Are student halls in London worth it?

[CautiousLurker01]

So DD has offers from KCL and UCL and firmed/insurance accepted. They are in the top 5 nationally for her subject and top 10 globally so she isn’t interested in going anywhere else, before it is suggested. We’re delighted for her. She has had a difficult few years so achieving a place anywhere is huge and we are so proud of her.

However, halls at both unis come in at around £14,500 for a 40 week contract (all bills etc included) and she was keen to ‘get involved’ at college and make friends, become independent etc.

My issue is that, having been a recent PG student myself, all my fellow students made it clear that they commuted to save on costs and the only ‘resident’ students were the overseas ones (and they grouped together by nationality, so all those from India formed a clique of their own - they were all lovely, but kept to themselves socially). Talking to my current supervisors it seems that courses are structured to allow students to be in college a couple of days a week to accommodate commuting and part time jobs, as they know students need the income and work experience on their CVS. We actually live 50mins by train from London, both colleges a short walk or bus ride from Waterloo. My fear is that we will commit to £14.5k a year to live in a 10msq room where DD may not actually meet anyone when she could just as easily meet friends through her course and societies and jump on a train home at night? Saving us around £11k a year.

We will also in Sep 2026 have a second DC studying in London, so we potentially will be paying £28-30kps for two-three years (both hope to do Masters afterwards). My DH works in London 30-50% of the time and potentially has access to funds that would mean he could, in fact, just about afford to buy a 2-3bed flat and use the £2500-3000k a month that we would otherwise be spending on rents by paying towards a mortgage. On paper, this is a no-brainer. DD, and later, DS, would have a flat in London so could mix with friends, be at uni, get a PT job etc but longer term any increased equity in the flat could be released and given to them to get on the property ladder. We have financially planned for this for decades so can afford the £30kpa, though not without sacrifice. Kids will only be entitled to @£3k if stay at home and £6.5k-ish (in maintenance loans) if in London due to household income.

The question is, are we being selfish in seeing this in terms of minimising the debt they’d leave uni with (and, yes, the fact that DH could use it when working up in London, rather than use hotels) and should we fund them both to live in halls so that they get the ‘full uni experience’? They are both incidentally entitled rooms in halls all three years, btw. I have friends whose DCs are loving uni, but have not made friends in halls (or worse, really do not get on with the people in their dorm/house or the floor of their halls) and ended up commuting home every weekend anyway. I am just concerned that living in halls in London will bear no resemblance to my experience of the same in York Uni in the 90s or DH’s experience… at a crippling cost.

Does anyone have DCs in London halls who can reassure me or give me a current picture of what they are like at the moment?

Sorry TL;DR: are Halls in London worth the cost, or will they be full predominantly of (lovely) overseas students who are not doing the same course and have no shared interests with my DD?

@Ceramiq where does International Hall come up? It’s not on the KCL accomm page so only heard about it here - it sounds great, but wondering how you apply?

It is an inter-collegiate hall operated by the University of London. They provide rooms to the various colleges in the UoL federation: https://www.london.ac.uk/current-students/student-services/accommodation-london

This is really helpful (and encouraging!) I understand DD’s course involves overseas field trips in y2 or 3 depending on module choice so it makes sense that commuting/not renting in that year would be better. I believe her department has a very active student society which may be where she makes friends, she is also very keen on snowboarding and anything film/animation so will be actively looking to join those societies… really hoping that’s where she finds her tribe, so to speak.

Above someone mentioned International Hall, another intercollegiate hall? None of these are on KCL’s accommodation pages - are they applied to through a different portal?

That’s brilliant, thank you - much less daunting price-wise and International House is catered!!

UCL and KCL will both list inter-collegiate halls alongside their own halls on the accommodation application form. They aren't on their website because they don't own them, but they reserve space in them for their students. If you use this link, and specify the uni, it will tell you which halls have space reserved for them: https://www.london.ac.uk/about/services/halls

Most of the inter-collegiate halls are optionally catered, and the food is very good (according to my son, who has a hearty appetite).

@CautiousLurker01 the other benefit of putting inter-collegiate halls as high preference is that you can specify them by name. In contrast, for the UCL halls, you can only specify parameters like budget, catered, room size, and might get allocated a room that meets the criteria but is further away.

Their allocation algorithm is designed to maximise the number of high preferences allocated.

If you can afford it, I think 1 year in halls is for the best option. If you bought a 2 bed flat for your DD’s second year, you could rent out the second bedroom to a friend to cover most of the cost of your DS’s halls for 1 year. If you buy a flat with a separate kitchen, it’s not uncommon for student houses to use the sitting room as an extra bedroom but you will have to comply with the local HMO regulations.

