The Student Room Group
Founders Building, Royal Holloway
Royal Holloway
Egham
Visit website

Postgraduate students looking for private sector housing

Hey all,

Congrats to everyone joining us in September!

My name is Camilla and I completed my Masters at Royal Holloway in 2015.

I'm here to help you with any queries you may have regarding private sector housing.

I've lived in the surrounding areas of Royal Holloway - Egham/Englefield Green - for the past four years, so whether you want to know how far a house is from campus or the shops, or the best places to live if you want to be near the train station, or whatever your query may be, ask away and I'll do my best to help!

You can also use this thread to find other Postgrad students looking for a house share.

Camilla :smile:
hey!

I've been looking at houses in the area, and I've had some emails saying that to rent houses you need all the occupants to apply together. Do you know of any housing agencies that will allow independant applicants? Or if not, do you know of anymore forums/contacts that might be useful to find other house mates?

cheers
Founders Building, Royal Holloway
Royal Holloway
Egham
Visit website
Hi, I am looking for roommates as well! There is a Royal Holloway Housemating facebook page that has been set up, and a postgraduate freshers group.
Original post by tashw1992
hey!

I've been looking at houses in the area, and I've had some emails saying that to rent houses you need all the occupants to apply together. Do you know of any housing agencies that will allow independant applicants? Or if not, do you know of anymore forums/contacts that might be useful to find other house mates?

cheers


Hey Tash,

Our HouseSearch is a good place to start. You can use this to either find an individual room or to look for other people to buddy up with to rent a house together. If you want to go down the route of finding others to rent a house together with, you may want to check out our Housemate Scheme Facebook group.

If you're keen to get things moving and would rather just go for an individual room, sites such as spareroom.co.uk also have listings in the local area. The average cost for a room in this area is £400pcm - it's worth bearing this in mind as a good starting point when looking for an individual room.

Give me a shout if you've got anymore questions!

Camilla :smile:
Original post by rebecca318
Hi, I am looking for roommates as well! There is a Royal Holloway Housemating facebook page that has been set up, and a postgraduate freshers group.


Awesome! I'll follow that now. have you found anywhere you're interested yet?
Original post by Royal Holloway, University of London
Hey Tash,

Our HouseSearch is a good place to start. You can use this to either find an individual room or to look for other people to buddy up with to rent a house together. If you want to go down the route of finding others to rent a house together with, you may want to check out our Housemate Scheme Facebook group.

If you're keen to get things moving and would rather just go for an individual room, sites such as spareroom.co.uk also have listings in the local area. The average cost for a room in this area is £400pcm - it's worth bearing this in mind as a good starting point when looking for an individual room.

Give me a shout if you've got anymore questions!

Camilla :smile:


thanks a lot!
Original post by tashw1992
Awesome! I'll follow that now. have you found anywhere you're interested yet?


I've seen a couple of properties online that seem great. It's just daunting to commit without viewing it in person. I posted link to a houseshare that looks nice and is available for individuals, but i think the link has to be approved or something, so it's taking a while to post.
Original post by rebecca318
I've seen a couple of properties online that seem great. It's just daunting to commit without viewing it in person. I posted link to a houseshare that looks nice and is available for individuals, but i think the link has to be approved or something, so it's taking a while to post.


Yeh, I'm hoping to go see a few so I can post more pictures online from my visit. Oh, is this the facebook group? Let me know how that goes - I still need to be approved too!
Hey Camilla, do you know how fast houses usually fill up around the area now that the University accommodation places are out? Should I be panicking yet? haha
Original post by tashw1992
Yeh, I'm hoping to go see a few so I can post more pictures online from my visit. Oh, is this the facebook group? Let me know how that goes - I still need to be approved too!


That's good - do you live locally? The facebook group is pretty helpful! I've also found that just getting in touch with the estate agents is quite useful, as when I inquired about a house, they said they would send over a few more options. I will try sending the link via the personal messenger, see if that works instead.
Original post by tashw1992
Hey Camilla, do you know how fast houses usually fill up around the area now that the University accommodation places are out? Should I be panicking yet? haha


Firstly, don't panic! It's difficult for us to say how quickly private sector housing fills up. This would really be dependent on how close you want to live to the University and how much you're willing to pay in rent. Houses will begin to fill up, so the earlier you are, the bigger selection you will have.

Camilla
Hey, I'm an international student who didn't receive a spot for on campus housing. How should I go about looking for a place to live if I'm not even going to be in the country until a week before term starts?

Thanks.
Original post by amandamseale
Hey, I'm an international student who didn't receive a spot for on campus housing. How should I go about looking for a place to live if I'm not even going to be in the country until a week before term starts?

Thanks.


Hey Amanda,

Sorry to hear that you're in this position. Your best bet would be to do as much research as you can online. The best ways to do this are:

1) Look for an individual room, either through our HouseSearch or through independent websites such as Spareroom or private providers such as The Pad

2) Buddy up with other students looking for private sector housing and choose a house to rent together. You may want to contact others in this thread to see if they are still looking for a place, or you can post a message on our Housemate Scheme Facebook group.

I'm hear for any questions you may have!

Camilla :smile:
Reply 13
Hello Camilla!

Im a recent graduate from royal holloway, so technically I'm currently a professional.
And I'm looking for a temporary place (6 months would be preferable). I'm looking for either 2 bedroom houses, shared houses (to live with a friend who is also searching for some place) and I'm also searching for places individually (again, houses or shared houses).

Most agencies don't really do short term let tho (if you know any that does, please let me know!). And any houses I find on websites like RightMove are associated with agencies.

I've looked at SpareRoom. But it doesn't have that many places and I'm looking for alternatives now.

Do you have any suggestions / support / helpful information that could help me? Please, please, I'm drowning in looking for houses now, I can't see anything straight anymore haha.

Thank you so much for your help!
Best wishes,
Filipa Duarte

P.S. If anyone reads this that needs a flatmate and would be willing to consider short term let, please message me!
Reply 14
Hi Filipa,
I am interested in renting out a room. I am an 24 years old international (erasmus) student and would like a place near the university and preferably in town. Unfortunately I will be not available for a viewing as I am in Spain. I will start the 1st of November doing a Traineeship that will take 5-6 months long.
I am in your situation (more or less), have you found any solution ?
Thanks,
Ion
Reply 15
Hi all

I am a postgraduate student (overseas) and I will be applying to family accommodation. I could not find pictures or reviews on the 2 or 3 bedroom houses provided by RH from online search, so I am not sure how is the condition of the houses. Could someone share with me their experience?

If my budget is below 1250 pounds per month, would it be better for me to take up family accommodation from RH or private sector? Thanks in advance.
Hi Camila,

It's getting quite close to move-in date, and I still haven't been able to find a room. I am number 162 on the waiting list, do you think there is any chance of me getting into student halls this year?

Also, can you recommend ways to find accommodation for individuals? I have had a look both online and on the HouseSearch and I really can't find anything suitable (I have given even given up on the idea of staying in Egham, and still nothing). It doesn't help that I am not back in the UK until the 15th September. Do you think I'll be able to have a look at places around that date? Will there still be any available? Does the University do like house viewings that close to term start?

Many thanks,

Marta

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