International Students: Finding Student Accommodation in London
07 June 2022 • 8 min read
If you’re an international student looking to move to London, finding accommodation can be a huge challenge, especially if you’re not currently living in the UK and have never visited the city before.
Finding the right accommodation can be one of the most stressful parts of moving abroad to university. Once you’ve done the hard work and got your place at a university in London, you’ll need to start searching as soon as you can to find the best accommodation in the right location, at the right price and with the right housemates.
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered and put a list together of everything you need to consider when finding accommodation in London for international students.
1. Start your search as early as possible 📍
To find the best accommodation and to make sure you’ve got a secure place to live when you move to the UK, you will need to start your search early. There are lots of other students looking for accommodation in London so starting early will give you a head start on everyone else looking for accommodation.
Due to the costs and competitive nature of accommodation in London, you might need to hunt around for the best price and quality accommodation. Whilst most students don’t start looking for accommodation in London until the summer, things move more quickly in London than other cities and properties will not be on the market for long.
2. Research, research, research 💻
Once you know that you’re going to be studying and living in London, you’ll need to research where your campus is located and the best places to live.
Do you want to live close to campus so you don’t have to commute or would you rather live in an area that’s closer to local amenities and attractions, make the most of student life and commute into university? In London, you can easily end up being a 30-40 minute tube or bus ride away from campus so do plenty of research to understand how quickly or easily you’ll be able to get to uni.
Take a look on the internet and research city guides and areas in London to learn more about where you might want to live. You can also talk to your uni as they will be able to tell you more about common student areas. They might even put you in touch with current international students who are already living in London and will be able to offer plenty of advice.
Remember that the location of your accommodation can also affect the price so this is something to consider too. Student accommodation is usually advertised as per person per week (PPPW) so make sure you take this into account when looking at accommodation and make sure this is the price you are comparing. Think about local amenities such as multicultural supermarkets and transport links to make sure you’re going to be able to buy food easily and get around London.
3. Think about your budget 💰
Your monthly rent costs and the money you have available will play a huge factor in where you choose to live. London accommodation prices are higher than the rest of the UK, along with the cost of living so this is something you’ll need to consider.
Prices of accommodation will vary depending on the area you choose and the type of accommodation you choose to live in.
Do some research and find out more about the lower and higher end of rent costs in London and decide where your budget sits. Then set yourself a budget including your rent, bills and basic living expenses.
Always check what’s included in the cost of your rent. You will need to pay a TV licence (if you want to watch live TV or catch up channels) gas, water and electric bills and not all accommodation includes this in the cost so make sure you budget properly. At UniHomes , all of our student homes in London have all bills included within the rent price so you won’t need to worry about sorting these out.
4. Choose the type of accommodation you want to live in 🏠
Two of the main options for international students moving to the UK are halls of residence or privately rented accommodation.
Halls of residence
Halls of residence are student dormitories and are either offered by your chosen university or you can choose to live in private halls. Within this accommodation are usually flats or floors with 5-10 rooms in each. You will have your own private room and share communal areas such as the kitchen. You may also share a bathroom if your room is not an ensuite.
You will be surrounded by other students and most university halls are located on campus so you won’t have to worry about commuting either! You can also choose from catered or non-catered accommodation which means you’ll either have food provided for you or you will have to do your own shopping and cooking.
In London, there are also plenty of private halls or purpose-built student halls to choose from. These tend to be slightly more expensive, but they will usually be centrally located and near plenty of amenities and public transport facilities.
Within private halls based in London, you may also be sharing with young professionals as well as other students due to the high costs of living in the capital. This is something to take into consideration if you’re looking to meet other student who are in the same year as you. When you’re looking into private halls in London, you may hear the term council tax which is either included in bills or is something that needs to be paid separately. However, this is only applicable to the professionals living in the building and not to students. Always make sure you clarify that you are a student to avoid having to pay unnecessary bills!
Private accommodation
Another popular option is privately renting a house or flat through a letting agent or landlord. Always use reputable landlords or letting agents to make sure you have high quality accommodation where problems will be sorted while you’re living there.
Contact your university's international department and ask them to recommend landlords to you or put you in touch with other students who have rented privately before.
It can be tricky to view properties before you arrive in London, so make sure you ask for plenty of pictures and don’t be afraid to ask for a video tour.
5. Decide who you want to live with 🙋🏻♂️
If you’re moving to London with a friend or two, you can decide that you’re going to live together and look for accommodation that will suit you all. However, if you’re coming on your own, you will need to decide whether you’re going to look for housemates, move into an existing student home or live in a one bedroom or studio flat on your own until you’ve met new people at uni.
In London, there will be plenty of student homes available and there a number of places where you’ll be able to find a room in an existing house share or a group who are looking for an extra person.
If you’re moving into student halls, you won’t need to worry about who you’re going to live with as all rooms are allocated by the uni.
6. Arrange everything before you arrive 🎒
It can be hard to find accommodation before you’ve even moved to the country but getting it all sorted before your studies start will help to take the stress out of moving away from home and starting at university. It will also mean you have somewhere to stay when you arrive in London!
Make a list of sources and bodies you will need to contact to sort your accommodation out and find out more about the documents you’ll need or contracts that will need signing.
If you’d prefer to view accommodation before you arrive, you could ask a friend who is already in London to look for you or make sure you have booked a hotel in London before you arrive so you have a safe base to start from.
At UniHomes, we have student houses surrounding a range of universities in London including:
● Goldsmiths, University of London
Whichever university in London you’re studying at, we’ve got something for everyone. All of our student homes have bills included which is one less thing to worry about when you’re studying abroad.
