renting in St Albans - any tips?

mhoc

Just wondered if anyone has any tips about renting in St Albans - what areas to avoid, what areas to look at which are within easy walking distance for commuter trains to London...

Supermarkets, gyms, night life ...

Daughter and her BFs budget is ideally under £900 per calendar month and they
need a place with parking.

They have been looking at pretty little cottages with little courtyard gardens but I think these stretch the budget.

What alternatives are thereto St Albans?

Daughter will commute in and she works
near Tower bridge and the other has to be at the office in st Albans a day a week but otherwise drives to see clients in and around London.

verulamium

Most of St Albans is decent, but I would ignore trying to rent in the historical market areas as parking is difficult to come by (unless they can find a flat with off-street parking). Forget cottages in St Albans. Most of the cute cottages are in the Verulam area, and they are incredibly expensive. Sopwell is a very nice area but I struggle to see how they can afford to live there, but there are purpose built flats in that area.

The east side of the railway line tends to be cheaper and there is a big Morrisons on Hatfield Road. If they choose to live in near the city itself, there are plenty of small 'metro' style supermarkets around. When we lived in St Albans, we found the Tesco Metro and M&S on St Peter's St more than enough, with only occasional trips to the big Sainsbury's close to the Abbey railway station and Waitrose in King Harry (south of the Verulamium Park).

For under £900pcm, you could rent a one bed 10 minute walk away from the mainline station, but I see very little on RM at the moment. They get snapped up very quickly. A friend of mine owns a two bed flat in a gated-development in St Peter's ward, just seven mins from the station, and recently let it out for £900pcm, so it's do-able.

Register with the local EAs. Most never come on Zoopla/RM.