Student house shares in London

[ElliotOnTheMoon]

DS is currently in his first year of London Uni and living in a student hall. He would like to share a house with two other people from the second year.

My question is：

1. When should he start looking for a place, and how?
2. Will it usually be more expensive than student halls？
3. Approximately how much would it cost for three people to share a house in London?

They all attend a uni in SW7. Obvioulsly they can't afford to live in such an expensive area, so I suppose they'll have to look a little further away.

They are discussing and researching in their own way, but I would also like to research and prepare in case we need to provide financial support to him.

Usually spring term, my DS was sorted just after Christmas.

look asap. They go fast.

depends what halls you are in as to whether they are more expensive. Price - might aswell ask how long is a piece of string.

My son didn't sort his until the Summer a September start. I guess it might depend on whether he/ his housemates might want to stay in London for the summer break.

He pays less in the shared flat than he did in halls. But different students have vastly different budgets as far as I know.

I was worried he was never going to sort it out. But he did and the flat is in a good location.

Student services (either by uni or the SU) often offer support and info around this. They can give a sense of where’s affordable and may be able to connect to existing houseshares / landlords etc.
The rental market in london moves pretty quick and if he needs from summer hols would consider looking sooner vs later. Tbh halls/private halls could be a real money saver once bills and travel are taken into account,as well as just paying for term times - and depending on how degree is graded takes pressure off for third year esp if you he needs to balance studies with a job.

My DS who is in his second year at a uni in London, started looking end of May, after exams had finished. Think this is a popular time to get sorted.
It is costing him more than halls but he was in the cheapest hall at £183 a week. Think he now pays approx £840 a month and then has bills on top. He shares with 3 others.

Well done to both of your DS!

We live close enough to be able to commute from home if needed, but the other two are international students, so I guess they will be away over the summer. So they will need a place to live from September. But still, do they already have to look around now? I hope they can sort it out within their budget...

My DS's room is also just less than £200 a week, I think. And yes, all the bills are included. So it'll be more expensive...

@ElliotOnTheMoon my son's group started looking in the summer term, then their first place fell through, so finally ended up getting somewhere in August. As it is London, houseshares are advertised all year round, though they will be competing for them with groups of young professionals.

Sharing with international students can introduce an additional hurdle because they probably don't have a UK-based guarantor. In the past, many landlords have insisted that international students pay a year's rent up front, but under new rules they are no longer allowed to do mandate this. There are third party guarantor services stepping into the gap, at a cost.

If the uni is part of the University Of London federation your DC will be able to use their very good advice and contract checking service. Their website is here: https://housing.london.ac.uk/about-us/what-we-do

The normal time to look is after the Easter break, during revision and first year exam period. The killer app is to show up to house views looking really smart and together and house proud.

As its SW7 I assume Imperial or one of the Royal College's. For that area few start looking before the summer term as that is how the rental market is in London. Quite a bit of the cheaper accommodation disappeared when Kensington & Chelsea changed the HMO rules - DD had to leave her flat at the end of second year as it no longer qualified for a 3 person let. Quite a lot live up and down the Picadilly line so out towards Hammersmith or the District line out to Fulham or over the river to Battersea and get the bus/cycle in.