London year 2 accommodation

[VivianSmith]

Just helping my nephew look at options for next year. He wants to rent with two friends in east London. Finding that sites like Rightmove are for ppl who want a flat now, and the specialist student sites we found via google have very little stock. Price range would be max 600pcw for the three of them. Any advice on which sites to use/ where to go about this? He’s feeling anxious as friends in other cities are already sorted for next year. Thanks for any advice!

I used to use spareroom (about 7 yrs ago) and weirdly Gumtree but perhaps be careful of this one. Do the uni not help advise?

I was screwed over by so many uni landlords please get him to check his deposit is protected

London student rentals operate a very different times scale from other student lettings so he mustn't panic just because other areas are sorting themselves out now. It's quite normal for students not to sort anything till the end of the first year in London.

Has he looked here: https://housing.london.ac.uk

He’s looking way to early. My ds was in halls last year in London and looked for second year rentals in the month before the Summer holidays. He found a lovely house in Whitechapel for three of them. He had a good choice of places at that stage.

Also, my ds used a local keying agent with a good reputation.

Letting agent*!

My d is a first year in London (imperial) and tells me that people are talking about the groups they want to live in, but that the older year groups have said they don’t need to think about finding a house until about March

Thank you! Nephew is extremely impressed with you all and is chastising his mum for not being on here! Sounds like waiting is the right option as he’s got the group bit sorted. Also appreciated the housing.london.ac.uk link which had not come up on google

I rented in East London (graduated 2010) and a family member followed 5 years after me. The norm was to wait until the start of the summer holidays then go round the local letting agents. It’s basically just like a normal let but the landlord have agreed to rent to students and guarantors will he needed obviously. I know some people found places on Gumtree but it can be a bit riskier. When I met him DH lived in a perfectly fine place in Stepney Green found on there and it was cheaper than market because the landlord popped in regularly to harvest his potatoes from the tiny scrap of garden!

DS started looking in April this year in South London but it was too early. He and his flat mates found a reasonable choice of places through a letting agent in July. Apparently lots of places come up when students give their notice towards the end of their 12 months.

Thanks again! He’s relaxed a lot now and told the friends in other unis to stop harassing him! Will start looking again later in the year.