Create meetup in Londonchevron_right
Select a place on the map to change the location.
I want to meet
Verified required?
want to meet at fmd_good The Spot
want to meet at fmd_good Local House
explore London Guides
bar_chart Trends in London
When do the Christmas lights go on?
yeah they turn em off around 1am usually, so 6am is a no go. but honestly the lights on south molton street (just off bond st) stay on a bit later sometimes, like till 2 or 3am, and it's way less packed. your niece might get a kick out of that if you're up early anyway
honestly they prob turn them off around midnight or 1am, I've seen them still on at 2am once but that was a fluke. 6am is way too early though, you'd be looking at like 3pm at the earliest for them to come back on. if she's an early riser maybe take her to covent garden instead, their market lights are on 24/7 and it's less of a zoo
Nope, they're not on that early. Think of it like a really extravagant, sparkly night-time show. They switch off overnight to give the elves a break, I guess.
What are some innovative ways to anonymously compare rental prices in a city?
SpareRoom's "rooms wanted" ads are underrated for this. people post what they're currently paying alongside what they want next, so you can scrape a rough sense of going rates by postcode without anyone knowing you looked. it skews young and flatshare heavy tho, so not much use if you're after 2-beds in zone 2.
Another one is just the depozit or tenancy deposit scheme data. not public-facing, but your council's housing officer can tell you median rents from deposit registrations if you email them under FOI. takes weeks, but its proper anon and nobody clocks u.
Rightmove and Zoopla only show asking rents, which are often 10 to 15 percent above what a place actually goes for, so they're a poor benchmark. The trick I've used is the ONS Price Index of Private Rents, which breaks things down to borough level and is genuinely anonymous since it's aggregate data, no listing or account needed. For something more granular, the London Renters Union runs a rent reporting tool where you submit what you're paying with your postcode and it maps it against others nearby, though the coverage is patchy outside the inner boroughs.
the openrent "rent check" thing is decent for zones 3-4 where the unions tool barely reaches. also worth checking the london.gov.uk planning portal for new build applications, they list "affordable" and market rent figures per unit in the viability assessments, which is basically the developer telling the council what they expect to charge. bit of a faff to dig through but its public, anonymous & nobody knows ur looking
load 1 more reply