apartment hunting in london | viewing 10 flats in 3 days

⟡ Hello everyone! ⟡
I'll be starting my course at the Royal College of Art in London in just a little over a month from now, which means that finding a place is a top priority. I spent 3 days in the city going to back to back viewings and finally making it to the end of signing a lease all while taking you along for the journey.
It was an incredibly stressful, eye-opening, and also interestingly empowering moment for me! I signed for my first ever place on my own!
⟡ Time-stamps ⟡
00:00 intro
00:20 the reality
01:13 arriving in london
01:47 apt 1 (bayswater)
02:28 recap at the hotel
03:24 apt 2 (paddington)
03:49 apt 3 (notting hill)
04:14 apt 4 (west kensington)
04:30 intro of day 2
05:25 apt 5 (notting hill)
06:40 visiting the RCA + South Kensington
08:06 apt 6 (soho)
09:41 apt 7 (notting hill)
11:07 apt 8 (kensington)
11:27 putting in offers
11:54 apt 9 (notting hill)
12:06 apt 10 (holland road)
12:26 art-themed high tea
⟡ Ask me more about it! ⟡
IG: / ​
TW: / cyandanjou​
SC: summerdayskiss
Sub count: 4,060
#london #artstudent #vlog

[@The.EditedRose]

So exciting for you! I cannot wait to have that same feeling when I move over next year! Coming from Australia! High tea sounds like the most English way to treat yourself after 3 stressful days of flat hunting!

[@cyand]

It’s such a giddy feeling!! Good luck with your move as well :) and yes, high tea felt like the perfect, fitting treat

[@zacharystoor4696]

This is so cute 😭😭 you're gonna have such a great time

[@cyand]

Thank you!! As are you :) I’m excited for the both of us

[@imogendalton]

I’m so happy I found a new vlog that I love 😍 so good to meet you 🥰💝

[@cyand]

This is so sweet!! Nice to meet you and have you here ☺️

[@rislovesf1]

make you picked apt6 and 7! so so beautiful 😊😊 congrats !

[@deborabevilaqua6141]

Heyy, nice that your video showed up to me!! I actually just graduated from the RCA and finsing an apartment here in London is soo hard!! things are so expensive, some outdated and sometimes for international students they ask 6 months or 12months upfront, which is crazyy!! happy to see that you find your place and hope you enjoy the school :)

[@cyand]

Wow!! I’m so happy that the video found you :) I’d love to hear about your experience at RCA. This housing process was truly a wild and unique thing, super hard! But now that it’s working out, I cannot wait to start and meet everyone at the program

[@deborabevilaqua6141]

@@cyand It was a really good experience! My campus was the battersea and unfortunately our first year was basically online with the pandemic... but I was glad to get the 2nd year with full access and actually enjoy uni! You'll meet amazing people there for sure :)

[@gabrielle9577]

Apartment 7 is my favourite!!

[@icilmaa]

One of my friends studied Fashion at the RCA and I had a tutor who also was a student there. I use to visit the yearly exhibitions but haven't been in years.

[@cyand]

Oooh! If you have time come to our final exhibition this year! Should be an interesting one :)

[@lexiegruber-perez660]

This is so fun! I love seeing the school. This is like a dope HGTV show lol

[@cyand]

oooo that's a huge compliment! I was so excited to get to see the inside of the school for the first time

[@jeshakrista1408]

Wow! super gorg flats. But at what price range?

[@ekpo-itaattah7625]

I was in Cyan's shoes late last year..looking for an apartment in London is not for the faint hearted..property listings emerge and are taken within hours..my advice..always use a registered estate agent or agency..there are alot of fraudulent characters in London looking to take advantage of the slightest opportunity and ALWAYS read the fine print of your rental agreement..

[@cyand]

THIS!! Yes yes yes, we definitely came across some agreements that looked shadier than others, which is why I ended choosing the place I did. For example, make sure your deposit is handled by the agency itself, and not given directly to the landlord. I always asked and found out that’s it’s illegal, but some agencies I spoke to did it that way which is a huge red flag. Always ask where your money is going!

[@maheshshah3864]

@@cyand so how I know please People are fraud if I registered from outside of uk Pl suggest some good phone number

[@shetlandsheep3081]

I think you went for the Notting Hill one?

[@ashleyahn5387]

omgg i wish i was theree looks so fun

[@cyand]

visit me soon!!

[@chyphilip]

Hi, I see that you were moving from The Netherlands to London, me too, very soon! I am wondering if I should visit London for to look for a place like you! But how did you arrange 10 viewings in 3 days in advance? The London viewings are so spontaneous/ irregular, so how could you have bought the tickets to London, and then scheduled the viewings so much in advance? From my experience, they are all like "oh are you free today/ tomorrow?" Thanks.

[@cyand]

I booked the trip in advance and started reaching out to real estate agents the week before on Rightmove. I knew the apartments listed then would be gone by my trip, which they usually said in their emails, so I would respond by saying “oh that’s a shame, although I’d love to see what you have available coming up by the time I’m there” which allowed me to build a prior connection and see some flats before they’re listed online

[@mimi3981]

Can you share the rent prices? And what agency you choose to help you with find an apartment?

[@icilmaa]

Those flats must be at least a grand a month.

[@heydenjaye5671]

@@icilmaa that would be a miracle in London, these flats are MINIMUM £1,500 excluding bills 😭

[@icilmaa]

@@heydenjaye5671 that's why I said at least a grand.

[@heydenjaye5671]

@@icilmaa it just wouldn’t ever be as low as a grand is what I’m saying

[@icilmaa]

@@heydenjaye5671 OK but I did say at least.

[@jeannetan4011]

Wat een reis proficiat met het vinden van een appartement

[@cyand]

Let me know in the comments which one you think I ended up signing on!

[@MeriamMrv]

Hi ! What website did you use to find these ? xx

[@cyand]

All on right move!

[@FaonVoireArtistique]

Are you still in London

[@ashleyahn5387]

you're face mask is so cute haha i want onee

[@cyand]

I think I got it at Daiso!

[@muhammedsuhail1958]

Rent ???

[@jasonbaines3371]

How was the rent for the soho flat?

[@cyand]

1650 unfurnished (it was the cheapest one at the time in Soho and a very unexpected find for it being that new)

[@cyand]

But too expensive for me for having to get all the furniture myself for just a year

[@si_7554]

Who’s the guy in the first apt ??

[@cyand]

That’s the real estate agent haha

[@si_7554]

@@cyand what his name or his account 🫣

[@Glowsaphinebaker]

I’m glad I read the comments before I invested my time…no prices or areas…pass

[@cyand]

Since I’m moving out now I can share the prices! These were 1650-2000 range in Notting Hill and Holland Park. But it was 2022 and I’d say the markup on the same places I visited for this year is about +300 from when I was looking

[@Glowsaphinebaker]

@@cyand thanks for the response. Definitely didn’t want you to compromise your safety but the apartments you didn’t choose could have had prices. I understand not wanting to give the area but it makes it hard for people who watch these types of videos who hopefully aren’t nutjobs a better idea of what to expect so thanks for the reply. All the best.

[@laranja371]

You are so pretty

[@CP-gq7en]

Just wondering why you would choose to live in these neighnourhoods? People don't really live in these parts of london...

[@cyand]

Proximity to my school (the campuses were between White City and Kensington)