Accommodation in London - a 1 year course

marluc

Hi.
Don't know whether this is in the right forum, so please bear with me.
My daughter will be studying at the City Law school, London for a year commencing mid September. She is not entitled to University accommodation and has to find her own.
Most of her lectures are at the Gray's Inn on High Holburn.
We do not know London at all, so don't know where the best places are to look for a house share, as her budget is £400 per month inc. of all bills.
I appreciate this is a tall order andt hat London is vast. Has anyone got any advice / tips on where she should look eg best websites or best areas and areas to avoid?
Thanks in advance

Oldernotwiser

marluc wrote: »

Hi.
Don't know whether this is in the right forum, so please bear with me.
My daughter will be studying at the City Law school, London for a year commencing mid September. She is not entitled to University accommodation and has to find her own.
Most of her lectures are at the Gray's Inn on High Holburn.
We do not know London at all, so don't know where the best places are to look for a house share, as her budget is £400 per month inc. of all bills.
I appreciate this is a tall order andt hat London is vast. Has anyone got any advice / tips on where she should look eg best websites or best areas and areas to avoid?
Thanks in advance

How much is she prepared to travel?

MrsManda

Has your daughter had a look on the City University website for advice for finding accommodation? There is a section for finding private rented accommodation and some websites they recommend.

marluc

Hi
Thanks for replying so promptly. As regards how far she is prepared to travel - her lectures will go on until 7pm some days and she will need to use the library on a regular basis. If there is a quick tube / bus etc, then obviously great - about 20 mins max? Or are we being unrealistic? As I said, we don't know London at all.
My daughter is not doing a post grad course that's why I say she is exempt from applying for any of the Uni's accommodation.
Hope this helps!
Thanks

MrsManda

marluc wrote: »

Hi
My daughter is not doing a post grad course that's why I say she is exempt from applying for any of the Uni's accommodation.

She may not be eligible for university halls but as a student of the university she'll still be able to get advice on accommodation and look at the uni's advice on private renting. This should be her first point of call if only to get a feel for whats available.

pippitypip_2

http://www.city.ac.uk/study/accommodation/index.html
http://www.city.ac.uk/studentcentre/housing/index.html


http://www.citystudentpad.co.uk/Accommodation-Results.asp?PageIndex=1&houseref=&l=&p=&selCampus=0&selArea=1&selProp=Rent&groupTown=City&selTown=50&selType=2&selBeds=1&selSize=0&selPriceBand=0&selAvailability=01%2F09%2F2010&txtQuickSearch=&agent=&subAgentSearch.x=&advancedSearch=&streetPostcode=&selArang=4

But even cheapest rent (prob not a nice area, I'm not sure), seems to be £175 a week.

I would contact the Uni advice center and ask for their guidance:
Contact information

studentcentre@city.ac.uk
For general enquiries: +44 (0) 20 7040 5060
For all enquiries about services for students: +44 (0) 20 7040 7040
fax +44 (0) 20 7040 6030

hth,
pippitypip

marluc

Thanks very much for your replies. We will look at the sites given.
My daughter is going to London on Wednesday, so a very good opportunity for her to check out student pad etc.

Oldernotwiser

I think that she needs to up her budget; it's going to be very difficult to find London accommodation on the amount you mention, I'm afraid.

bitsandpieces

That's a tight budget. It might be worth looking towards parts of East London without a tube link: Stoke Newington and Hackney way, for example (check, but I think there are good bus routes from at least parts of these areas towards City - and some may also be bike-able). These can be fun areas to be in, but are seen (rightly or wrongly) as fairly high risk in terms of crime.

You'll struggle with that budget and find choice restricted if you can find anything, but these areas are cheaper as London goes. Bus is cheaper than train, by the way (and cycling's free ) which may make a difference to the budget.

ciderwithrosie_2

House sharing it's possible to bring the costs down. DS has moved into a place with 3 other lads in Walthamstow, which is not a bad area. There was going to be a fifth lad but he dropped out in the end as he felt it was too far away from his campus, the rest of them are nearer in Stratford. Their rent is £85 pw each plus bills and it's a furnished house. In his campus flat last year he was paying £104 pw. If they put in the difference like £15pw week each for bills, that'll easily cover it. Gumtree have house share ads, might be worth a look and there are rooms to let on Rightmove, you can put in nearest tube station. Oh and Facebook, if she can find a page for the Uni/Freshers etc there might be someone wanting a flatmate. DS met a few people on there doing the same course or sharing his flat before he went so it helped him a bit. We found the accommodation on sites specifically for students were ridiculously expensive.

regards CWR

marluc

Thanks.
we've looked at rightmove and gumtree, but its knowing which are the best areas to live in. I know some parts of cities are worse than others, but her budget is £400 a month - obviously in a house share.
We'll check out facebook, or should I say she will.