Cost of university accommodation in London.

[Hopefullyromantic]

DS has Imperial in his sites. Can I have a ball-park figure of how much students are paying to live in London? TIA

See website
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/students/accommodation/prospective/ug/fees/

Its about £500 per week plus just for the halls accomodation.

No it's not

Just look on the website

Thanks - yes, saw website, but I understand that Halls are usually only for first year? Apologies , I should have said cost of living in London for University - will see if I can edit title!

After that people tend to go into flat shares across London, with varying costs.
I went to uni in Northwick Park/Regent Street and lived in a 3 bed flat share in Harrow. No point giving the costs though as it was about 25 years ago (360 pounds a month!!)

No it's not. But it is expensive. Just look at the website.

My nephew is at LSE and he has budgeted £12,000 a year for accommodation, bills and food which seems insane to me as my dd, who is the same age has accommodation costs of £5000 a year.

There are coliving spaces in London now which cost from £1200 pm with utilities included I believe basically halls for students or single people working in London. Gravity coliving is the company I've heard about.

@Hopefullyromantic London students get their private rentals from websites like Zoopla, Rightmove etc so its easy enough to do a search for typical flatshare prices.

My DS is at UCL and has been sharing with friends at £900pcm each, plus bills in Camden, but many pay a lot more. Most shared student houses he looked at had their lounges converted to bedrooms, in other words communal space is a luxury.

I don't know where Imperial students live, but I expect many will commute some distance - most of their halls of residence are in Acton aren't they?

I was at Imperial 25 years . We all struggled hugely with accommodation costs. I lived in a 4 bed ex council house with one in living room and one in utility ‘corridor’.
my living expenses were 10K per year at that point .

£12k sounds low even in a flat share.

My DSD just got a flat share with 2 others for £850 per month. Bills will be on top.

A couple of years ago my DD was spending around £900 a month for a room in a 3-bed flatshare in Shadwell area, and there wasn't much available for any cheaper that close to the city centre. That didn't include bills although as they were all students they didn't have to pay council tax at least. London is really expensive.

@Hopefullyromantic It really will depend on the area he goes to. That’s why you will see different prices here. When students are no longer in halls, money talks. The better the area, the higher the costs. Transport links matter too. How long is the commute? Most won’t want to stay around Acton. It’s not got a lot going for it. Imperial does have a campus at White City though.

Also don’t forget Imperial attracts many international students and some of them have deep pockets. Others live at home. I think most commutable rents will be in the region of £1000 a month. London students live all over. There’s not really a student area around Imperial. Spare Room is often used by students but it’s important to make friends with similarly financed dc if you cannot afford top dollar.

Doesn't seem any more expensive than Edinburgh, I'm surprised! We seem to be looking at 1200pcm per room in a shared flat

I'd say it's in the ballpark of £1100 each per month for a shared flat plus utilities in a nice area. The issue for us has been having to pay up front. We had the money but this seems impossible for people relying on student grants.

@Bcdfghjk Thst surely also depends on area. I’m not quoting Chelsea prices! £1000 is not near Imperial. I assume even Edinburgh has areas where students commute some distance to the uni? Areas that are less desirable?

We're paying for a child at UCL.
2022/23 private renting, sharing with friends (living room as one of the bedrooms), each student paid £1k a month with bills on top. We thought it was acceptable because the flat was very near UCL (15 mins walk) so no commuting costs.

This coming year 2024/25, self-catered UCL halls (again within 20mins walking distance) will be just over £1k a month, but will include bills.

If your child has extra needs, they may qualify for university accommodation in their final year too.

@SalGoodwoman Whst do you expect to pay in 25/26? For a flat share? Also Imperial is not near to any “student” areas. Most areas within walking distance are very very expensive. Not £1000 a month.

@Hopefullyromantic . My son is at Imperial and he has secured 2nd year accommodation in West Kensington - mansion flat for 5 of them for £1300 p/m + bills (2 year contract) . It was a fab find and great price as most quality accommodation is much greater. Great spacious accommodation and very close to campus but it was very hard to find - takes a lot of work and preserving. Most of the students tend to live in West Kensington/ Hammersmith after year 1 to save commute time and cost. 1st year was in Acton halls - great quality and highly subsidised by ICL but takes 30-40min commute so need to factor time and cost of train pass.

spare room could also be useful.

An example;

https://www.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/london/penge/16891639

Apart from the cost, if the student is renting a shared flat from a private landlord, the landlord is likely to require a guarantor for each student. That usually means their parents. Problem is the guarantee is not just that student's share of the rent but also the others' rent. No way I will guarantee that my dcs' flatmates will pay their rent. The only way out of the guarantee is to pay 6 months of the rent upfront. It is horrific.

We're budgeting £16k pa for DS if he gets into Imperial next year. After the first year at Beit Hall (hopefully). It's mad. I used to pay £70 pcm at Queens back in the day!

To be honest, I don't actually know as it is all new to us but definitely outside of Edinburgh itself would be a bit cheaper for sure.

My child is a finalist this year, and has a place in university halls again.

If they stay on for a Masters in London, then I would expect rent to increase to £1,200 or £1,300pm, but would really depending on whether they can get any funding and/or on the location of course.

We've been fortunate to be able to support the accommodation costs, our child pretty much lives on their maintenance loan during the academic year.

@blueshoes we have been our children's guarantor for several years now (in London and also at other UK universities). The contacts we have agreed to have explicitly said we are only liable for their (our own child's) share of the rent, not their housemates'. And in the private rentals, the deposit is held through a broker company, so any disputes at the end between landlord and tenants can be sorted out "fairly".