... to ask about accommodation in London for young professional?

[shockthemonkey]

Having lived abroad for 18 years now, I am wondering whether we're missing a trick as I try to help my DS of 25 yrs find a room in a flatshare in London.

He needs to be within striking distance of E1 - Shoreditch, Whitechapel. Based on his searches there is a dearth of supply and a huge queue of applicants for each property.

He'll be attending a computer programming bootcamp until January and from then on will remain in London as he searches for a job.

I would really appreciate any pointers!

Leave him to it? He’s 25…..

but seriously there is a huge supply problem - spare room is a good shout or local social media flat share pages.

Spareroom always did the trick for me - lived in quite a few houseshares and didn’t have trouble.

You say within striking distance - within what area are you looking? Whitechapel is very well connected, with overground/distract/hammersmith/Elizabeth lines, so it’s pretty easy to get there. And he could also get the central line to Stepney Green/Bethnal Green. It is definitely worth broadening his search perimeter.

It's difficult in London. I did a househare there years ago and whenever we needed someone new we always had a lot of applicants and could be picky.

He could start his own flat/ share by finding his own place to rent then advertising for roommates before signing the tenancy. Not easy and he'd have to be quick but this is how my roommate started our houseshare.

Has he tried Gumtree ?

He needs to be within striking distance of E1 - Shoreditch

He doesn’t. Most 25 year olds studying don’t live in shoreditch.
He needs to look further east, Stepney, bow, Bromley by bow etc will all have ‘cheap’ houseshares as they are students areas.

Although at 25 your son should really be able to look into this himself.

What sites is he using? Spareroom is a good one.

Is he looking over a wide enough area?

Does he actually need help at 25?

Honestly, I would cheerfully help my grown up children with investigating properties, exactly like I would help my husband, my siblings, my friends. Why wouldn't anybody help the people they care about? I went to view houses with my 27 year old son because I was interested and he appreciated my opinion. He bought the one we both liked best. I had a lovely week spending time with him. Should I have just told him to get on with it on his own? Some people on MN are very peculiar about families taking an interest in each other.
I hope you manage to find somewhere OP. It is difficult if you have been living abroad for a while. The housing situation has changed a lot in recent years.

Viewing a share house is a two way interview process, you can’t turn up for a share house viewing with your adult son!

It’s slightly harder for men to get into share houses because women often prefer to live with women and mixed share houses try to maintain a balance. He might be better off leasing a flat and getting a flatmate in.

It won’t be possible for him to secure a traditional share house without being in the UK first unless he goes with a landlord who lets by the room which can be a bit tricky as you have no control over who you live with. He’d be better off getting an air BnB for a month & searching whilst here.

I’d look along the ginger line out to Hackney Downs, Stoke Newington and Seven Sisters, and south to Surrey Quays, Canada Water, New Cross and Brockley as that’s a very easy commute.

I don't think OP is turning up for interviews. Surely the help is just about research, looking round suitable areas?

I agree with previous posters abiut widening the search along the tube/train lines and them itnis a numbers game. Not fun but he'll find somewhere.

Thank you so much, endoftheline, master and leaves and all the others who have shared their ideas.

Of course my son has been searching for a while, but has found it difficult mostly because he cannot view as quickly as others and the available rooms are going on a first-come-first-served basis. He was originally looking to share with two of his mates, but even with two of them already in London they have not been able to get to viewings fast enough!

Spareroom is great but the rooms are going fast.

By striking distance I meant commutable. Not "able to touch the place from his bedroom window". Transport has changed so much since I last lived in London more than two decades ago, so what used to be a ninety minute commute has gone down to an hour, in some instances. Just as an example, I'd never heard of the ginger line, so thanks Porridge.

And yes, you're right - I'm not turning up for interviews 😀

I went to view houses with my 27 year old son because I was interested and he appreciated my opinion.

It’s very different for house shares- turning up with your mum will put a lot of people off (thankfully OP has confirmed she doesn’t do this).

It's a case of keeping searching. Another option is there are now halls of residence type set ups for working adults which might be easier from relocating (cost more I suspect then a room)

This was about 5 years ago now, but when I moved to London as a bright eyed yopro I actually found spareroom a bit rubbish. The best way I found was through the workplace I was joining as they often knew someone who knew someone who was looking for a flatmate. So if he can get a short term stay for like a month so he can start work he may be better off. Also Facebook groups were better than spareroom, there used to be specific ones for the area I wanted to move to, so worth looking if there is one for an area in commuting distance.

I think you need to be in the vicinity to get to viewings really quickly. My friends DS moved into a Premier Inn for a week to get a flat.

My dd spent a few weeks earlier this year looking for a flat to rent with friends in London. It's a really fast market out there at the moment. Plus very expensive. Also be prepared to act as your ds's guarantor Op - dd paid I think 2 months up front to avoid this but her flatmates weren't able to.

It's really tough looking for a rental property at the moment. Good luck!

Spareroom

Right now there is a MAJOR rental crisis , so more people are looking for sublets / room shares so it's a tricky time unfortunately

Thank you so much everyone. More valid points and useful information. Appreciated!

I've never heard of the ginger line. Took me a while to realise this is the London Overground, which I use regularly. I think it's orange though.

(Also, there is no such thing as ginger with regard to hair colour. "Redheads" have orange hair.)

He needs to move to London with a suitcase and stay with a mate or live in a hotel until he finds something. I sub letted my friends room to get my first house share

What is his budget? Www.studios2let.com usually have studios available in central london locations If he can afford it?
also try open rent. They have flat shares and self contained too

I always used spare room when I was 18 up to moving in with my boyfriend

Another point is if he's replying by email to flatshare announcements he shouldn't just say he's interested in the room and that's it, but give some information about himself. We used to want to know, age, working /student (for council tax [ working hours - eg will he be around during the day or not, pets, non smoker etc.

We had mice at one point and specifically chose a flatmate who had a cat.
The demand was so high we could do that.

Rather than look for a spare room on Spareroom (which is nigh on impossible), could he look for some fellow singletons (mixed group more favourable with landlords than all male group) wanting to make up a group (four is a good number for London) then they can go view on behalf of the group if he's not around. Look on Rightmove for whole properties to rent - he won't get whatever's advertised as they go on the day, but estate agents will alert them to ones about to be advertised so a group can get an early viewing. Note that often prospective tenants are asked to offer above asking....