The Student Room Group

private accommodation tips

Hi everyone! basically, I start university in september. It's in london, and about an hour away from me, but I want to experience moving out and so i've had my heart set on moving out for uni. However, my uni's accom is £285 a week since it's in central, and this is definitely not affordable for me lol. So i've started looking at alternatives, and currently planning to find private accommodation with my gf since she's also going to a uni in london.

I feel like i'm walking into this blind, as there's not a lot of guidance on finding private accommodation online. Most of the websites i've seen only showcase for one person, and the studio rooms are advertised as one person only.

Just wondering if anyone had any advice/have been in the same situation? Honestly not sure where i should be looking and how to handle it all. Any help would be appreciated!

Reply 1

Original post
by kkyra
Hi everyone! basically, I start university in september. It's in london, and about an hour away from me, but I want to experience moving out and so i've had my heart set on moving out for uni. However, my uni's accom is £285 a week since it's in central, and this is definitely not affordable for me lol. So i've started looking at alternatives, and currently planning to find private accommodation with my gf since she's also going to a uni in london.
I feel like i'm walking into this blind, as there's not a lot of guidance on finding private accommodation online. Most of the websites i've seen only showcase for one person, and the studio rooms are advertised as one person only.
Just wondering if anyone had any advice/have been in the same situation? Honestly not sure where i should be looking and how to handle it all. Any help would be appreciated!
You could try looking on unitestudents.com it has some accomodation that is shared flat and shared kitchen and some single person private studios. Hope this is helpful.

Reply 2

Hey there! 👋 I knew someone in a similar position - they wanted to move in with a partner and had certain requirements that they wanted to filter their options by. They used unihomes to find their flat. They also looked on rightmove as it had the option to filter by student properties. You could also try similar sites like zoopla, though I don't know if they have the option to filter by student properties like rightmove does. Hope that helps!

Reply 3

Original post
by ChallengerH
You could try looking on unitestudents.com it has some accomodation that is shared flat and shared kitchen and some single person private studios. Hope this is helpful.

Thank you so much! just had a quick look now, seems very promising 🙂

Reply 4

Original post
by Emma L - UOS
Hey there! 👋 I knew someone in a similar position - they wanted to move in with a partner and had certain requirements that they wanted to filter their options by. They used unihomes to find their flat. They also looked on rightmove as it had the option to filter by student properties. You could also try similar sites like zoopla, though I don't know if they have the option to filter by student properties like rightmove does. Hope that helps!

thank you so much for the info!! that's super helpful :smile:)

Reply 5

Bit late to the convo but hope you found somewhere nice. For anyone still looking, start early and check the Facebook uni groups since people often post last minute room offers there before they go public. Also, try looking a bit further out because London’s transport links make it easier to get around than it looks on the map. If you find a good deal but can’t move in right away, a cheap storage unit can really help bridge the gap so you’re not stressing about where to keep your stuff in the meantime.

Reply 6

This was a while back but still worth noting. Plenty of those “one-person only” places end up with couples anyway. Hope you found something decent by now and didn’t have to live out of boxes too long.

Reply 7

Original post
by kkyra
Hi everyone! basically, I start university in september. It's in london, and about an hour away from me, but I want to experience moving out and so i've had my heart set on moving out for uni. However, my uni's accom is £285 a week since it's in central, and this is definitely not affordable for me lol. So i've started looking at alternatives, and currently planning to find private accommodation with my gf since she's also going to a uni in london.
I feel like i'm walking into this blind, as there's not a lot of guidance on finding private accommodation online. Most of the websites i've seen only showcase for one person, and the studio rooms are advertised as one person only.
Just wondering if anyone had any advice/have been in the same situation? Honestly not sure where i should be looking and how to handle it all. Any help would be appreciated!

Hi @kkyra

I know you asked a while ago and have potentially already found somewhere but for those in a similar position there are loads of options on SpareRoom, many landlords allow couples to stay in rooms and often just ask for a little extra rent.

I hope this helps anyone in a similar position :smile:
-Grace (Kingston Rep)

Reply 8

Original post
by isola.j
This was a while back but still worth noting. Plenty of those “one-person only” places end up with couples anyway. Hope you found something decent by now and didn’t have to live out of boxes too long.

thanks so much! I luckily have been able to get some help from family to live in student halls this year, and currently looking now at 2nd year houses to get ahead of the game. Tysm for your help 🙂 <3

Reply 9

Original post
by Kingston Grace
Hi @kkyra
I know you asked a while ago and have potentially already found somewhere but for those in a similar position there are loads of options on SpareRoom, many landlords allow couples to stay in rooms and often just ask for a little extra rent.
I hope this helps anyone in a similar position :smile:
-Grace (Kingston Rep)

thanks so much for the advice! i ended up staying in student halls for this year, but im looking at 2nd year places early so this is a massive help! tysm ❤️

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