renting a room in london

isisini

I’ve lived and rented in North and South London over the past six years and these would be my tips for locating yourself:

- Do you know anyone already living in London? If so you may want to orientate yourself around where these people are. London is pretty big and if you’re commuting all week being near your friends on the weekend is much more relaxing.
- Think a bit about your lifestyle – if you’re planning to go out a lot in the evening and travel into central London a lot to do the museums/exhibitions etc. a lot then being on a tube line can be really helpful. If you want somewhere with a bit more of a villagey feel and with green space in your immediate area then you may well want to move somewhere a little more off the tube map like Blackheath, Earlsfield or Crouch End.
- Rent somewhere on a rolling contract or with a six month break clause to start with so if you don’t get on with the place you can move out easily. You may find all your new pals are in one area and you’ll want to be near them.
- Fast underground lines include Victoria and the Jubilee lines (although do watch out for weekend works).
- If you’re looking for more of a warehouse scene you’ll probably want to look at East London – it’s a bit more pricey these days but you could look at somewhere like Leyton, Mile End, Stepney or Bethnal Green – these just about be within budget and are within striking distant of the uber hip Dalston and Shoreditch.
- Tottenham & Tottennham Hale are relatively cheap, but a few years ago there was a lot of chat about HMO rental properties out that way having roach problems (!). So keep an eye on that. Other cheapish places to live with great transport links include Finsbury Park, Upper Holloway, Stratford, Kennington, Elephant & Castle (though the trade off of a cheap central area is that it may be a bit rough).
- If you are on a strict budget, being somewhere with decent buses is useful as then you won’t have to get a tube pass, a bus pass is a lot cheaper.
- If there’s an area you like but most properties are out of your price range – don’t give up completely, keep an eye on new stuff coming on. I’ve lived in great flats in Camden that defied local rent trends for one reason or another. Private/accidental landlords can often be best for this – they want good tenants with little hassle and are less likely to be constantly reviewing the local rental market.

Good luck! I’ve loved living here, although it does take a little time to settle in, remember you can always move and there are always rooms available!

MelaBella

Good post above issisni, its true that the lifestyle is very important, if OP prefer to go out in the evening and dont like to sit and watch TV like on oldie:) then you need to locate yourself within the easy reach to central LOndon.

Zone-wise it probably doesnt matter for OP, since she need to travel around due to her work, so just look at the time you need to spend travelling from home to central London. For example going from CEntral London to Lewisham zone 2 and to Woolwich Arsenal zone 4 takes the same time, so mkae your conclusions...Also, night buses is advantage, you can save up money not taking cabs...

I shared accomodation in the past, but due to my lifestyle for me home is the place to sleep, literally, and nothing else. I work late, and in the evenings i never come home straight after work, either im doing sports or hanging out with friends somewhere central, weekend is the same story, so for me as soon as im near to the tube station im all fine:) but its me, people are different, when i was a student i remeber sharing with some people who never go out of their rooms just sleep watch TV or study...

Overcrowding is not good, as you have more chances to live with weiredos, i would avoid sharing with more thatn 2 people unless you know this preople.

chuckley

kmmr wrote: »

Without getting into tube wars - I find the central line swift and reliable. I get it every day to and from work, and normally the wait for a train would be under 1 minute. In the 4 years I have been commuting I would estimate there have been less than 10 major incidents that caused me to have to get different transport.

The stats may be slightly misleading as the trains are so frequent that a small delay can impact a lot of trains, but they may still only be a minute or two apart.

HAHAHA stop it... You must be getting on at either end...

Cissi

babie_gurl wrote: »

thanks everyone im going today to look at rooms im excited ! i think tottenham hale area seams to be around my buget but im now thinkng while im there to have a look around otherareas i would love to live in a warehouse apartment or a big share and i love camden but the prices are huge !to say the least !

Tottenham Hale is pretty seedy - as others have said, also consider some areas that aren't on the tube but on a mainline - Clapham, Putney, and Wandsworth are worth a look. And please: use a spell checker or at least learn to spell "budget" - sorry, but reading "buget" 5+ times in one thread got a bit much