Affordable flats to rent in Edinburgh?

abbas5001

Hi guys,

My brother is looking for a flat to rent in Edinburgh for uni but is going to rent one at around £400 (£800 in total but sharing with one more person). I have said to him this is too expensive and this flat overlooks Edinburgh castle so must be bang in the city centre!

I said to him to look outside the city centre but he claims outside the city centre he'd only be saving £10 a week which he'd spend on transport anyway.

I have no knowledge of property and renting but does anyone know specific areas which are affordable and where students live?

catswhiskers4

Tell him to try Polworth, Slateford, Dalry, Bruntsfield, Comely Bank, Stockbridge, Tollcross and Newington. All are near the city centre, but not completely central. You can walk to town from most of them and buses in Edinburgh are cheap. Depends which uni he's going to which area is best. There are other areas too, these are just the ones I know a bit about. You can rent a two bed for under £600 in most of these places.

Try citylets.co.uk

googler

The Edinburgh Uni buildings are on the South side of the city, so unless your brother wants to criss-cross the city centre every day, he'd do well to disregard any rentals to the North of Princes Street.

Merely 'overlooking' (in other words, having a view TO the castle) doesn't mean a flat is in the centre of the city - there's a clear view to the castle from Trinity, which isn't by any stroke of the imagination a central location.

anotherginger

edinburgh isn't a very big city, so lots of properties can see the castle. edinburgh is also very affordable and 800 for a two bed seems like quite a lot! have a look on gumtree or rightmove to give you an idea of normal prices.

which uni is he going to? most edinburgh uni people live in newington, marchmont, bruntsfield, etc. southside in general.

i was at uni in edinburgh, and lived in newington for 4 years. as another post says, theres no point living north of princes street, unless you have loads of money and you want to join the english public school posse!

it also depends what subject he's doing. arts subjects are based at george square (south of princes st), and science at kings buildings (which is even further south).

competitionscafe

Yep, 800 for a 2 bed is on the high side - you can still get somewhere fairly central for 600 to 700.

These sites will give you an idea of prices:

http://www.lettingweb.com/properties/regions/scotland/lothian/edinburgh/
http://www.citylets.co.uk/flats-rent-edinburgh/
http://edinburgh.gumtree.com/edinburgh/property-rentals_236_1.html
http://www.edinburghstudentpad.co.uk/

Gumtree and studentpad are best for private landlords (can be less hassle and cheaper than going via agencies).

The following are all safe, centralish areas but not necessarily the cheapest:

To the south of the city centre: Bruntsfield, Marchmont, Viewforth, Morningside, Grange, Newington, Sciennes, Polwarth, Merchiston. (These are the main student areas, especially Marchmont, Bruntsfield and Newington)

To the North of the city centre: Stockbridge, Inverleith, Bellevue, Broughton, Hillside.

To the West of the city centre: Roseburn, Saughtonhall.

Central: West End/Haymarket, New Town, Old Town.


P.S. Avoid the letting agency called Grant Management at all costs!
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=grant+management+edinburgh&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=grant+management&hnear=edinburgh&cid=2434356999254560827&dtab=2&ei=BTDzS8ziK4j00gSPoriaDQ&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDMQqgUwAw