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Scammed in Northwest London
That's terrifying. Glad you were safe. NW London's seen a rise in distraction burglaries lately, they'll try anything to get inside. Worth reporting this to the police, even if they didn't get in. The more reports they have, the better chance of catching them.
this happened to a neighbour of mine in wembley a few months back. they were dressed as delivery drivers for a fake company called "fresh express" or something. the council's website has a list of known scams in the area, worth checking there too. also tell your neighbours, especially the older ones, they're usually the targets.
yeah this is super common in nw london sadly. my mate's mum nearly got done the same way in harlesden last year, they said they were from the water board. def report it to 101 even if nothing happened, it helps build a pattern
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
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