One of my DC was at a London university with a high number of international students. They had a great time in halls. Although there were a higher number of students living at home than at non London universities, they tended to be students who had chosen to do that for personal, religious or cultural reasons, rather than financial reasons. I would say there were more students from London living in halls (even if that meant living in a cheaper shared room) for the first year than living at home, although some lived at home in later years. Their BF actually ended up living in halls further away from the university than if they had lived at home.

DIL did live out of halls. Despite making a huge effort to socialise, she found it very isolating and hard to make friends. She missed out on all impromptu popping in for a coffee and a chat or going to the bar on a whim bonding that everyone in halls did. She often got forgotten about. Making friends through clubs and societies or classes was harder because everyone already had their social groups.

BTW, my DC was also entitled to request accommodation for all years due to a disability (TBH I think it was prioritised rather than guaranteed). KCL was their insurance offer. There was no guarantee of accommodation for students with insurance offers. They didn’t make the offer for their first choice, although there were mit circs, so for a few days we thought they would be going to KCL while their firm choice made a decision whether to accept them. There were no places in halls available at KCL or the intercollegiate halls.

@CautiousLurker01 completely understand about the ensuite - as you say the catered meals plus the shared kitchen will be other good informal social spaces.

My DN managed to get a space in International Hall even through she ended up in clearing. She was firmed a London Uni but slipped one grade and ended up at another London Uni. The halls she had booked were specific to the Uni she lost her place so had to look again. There seemed to be an awful lot of churn post results day but you had to be quick off the mark. The location just off Russell Square is great and there were students there from Kings, LSE, UCL and SOAS.

@CautiousLurker01You are quoting fairly near the top end for KCL halls! You are obviously well off to consider paying this when there is £10-11,000
for 40 weeks available. You are looking at £350 a week which is ludicrous. So if you compare this with a more rational choice, of course buying might seem sensible. The more expensive the accommodation, the more international dc there will be though. You could save a lot by being less high end.

We live in inner London and I still insisted my son went into halls at UCL for the first year for the experience and socialisation. It was during the pandemic so his only experience of university would have been through his laptop had he stayed at home. It was definitely the right thing for him as it grew his self confidence and made what might have been a very solitary year, a fun sociable one. Most of his current friends are from halls in his first year, so I think the £8k we paid (in 2020/21 for Campbell House) was well worth it.

If I were in your shoes, I would support going into halls in the first year to help your DC get established. For subsequent years, DC can get a bar job to fund living in London if that is preferred to moving back home. (Again, exactly what my son did; worked in the student bars to fund his rent in a grotty ex-council flat near Camdem Market. Again, living his best life).

One thing you haven't really mentioned is your DC's thoughts on this, you're treating it like a business / financial decision but it isn't really.

I know my own child thrived in Uni halls (not London though) and I am v glad they had that experience. And you don't need to decide now about all 3 years, that's premature too. Just go with halls for year 1 and see how things pan out.

My son is currently in halls, first year UCL.

To be honest this was one of his biggest worries but It's turned out that he's made loads of friends, mostly from the Uk and some international. Some go home at weekends, some don't. We haven't seen him at home since Christmas and he doesn't intend to come back at all now until he gets kicked out of the accommodation in the summer.

I think London is a different university experience to other universities but not for that reason. My nephew is first year at Manchester and comes home every few weeks.

Somehow not being willing to share a bathroom and getting a bar job don’t mix. My DD shared a bathroom in a catered hall and it’s like a kitchen - keep it tidy and clean!

Agree with halls first year then think about options for year 2-3 later.

My son will need accommodation in year 2-3 because he lives too far away and, more importantly, now he has a taste of independence he doesn't want to live at home.

University is about growing up and becoming independent as well as getting educated.

I don’t think it follows @lifeturnsonadime that students who don’t go to London come home more regularly than London students. That certainly hasn’t been my experience or the experience of my friends’ DC.

I wasn’t trying to suggest it does follow,
i was simply giving my son’s experience and commenting that he comes home less frequently than his cousin at a regional university.

Not really treating as a business decision - but paying £40k for accommodation in London over 3 years when she is 50mins away by train … and we are the ones paying for it means we are right to feel a little concerned? It means my DH has to defer retiring by several years to pay for it (travelling on the very same train every day) so I think it is justified to question what she really obtains by living in London, 35miles up the road, so that we can make an informed decision?

Many of our friends have had kids who have hated halls, come home every weekend (often in tears because of fall outs with housemates), and she is ND so the chances of her struggling to gel with her housemates are higher than most. I think its fair to be exploring options and trying to understand just what she might be missing out on. We think we’re at the position that we’ll pay for halls in the first year, but we do so knowing she she may love it, but she may also end up commuting up every day and leaving her room empty for the entire year - which at least two of our friends are seeing their DC do. That’s a big deal for us.

