2 bed flat in London

[Rzim]

My DD is just starting this pretty hideous journey / seems like a bit of a lottery in the private rental market - does anyone have any top tips? Are we missing a trick? Or is it just a numbers game ie - applying for lots of flats to rent and hoping that 1 comes off? Are there any UCL accommodation for 4th year students? Thx

You might be better asking UCL if they have accommodation. If renting on the open market your dd will need to be prepared to move well out of central London. My niece is at Imperial and rents at the far end of Hammersmith.

@Rzim Do you mean does the university have accommodation? First year only probably? Why 2 bedrooms? With a friend.

Look along underground lines and decide on how far away is reasonable. Further out, a bit cheaper usually. Don’t write off ex Council and view any possibles quickly. Haggle on rent. Look at lots of areas to gauge what budget is needed.

DS is at UCL, no accommodation for 4th year students - they can apply for halls but first year students get priority so it’s unlikely older years will get a place. Has she tried University of London Housing Services? Lots of students find places to live through them. It does seem a big of a lottery but DS had successfully found somewhere to live in both his second and third years (next year’s flat sorted last week, nothing like getting it sorted in good time 🙄). Having said that, it does sound like 2 bedroom properties are quite rare, 3 and 4 bed flats are a lot more common.

2 bed flats are more professional couple territory and not really aimed at students I think.

DD and most of her friends stayed in student accommodation throughout. Private rental is an expensive nightmare in London.

My daughter has just found one. She's at UCL. It's very expensive though and she and her friends have found a lot of estate agents are doing "offers over" which means that to get the property you have to offer quite a bit more than it's actually advertised for.

DS and his friends 2/3 did manage to get central accommodation through a lot of looking. S Ken for one year and Tower Hamlets, both cheap which was their only criteria. They may just have been lucky but they had options.

Thx all x