KCL second year accomodation

Second year KCL student here! From my experience and my friends, it's a real mix of where people end up, and I'm not going to say it's easy to find somewhere affordable enough (especially if you're on a low budget like me) but it's definitely possible! I'm in private (as in non-uni) student accommodation this year and next, there's a lot out there and as long as you're looking kind of December-February time there's still a decent amount open (I was looking in March last year and lots of things were booked up so don't leave it that late lol). Pretty much the entire rest of my friend group tried to get KCL accommodation, but that didn't open until late for returning students and then very few people I know are still there, at least for the cheaper options - I have a couple of friends in the more expensive ones/who are on the affordable accommodation scheme.
So I would say if you're looking for something on the cheaper end, probably not best to try and get in a KCL one because it meant my friend group were all trying to find flats right in exam season, because obviously there's the first year guarantee so not many places available for later years. But now they're in private flat shares close to the uni, which I think works out about the same as what I'm paying and they have the benefit of being in walking distance from campus.
Ultimately, I'm not going to pretend looking for accommodation isn't stressful, but there are lots of options available and as long as you start early enough it isn't too bad. Don't let it hold you back!

hey, when did they open the portal for returning students approx.?

I believe it was the end of March/early April last year but I could be wrong — I do know that my friends’ applications were rejected/they couldn’t get any places around the beginning of may so it was sometime around there