Accommodation in London - a 1 year course

bitsandpieces

One more thing to look at could be lodging with a family or older person - I guess if it's an intensive postgrad course she won't be out clubbing every night anyway You can sometimes get good and reasonable accommodation this way, though there's a lot of variation and it's a different relationship to a houseshare.

You can get online stats about areas from sites like upmystreet. However, in London places can differ a lot from one street to another. The best bet is to look at the stats but also to visit at different times of day - including in the evening - and see how she feels there.

Also think about council tax. As a fulltime student, your daughter should be exempt. If she lives with non-students, they will need to agree who pays the tax though (if she lives with fulltime students, no council tax).

Oldernotwiser

You don't mention this but, if your daughter runs a car, she could consider getting rid of it for this year. She won't use it if she's studying in central London and the running costs she'll save and the money she could get for it could make a big difference to what accommodation she rents.

Just a thought.

Wakey2008

It's not a massive budget anywhere in the country but she'll be able to get something in south-east or east London quite easily.

marluc

Thanks so much for all your helpful advice. She is studying a very intensive costly course, hence the £400 budget. She hasn't got a car and will have to walk or rely on public transport.
She envisages studying in the library alot - this is where she concentrates best. That is why she doesn't want to be too far away and having to travel late at night, after studying.
Great tip about council tax - thanks for that.
Cheers:beer:

olly300

marluc wrote: »

She envisages studying in the library alot - this is where she concentrates best. That is why she doesn't want to be too far away and having to travel late at night, after studying.
Great tip about council tax - thanks for that.

As a student as long as you have a student card you are allowed to use any university library to study in.

As London has a lot of universities and as well as the university colleges of London then even if she lives further away from her actual university library there should be another one near by. So as long as she has her books with her she can study in any library.

Char_pdc

Hello,

I've been renting as a student in London for the last 5 years, both as an undergraduate and now a postgraduate.

£400 is a pretty tight budget for finding accomodation tbh, but it should be doable particularly in SE London. From my experience with that money it will be difficult to find somewhere near a tube station, but good National Rail/bus links I have always found to be just as good.

TFL run a student oyster card scheme - for a £5 fee they will give you 30% off travelcards which significantly reduces costs. Perhaps her institution will be registered with this scheme?

However, I would advise for that budget that she may have a lengthy commute. In London most people commute - door to door it takes me 50 minutes to get to uni. I'm afraid I don't think 20 minutes commute, particularly to Holborn which is quite central will work with your budget.

Hope this helps

bitsandpieces

Char_pdc wrote: »

However, I would advise for that budget that she may have a lengthy commute. In London most people commute - door to door it takes me 50 minutes to get to uni. I'm afraid I don't think 20 minutes commute, particularly to Holborn which is quite central will work with your budget.

Oops - just realised that the City law school is a bit more central than some other bits of the university. The may make it harder to find somewhere close - and trying to find a 20 minute commute would be very hard for the budget.

You could try looking on the 341 bus route http://www.londonbusroutes.net/times/341.pdf Places around Newington Green and further out can give some non-stratospheric rents with a fairly quick journey into Holborn (under 20mins if buses run well, though you'd need to allow more time for delays). You would find the budget very tight there, though - and could likely get cheaper South of the river as suggested.

You can read on the bus or tube, or bike riding is an alternative to spending time on a cycling machine in the gym. Commuting tends to be part of living in London, though.