How to Find Camden Apartments
Camden is an extremely trendy area in North London, close to Finchley and Euston. Camden has long been famous for its market. In years gone by, this was a fully functioning food, furniture and pretty much ‘buy anything’ market. It even had a stables in the centre where travellers could rest their horses. In fact, the stables still remains in today’s market, although the horses are long gone.
It’s now let out to various different market traders to sell items such as art, collectables, music, fashion items and food. But much of the original features remain, such as stable walls, and there’s even great life sized models of horses as well.
Camden is probably one of the funkiest places in London. Regent’s Canal runs right thorough the center – an area known as Camden Lock. Here you can find some waterside eateries, as well as get access to the food market that sells all kinds of delicious wares from around the world.
Because of this, Camden has become an extremely sought after place to live. Properties have been redeveloped – especially alongside the canal, and can command high prices and rents. Houses and flats on roads off of the main high street are also much in demand.
So how do you go about finding Camden apartments? It makes sense that in such a sought after area, properties are quickly snapped up (even if they are expensive). But this doesn’t mean that they’re impossible to find. Below are some top tips to aid you on your search for that perfect Camden apartment.
Property Websites
This should be an essential move for anyone hunting for an apartment in Camden. Online property agents such as Zoopla, Right Move and Prime Location advertise apartments, houses and other accommodation for all of the leading London estate agents.
You can create a property alert for each one, personalised to your particular needs. For instance, you might only want to look at an apartment that has 2 bedrooms or more, or perhaps you’ll only be happy if you’re on the ground floor.
Whatever your personal wishes, you can plug these into these property websites and they’ll send you an email when anything suitable becomes available. In addition, you can schedule when you receive these alerts: either immediately they come online, or perhaps once a day or once a week.
It is worth registering with all three of these major websites, because there are some cases that a property might feature on one, but not on another. All of these websites deal in both purchasing properties and the rental market.
Estate Agents
London is full of estate agents, but a couple of the biggest and best known are Foxtons and Chestertons. For Camden apartments in particular, it’s worth registering with their local Camden branches. There are also other estate agents that are particularly well suited to dealing with apartments in Camden. These include Marsh & Parsons and Martin & Co.
You may think that it’s not worth going direct to the agents if they all advertise on sites such as Zoopla and Right Move, but it really is. When a property goes to market, the first place that an agent puts it is on their own website. It then gets forwarded to the other sites.
And if an agent is aware that you’re in the market for a certain type of apartment or property, if one comes on the market they’ll be likely to call you even before any marketing has occurred at all. That way you get a head start on any other potential buyers.
Gum Tree and Ebay
This might sound a little bit of an a strange choice, but both Gum Tree and Ebay have increasing numbers of private sellers and landlords who advertise with them. The reasoning behind this is that they can then do away with estate agents and letting agents fees – so gaining a little more money themselves and (perhaps) passing some of the savings onto you.
Prices of apartments in Camden a bit too high?
No one is going to try and kid you that properties to buy and rent in Camden are cheap – far from it.
According to London Property Watch (who provide up to date property and rental prices for the whole London area – figures correct as of November 2015), the average price of a two bedroom property to buy in Camden is £932,000. It’s equivalent to rent is £582 per week. Now that’s a lot of money in anyone’s book!
But there is a way around this. And that’s to look very slightly outside of Camden itself. Areas such as Kentish Town are still within a stone’s throw of all that Camden has to offer, but you’ll be able to take advantage of price that are that little bit cheaper.
For instance, in the average price of a 2 bedroom property here is £670,000 – that’s a huge difference and brings purchasing here into the realms of possibility for many more people. The advantage of looking just outside Camden is obvious.
And, as has happened in so many other areas of London, these areas are soon going to become as sought after as Camden itself. You only need look at an area such as Battersea, that was once were the poor relative of neighbouring Clapham. Now Battersea is a ‘des res’ area in it’s own right.
And finally, don’t forget the humble word of mouth
If you’re looking for an apartment in Camden, shout it from the rooftops. Tell everyone, and we mean everyone, that you meet. And that’s not just your friends and family. Tell your work colleagues – tell the man who makes your morning coffee – tell the people you meet walking your dog in the park.
And most importantly, make sure you tell everyone via social media. The power of Twitter and Facebook is truly phenomenal – and you never know who might become aware of your requirements, and have just the property you’re looking for.