Is £950 a month too much for student rent? London!

[weinb]

So dd is 23 turning 24. She is studying a one year masters course, and we’ve agreed that this will be her final year on the parental pay roll!

She’s found a lovely but quite run down two bedroom flat with a childhood friend (we know the parents well). It’s in a very leafy safe area of london, so the idea is she can walk or get an easy bus in to uni.

How much are your children paying for london uni rent?

Mine is paying £1000 a month for a newly renovated flat in zone 1.

£950 is ok. Friends DC is paying that for zone 3. No underground anywhere near. But it’s a nice area. Also, few flats stay available for very long. If she wanted smarter, she would be paying a lot more!

No. London around £1k a month for a single person is quite normal . Average £850-£1150 I would say.

Normal.

daughter was paying £1200 for first year but then moved further out and is paying £800 p/m

What about sharing a one bed, what’s the normal then?

An announcement from your DD that she is a lesbian.

Assuming she isn't, if £950/m is too high (and in most people's worlds it would be) then she needs to get a part time job or consider if London is the best place to study.

Lowest rent for one bedroom around me (zone 3) is £900, and that's not going to be in the nicer parts nor near the tube.

The average monthly rent paid by students at my DC's university last year £924 (from a student survey). However, the areas that are popular with students and near the university are very expensive, even for London.

Rental prices are insane in London at the moment. Prices dropped during lockdown but they have rocketed since. A lot of my DC's year moved home last year if they could, those that couldn't struggled to find somewhere to live. Average rent was £650-750 for the first 5 years of their course...

We can't tell you if that is a good price for the area without knowing where it is. Also be aware that nice, leafy areas in London can have pockets of unsafe areas.

Rent per person usually works out cheaper the greater the number of bedrooms ie a 5 bedroom houseshare costs less than a 2 bedroom houseshare per person, particularly if it is a house with 2 reception rooms that can be used as extra bedrooms. Renting a 2 bedroom flat is the most expensive way to houseshare in London. A lot of students use reception rooms as bedrooms to save money (the landlord may need an HMO licence for that though). Your DD could rent a 1 bedroom flat and do that but greedy developers mean that a lot of 1 bedroom places don't have a separate kitchen and sitting room that could be used as a second bedroom. It can be hard to find a 1 bedroom place that doesn't have an open plan living area.

Have they looked at the university accommodation website to see if there are any other students looking to team up as sharers for a bigger property?

Greedy developers? Lots of flats are open plan. Mine is. It’s a Victorian conversion. It’s nothing to do with greed. It’s what works for the building.

And actually not renting out the lounge as a bedroom is much nicer!

Thank you for the insight of your dc. Gosh london is so expensive!

Funnily enough, DD mentioned one of her top priorities was having a separate kitchen. It means that someone can work or have friends over in the sitting room without the smells of the kitchen or disturbing each other!

Dd has complained that often (even conversion flats) a “two bedroom flat” is one where the kitchen has been shoved against the wall in the living room to “create” the second bedroom.

DD is in a student share in Fulham. The landlord only rents to students from her uni and charges below the market rent. She is paying about £700/month + bills. Four students sharing. Living room is postage stamp size. Ex Council property on large estate.

Rooms in house shares here (zone 6) cost around £800 inc bills.

£920/month

@weinb Its fairly normal to have kitchen and lounge together. Otherwise kitchens can be tiny! It’s a bit first world problem to worry about a separate kitchen on not. There might not be much choice!