And DD? She is ambivalent. She feels pressured to live up there because that’s what she’s been told is all part of the uni experience, but she really loves her home, her room, her dogs, her gaming PC and the safety of home. She is scared of getting there and finding it hard to make friends, even though she could absolutely find her tribe especially within her subject speciality. She finds commuting quite hard, as she will have spent all day masking and then has to sit on a train coming home when she is running on empty in terms of social energy. It’s really hard to advise her as she is not an extrovert, confident, emotionally mature 19/20 year old.

It read that way.

I don’t think you can infer that a need (note a NEED, not a preference, for disability reasons I am not willing to share here) for private access to a toilet/washing facilities in their living space implies an inability to hold down a job. Bar work is definitely not likely to appeal to my DD, due to shyness, but she has happily worked in a cinema and been a barrista in the cafe there.

ETA I also didn’t come here to discuss en-suites v shared facilities. I started the thread to explore whether the exorbitant cost of student accommodation, if you are within commutable distance, is really worth it.

My son came home regularly for things like birthdays, or special occasions, but didn't always stay overnight. Sometimes he came home to borrow the car for a weekend away. 😁

During reading weeks or holidays he tended to stay up in town, but spend a few nights at home catching up with us and with school friends who were home from their unis.

In the summer at the end of year 2 he made the most of his expensive 12 month rental contract right to the end by commuting to his internship job from his flatshare rather than from home. But we still saw a lot of him at weekends.

Students who go to uni further away often have to leave their accommodation empty over the summer, but still pay for it.

The exorbitant cost of accommodation is not being able to compromise. So cannot quite see what you wanted to find out. £350 a week is not what most students pay. So most people won’t have had your dilemma. Only the rich will or those who are rich international students because, as you say, it’s exorbitant but no compromise on bathroom or university means you pay a very high hall fee. Most swerve this double whammy because they don’t have the money to buy a flat! They have to compromise either with bathroom (because most have never had an en suite) or university. If neither is possible you will pay through the nose.

We did buy a flat but not just for DDs. We wanted it for us.

Am I right in thinking your PGT London university is UEL? If so it has a very different student profile than UCL or KCL. Its target market for UG will be much more focused on local students, part timers and mature students - and that will be why so many students are commuting, and also why timetables are structured to allow work and caring responsibilities. I worked at another RG London uni and our commuter student UG group was pretty small. And I can certainly tell you that the timetables didn't manage to get everything on one or two days!

Okay, last time and then I stop responding to you:

1. you are failing to understand - she is disabled!! The en suite is non negotiable;

2. KCL is also the best in the country for the degree she is doing - why should she compromise there either?

3. the KCL only lists their accommodation and it is definitely higher end of the scale but (thanks to several posters here I am now aware of slightly cheaper options via UoL, which has reassured us and taken the sting out of it somewhat);

4. and of course, if we go down the flat buying route, it will be for us too. My DH works in London, our DS is applying to 3 unis in London too, I study (and soon start to lecture) at a London uni - it’s worth our while, but only sort of, because we happily commute!! We’d really rather not take on the expense or stress of a second property.

The point is: if we pay for her to live in halls, what does she get out of doing so that she would miss out on if we insisted she commute (after all, she can’t do any of it unless we pay for it as she will not get a full maintenance grant).

Fortunately, many people have engaged here in good faith and pointed out that a) there is a risk it could go pear-shaped and she could hate halls so we are wise to hold that in mind or b) it could be the making of her and she could love everything London has to offer. So we have reached the conclusion that we should stump up for the first year in the knowledge that we have to make sure she knows she has our support and there will be no recriminations if she ends up coming home every week (or every night). Ie. We’ll have to accept that we are committed to spending that money either way.

That’s really useful info, Freias, and just want I am trying to glean as I’m looking to see what her cohort would be like.

My MA was at Surrey and many (again, not all, just many) of them commuted for the MA and had done so for their BAs too. As I said above, they were in the lockdown cohort, so that would have had a significant impact on their decision to commute as UGs though. Their uni experience was nothing like my undergrad experience in the 90s and it impacted the MA experience as everyone just went home. No one mixed in any way after lectures etc, and this was what they’d done as UGs. We did have two 8hr days of solid teaching though, so we were quite exhausted. I’d hate for DD to stay in halls and have that same experience, but it sounds as though that is very unlikely - I’ve fed back some of the positive experiences that PPs above have posted about some of the UoL residences to DD and she is feeling very buoyed.

I’m keen that DD doesn’t end up missing out on extracurricular activities - or PT job options - because she HAS to commute but at the same time I was concerned [before your post] that she would be stuck in halls moping. As I’ve just posted above, I think we will encourage her to stay in halls in the first year and be available to check in with her regularly (as DH and I will be up there working etc) and then take a view on how y2 and 3 will work afterwards.

The subject she is doing has a significant portion of group activities and fieldwork, so knowing people will not be rushing for trains is great as she could potentially be spending months on overseas study trips with them. Hopefully between the course, the societies and halls she will blossom.