If you do decide to look for a studio, I'd suggest start keeping an eye on what's around from about 3 months before, places will start to be advertised about 1 or 2 months before they're available (as that's the notice period for rentals usually).

Living on a trainline instead of a tube is usually cheaper, but not all operators are equal. I travel on Southwest trains into Waterloo and they're very good but Southern whose trains go out of London Bridge are less frequent or reliable, I'm not sure about the ones that go north-wards. I prefer the train as it as it's less dirty and claustrophobic than the tube. You can't use Oyster pre-pay but you can get a student Oyster and load it with weekly and monthly travel passes, which is worth doing if you travel frequently in rush hour, otherwise a young persons railcard (available to not-very-young students like me!) save a third off all tickets including travelcards bought at rail stations after 10am - apologies if you knew all that already.

The website for flatshares and studios is Gumtree and for rented flats findaproperty is best (I've just had a look on that one and there only seems to be one studio though - £135 per week in Notting Hill Gate. I don't know what it's like round there though).

I live with my boyfriend now but for reasons of not wanting to live in a chaotic houseshare I used to share with one other - the first I found on Gumtree for £425 per month and after that I moved in with a freind paying £450. If studios are too expensive, it might be an option to live with one other sensible person perhaps?

Good luck Bug!

Thanks a HUGE bunch Betty, I was JUST looking at gumtree right now! But they are all up for the next month or so, and so was wondering if it is a bit too early...I dont mind fixing a deal right now...but then also the guarantor issue...let me speak to UL property guys tomorrow, as Mousse suggested and will get back on this thread...


awww you guys, so many replies in under half hour, thank you, I realise I am getting so attached to this forum and all those I interact with regularly!

love to all and good night :-)

======= Date Modified 20 Feb 2009 06:43:05 =======
Your budget is tight. Even if you can find a studio or one room apartment for £600/m, you're still going to have to budget for utilities (if not council tax, which students are exempt from paying). For your money, I really think you need to be house sharing... Gumtree has a houseshare wanted / offered forum. Not only will a room in a shared house be cheaper, you can split those bills. Yes, more people in a house means more electricity and gas will be used, but the share per person is less than someone living alone.

Neighbourhoods close to an underground station are more expensive than those without, so to save money head for districts without the tube, and use the bus (or cycle). I used to live in Hackney: that area, or Dalston might be a good start. Also explore the bus maps at www.tfl.gov.uk - they are all there, including diagrammatic district maps. Find out all the bus routes from your near university, and see where they go to to check you have an easy link.

======= Date Modified 20 Feb 2009 07:40:37 =======
at the risk of being censured for advertising -- I've found moveflat a helpful flatshare-searching site (in addition to the already mentioned gumtree)..

EDIT: stupid me only realised now that you're not actually looking for a flatshare, sorry!

James, is right, you're better house-sharing on £150 a week. If you find a studio, you then have to pay all the utilities on top of that, and sort out council tax exemptions etc. - it gets expensive, and for £600 a month you'll most likely end up in a flea pit and/or terrible area. I was paying £900 for my rent in London many years ago, and that was for a tiny flat, but I always try to live in 'safe' areas, which inevitably means affluent areas.

Sharing with one other person would be the best option on your budget - especially if the other person is the owner and at work all day.

My brother has lived in two flats (sharing with just the owner) in nice (safe!) areas of SW London for under £600 a month. Notably, both places have been far away from tube, but he prefers using the overhead anyway.

spareroom.co.uk is good, and sometimes advertises studios.

You could probably get a good bedsit rather than a studio for that money. I had a couple of bedsits in London - Earl's Court and Camden. You'd have everything in one room and share a bathroom. Some are much nicer than others - the bigger ones are nice. I always had tiny ones as I was super skint. I used to think it was very cute having my own miniture kitchen with those baby bellings (not sure if they have those any more - this is going back about 20 years!).

The London ads paper - Loot! is still good for finding all kinds of rental properties. I used to use that all the time and I know people still do. You have to get it hot off the press and get to a phone straight away as the best places go fast.

I don't think I ever used a guarantor - but I did pay at least one month's rent as deposit plus a month in advance.

Heya,
I think that if you're on a budget and want to get to Uni quickly, then you should consider looking outside of "London"! Lots of places have really fast train links to central London. Like, less then 15 minutes. If you want to live anywhere that close to Uni in tube-travelling time, you'll be paying lots more.

I live outside of the M25. It takes me less than an hour door-to-door (to a central London uni). Quite some people who live a lot closer, take longer. Out where I am, you can get rooms in flatshares from £250/month.

With the low interest rates, and with all the city redundancies, rental prices are coming down, too. Lots of would-be sellers decide to rent out instead. There is (nationally) more then twice as much property available on the rental market than a year ago. Many involuntary landlords are desparate to get good tenants. As a tenant, you have a strong bargaining position at the moment. I've seen rental "asking prices" come down by more than 10% in the last 4 months, in our area. And you can easily offer to pay less then the "asking price"... and still get it. (So that's for giving you some hope!)

If you can't provide regular income, do get a copy of a recent bank statement that shows how much you own. Offer to pay lots upfront instead, if the landlord needs security.

======= Date Modified 20 Feb 2009 10:51:10 =======
UoL have a housing database here: http://housing.london.ac.uk It doesn't have much on it at the moment but I think early May is when they publish a big list of properties let by approved landlords. If you're looking at other sources of private sector accommodation I wouldn't bother contacting landlords until a month or two before you plan to move.

Good transport links are far more important than overall distance. Don't rule out rail travel either. If, say you were at King's Strand campus, the journey from parts of zone 3/4 to Charing Cross/Waterloo is only 20-30 minutes by train.

How would you feel about sharing a bathroom/kitchen? I've been looking on gumtree myself for studios and I've noticed that there are cheaper ones to be had if you are willing to share some facilities.

Hi all shani, hazy smilodon,

this sounds very very helpful. yes smile, a bedsit is what I would love, Shani i know your suggestion of moving out of London is fab, but that isnt an option for me..Hazy I looked at pmu at univ of London they ll take applications in June

Now, my real priority is a bedsit, without a guarantor. and real cheap :-)

======= Date Modified 20 Feb 2009 12:19:29 =======
Ah it wasn't the PMU bit I was talking about - look in the left hand menu at the bit that says 'search our housing database'. There's always places on there (including some currently that fit your budget/transport requirements), but the list gets really long sometime in about May when landlords list their places open from June/September.

Good luck, and don't despair if you don't like what you find initially, you have plenty of time.

And once you're done with London, consider sunny Glasgow where I live. For £650/m my partner and I have 100 sq. m. (1075 sq. ft.) three bedroom apartment. That means a study each plus the kitchen and living room :) And it's got a view of the park (ok, I'll stop bragging, and I'll admit that you have to live in Glasgow to get this kind of a deal : )

Have fun house hunting.

Hey there,

there was a story on the BBC website recently, claiming that rental prices are dropping.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7910329.stm

I'd wait, if I were you - the later it gets, the more affordable your dream bedsit will become!