How can my son find decent lodgings in north London?

[ParmoParmoPARMO]

Ds (20) has been offered a job in London. He's very keen to spread his wings and start living independently. We live about 40 mins by train from Central London.
The job doesn't pay brilliantly, but doesn't want to commute.
He's decided to look for a place to live.
He's looked on spare room and been to see a grotty flat this evening. Really dodgy vibes. Laminate lifting off the loo floor, mouldy shower curtain. Bleurgh.

Doea anyone know of any 'nice' people who want a clean, hardworking young man as a lodger?! Where would we find such a household? He wants to be north of the river.

Have you actually tried renting them though?

initially we found a fair few rooms for around £800. Great, we thought, and set that as the budget.

when you actually start applying it’s very different. Many have set charges for bills on top, it wasn’t unusual for a £150 charge for bills not including electric.

then they’re not great location wise, often far from a tube/tram/bus route, need refurbishing etc. there’s often a requirement for 3x rent or more as salary, so lots we looked at needed a basic wage of 35k plus. Then there’s high demand, so as a first time renter with no refs and no payslips for the last 3 months he will be at the back of the queue.

honestly it is not as easy as “I’m always seeing rooms for £850”

dc ended up paying the £14 for spare room as by the time the premium week had expired it had gone or viewings were arranged. We searched everyday and contacted everything that seemed suitable. The room we ended up with went on the site, we arranged a viewing for the next day and signed the contract there and then. If you dither someone else comes along, which we learned very quickly.

it’s considerably more than the initial £800 budget. It’s tiny, but they feel safe, it’s clean, all bills are included, and it saves a fortune in commuting as it’s a couple of bus stops down the road from work.

Thanks yo those who have suggested Homestay, I've sent the link to him.

Some are this price inc bills (that's what I meant). Some do have bills on top, I know.
I often see rooms in houses with either a live-in landlord or an existing group of people who've lived there a while and who treat it as a home, not a dosshouse. They often emphasise that it's not a party house, that everyone needs to do their share of cleaning etc. They don't tend to look as if they need refurbishing. The ones in my area are close to buses and the overground; slightly further from me they'll be near the tube too.

Does he actually want your help? Why not just leave him to it? I’m sure he knows how to set filters on Spareroom or Openrent. He’ll probably end up somewhere grotty but does it actually matter? It won’t kill him.

There’s also Share and Care where they match a younger person with an older householder. You have to be around a few hours a week to help out eg with cooking, practical stuff like light house maintenance etc. In return you pay a lower rent. Not for everyone but it can be a solution for some. https://www.shareandcare.co.uk

We live in north London, it’s a 10 minute walk to the tube, 20 mins into kings Cross, longer into City or West End. He won’t be saving much time by commuting from NLondon rather than your home. And rents are shocking, colleagues are paying £900 pm for smallest room in a grotty house share.

I’m sorry, I’m sure your son is lovely, but there is no way on earth I’d have a 20-year-old man I don’t know living with my DC. With or without a DBS check.

I don’t even think I could afford London now at my age! I lived there in early 2000s too, admittedly in not so nice areas but was paying about 300 a month.

A "nice family" isn't going to want a 20 year old man living with them and their family, that just isn't going to happen, unless it is someone you know personally. Nice families would chose a female and someone older. I wouldn't want a 20 year old man living in my home whether he had a piece of paper to say he was "safe" or not.

He either commutes (most sensible thing to do) or accepts that for his budget he's only going to get a grotty room in a houseshare.

Lol my first salary in London was £18,000 too. In 2018.