Where to rent near Kings Cross for a student

jimbog

Hi everyone- I hope someone with a better knowledge of London could help me please

My daughter is going to start a PhD at University College, near King's Cross, and will probably travel to London this Thursday
to find a place to live for the next six months. She already has a couple of possibles in Camden and right by King's Cross.

I'm totally ignorant of living in London, so anything you can do to help her
would be really useful such as

Where is the best place to look for rented accommodation?
Where is the best place to stay while she's looking?
Which areas near King's Cross are too expensive to be considered?
Which areas near King's Cross are too seedy/dangerous for her to consider?
.. and of course anything else you think might help her.

Thanks in advance!!!

GDB2222

Most of the area around King's Cross is either rather seedy or rather expensive, or more likely both. Personally, I would hate to live in central London.

We live in the suburbs, and my wife has just finished an undergraduate degree at UCL commuting in by underground. She had a delightful 20 min walk to the underground station, 20 min on the underground, and 5 minutes walk to the University.

hjd

My daughter is a final year undergraduate at UCL. She lived in halls for her first year, then near the Angel in her second year. This year she lives in N7. She also lives close to three tube stations but tends to use the bus most of the time. I don't think most people would recommend living in Kings Cross. Get on a direct bus route to UCL, and preferably live somewhere near the night bus routes as well.

hazyjo

Suppose a lot's dependent on budget... any clue as to what this might be? Also, will she be living on her own? Age?

Ta.

Jx

Moomum

I went to UCL to and lived in Hendon, I travelled in 20 mins on northern line. In town I would suggest Angel, greys inn road etc. not very nice areas but close to town.

cattie

Camden as you mention. Angel, Nags Head/Holloway area, Highbury, Caledonian Road & environs, Warren St area. Most of these are a mixture of singles, couple & family occupiers. Tell her not to pick badly lit quiet streets if she is likely to be coming home alone late at night.

It's not that any of these places are less than savoury, but wherever you are in central London nowadays you need to have your wits about you, especially if not familiar with such a bustling city.

jimbog

Thank you all for your comments. I'm meeting up with her tomorrow so your suggestions are most welcomed

BitterAndTwisted

There's a huge Unite (student housing) development right by Tottenham Hale tube station. That would get your daughter into Kings Cross in about 15 minutes. I would not recommend looking to rent anywhere near Kings Cross: it's seedy and full of drug-dealers and hookers.

Yellowstar_2

I'm a postdoc at UCL. PhD students in my dept live all over London (North, South, East, West) and commute in. Not many live within zone 1.

When I lived in London (now live in Oxfordshire and commute in), I lived in Crouch End (north London, Zone 2), which was very nice but I could still afford to rent (not my own place, but a nice room in a nice shared flat). Crouch end is green and leafy and pretty safe. It doesn't have a tube station but it's a 15 min (brisk!) walk to Finsbury park which has quick and easy tube connections to UCL area. There are also direct buses (bus route 91) and night buses whoch go between UCL area and Crouch End.

Kings Cross isn't so bad - it had a reputation a while ago but I don't think it's still current. I should say that I've never lived there myself, but I've walked through it on my own at night (I'm a lady) many times and have friends who live there who've had no problems at all.

Your daughter might also consider Camden Town, Highgate, parts of Hampstead (all parts are nice, but some are serious £££), East Finchley, Archway, and Chalk farm. All are in north London, all zone 2/3, easily commutable, all fine areas where she should be able to afford a room in a shared falt.

And - congratulations to your daughter for getting a PhD spot! Is that at UCL? They're hard to come by around here...

Yellowstar x

VfM4meplse

I'm another who would recommend avoiding Kings Cross. Lots of intercollegiate student halls can be found just south towards Russell Sq / Bloomsbury, including female-only halls (Cartwright, from memory). I would suggest that your DD offers her services as a warden if she wants to stay in a hall.

Hoof_Hearted

I think you can rent rooms by the hour in King's Cross!