new level of service looks set to lure greater numbers still to join the Housepals community, Contact the HousePals team for further information: Email: admin@housepals.co.uk Website: http://www.housepals.co.uk/ Tel: 0871 526 6777 Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:13:46 +0100