You often need to move pretty fast to land the property you want. You should ideally start your search about six to eight weeks before your projected move-in date.

In addition to searching property websites for homes that are already on the market, you’ll want to know as soon as a property is newly listed in the area and price you’re looking for. The best thing to do is register with I Am the Agent, the UK’s largest online agency, and Rightmove and sign up for notifications so that you are sent email alerts as soon as something new in your parameters is listed.

Once you have seen a place you like, try to be flexible about viewing times to suit the landlord’s convenience. A popular property will get a lot of attention from prospective tenants, and there is likely to be a rush to view it as soon as the notifications are sent by the property portals. So if you tell the landlord you can’t view it until 10.00 pm on Tuesday week, you are unlikely to get it.

It goes without saying, of course, that you should give the property a really good inspection before parting with any cash, as holding deposits might not be refundable. But it’s always good to be ready with a deposit, to put you in the best position to beat the queue.

Landlords and their agents are more likely to accept offers from people who are ready with a holding deposit. So go prepared - it’s always worth checking beforehand what the holding deposit will be and how it should be paid.