Grrr... Gumtree and flats

[Bes]

Trying to set up some viewings for flats in London... I have emailed a couple off Gumtree, and these are the two replies I got:

Good day,
The rent is £720 per month. 1st payment will be for 2 months ( £1440 ).
I want to rent the flat because i have just moved to Manchester to work with an Energy Firm and the flat will be empty during this time.
About the flat: Internet connection, phone, washing machine with dryer, cable TV and most important parking place.
Viewing is not a problem but i'll like to know what your intentions are. Tell me a bit about yourself as im willing to rent the flat to you but i'd like to know if you are capable to fund the rent before coming over to sort the viewing. For me is very hard to come in London and if I will come I must be 100% sure that I will not come for nothing.

Cheers

Hello
Thanks for your mail. I am a very young comfortable professional,26 who works in a recording company as a studio manager.I would like to rent out a double bedroom Garden Flat with Broad Band Internet to a very easy going person at 700 per month including all bills.available now for you to occupy.not shared apartment..My apartment is very comfortable fully furnished flat of brand duplex flat.Located in quiet residential area {Albany Street, London, NW1 3UP}within easy walking distance of Oxford Street and Piccadilly Circus. The city, London's financial district is only a short taxi ride away. the flat is located in a privileged area next to the famous Regent's Park home to the popular London Zoo. Moreover, the flat is just 15 minutes away from the picturesque area of Camden Town with its popular street market and only 3 minutes away from the spectacular wax museum Madame Tussaud's and the British Museum.It enjoys unbeatable transport access being well served by three underground stations, Warren Street, Great Portland Street and Regents Park all of which are within easy walking distance. Paddington, Marylebone and Kings Cross mainline train stations are all within a 5-10 minutes taxi ride away. Heathrow Airport is about 45 minutes away by taxi.is fully furnished with digital home cinema, hi-fi system, VCR, DVD player, phone, fax, computer, cable/satellite, internet access, wardrobe, cupboard, Hanging wardrobe, safe deposit box, radio alarm clock, hair dryer, fully air-conditioned, central heating, intruder alarm, fire alarm and more. Large fully equipped kitchen, 2 toilets and unlimited wireless internet.
I dont want any problem for myself.., i need to know the person that will occupy my apartment that is, the person that willl take care of my apartment like theirs because am letting the flat out because am presently in manchester working. It is not compulsory that i rent out the flat but if i can get a reliable and tidy person that will take care of my flat for me i can let it out.so i need to know them better i.e what you and your partner do for a living.
Waiting to read from you.

Both look like scams, and probably both from the same person.... (in both cases the prices they replied with are lower than the prices advertised on Gumtree) Is it actually worth persisting with Gumtree for rentals?

Thanks

 

[aproctor]

The flat in NW1 seems to have an LHA rate (the maximum amount of housing benefit councils will pay) of over £300 per week.

Why a landlord would rent it at half this is anyones guess.

https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/Secure/LHARateSearch.aspx?SearchType=PostCode


The link above should give you an idea of the rents for any London authority.

 

[Cosimo]

There are many renting scams on Gumtree, just Google “Gumtree renting scams”, so beware.

 

[Bes]

Hmm as I thought... Is it worth bothering with? or should I just skip over it altogether? Where else is worth looking apart from Rightmove and local EA websites?

Thanks