Short and Long Stay
The London School of Sound does not provide accommodation for students, but we can help out and give you advice on where to look. A good place to start is the University of London’s website, http://housing.london.ac.uk/cms/. Here you’ll find a list of agents specialising in low-price student housing, short-term accommodation and general advice. To check out the location of a potential property go to www.streetmap.co.uk, while www.tfl.gov.uk will show you how well connected the area is to public transport. Remember, London is an expensive city but there’s plenty of cheap accommodation out there!
Short-term accommodation
The cheapest kind of short-term accommodation available in London is a hostel, which usually provides a one-room dorm set-up. One of the best hostels is the centrally located Piccadilly Backpackers www.piccadillybackpackers.com. For a list of other hostels, www.studenz.com provides excellent information for overseas students.
Hotels and guesthouses tend to be more expensive, but you can get very good rates from Tommy Miah's Raj Hotel in Essex Road (ten minutes walk from the school), and the Lincoln House Hotel.
More expensive but providing excellent quality and situated close to the School are the Jury's Inn and the Holiday-Inn Express. To search a wider range of hotels go to www.londonhotelsinc.com.
Flatshares
If you’re intending to stay in London on a longer-term basis, flatshares are a good option as they usually work out cheaper than studio flats and you don’t always have to sign a fixed-length contract. One of the most popular flatsharing websites is www.gumtree.com, which contains ads from both students and young professionals. www.moveflat.com is also a good independent community for people looking for rooms to rent, while www.flatshare.com charges a low fee to reply to ads. The newspaper Loot is also a great source of private accommodation, and has an online format at www.loot.com.
More Links (unsorted)
FlatMateRooms– Search for Rooms to Rent and Flatshares in London, List Rooms Free or create a tenant profile.
Spare Room - Flat and house share in London since 1999 (check also their other website www.intolondon.com)
Studenz.com - Hostels, bedsits, rooms and info with International students in mind.
Roomcorner - Another website specialised in finding rooms to let; it's a commercial website but viewing the ads is free.
Starflats - Free service listing flatmates, flatshares, apartments and houses.
Student Accommodation UK - Advice and listings specifically for students.
Room Buddies - Thousands of room adverts online at any time. You can search these adverts for free but you will have to register: then you can read the details and description of the rooms, view their photos and contact a room to rent with the built-in messaging system.
Abodewithme - Provides a secure e-community of people looking for housemates for their move. Commercial website.
Easy Roommate Flat Share - House share & rooms to rent. UK's leading rooms to rent websites. Currently listing more than 190000 available rooms across the UK.
Flatshare.net – Flatshare.net is a website dedicated to flatshare in the UK
Rented accommodation
Renting accommodation independently usually requires you to go through a Letting Agent, and you’ll be asked to sign a contract for a minimum of either 6 or 12 months. There will also be fees to pay to the Agent, including credit-check fees and admin costs, and it’s possible that a month’s rent will be requested in advance as a deposit. Websites like www.propertyfinder.com and www.findaproperty.com provide a searchable database of accommodation advertised through Letting Agents all in one place, so you don’t have to trawl individual sites. A list of agencies can, however, be found on the University of London’s website, http://housing.london.ac.uk/cms/.
Additional costs
On top of rent, if you’re living in a let property you will also probably have to contribute to utility bills and Council Tax. In some cases, these will be included in the cost of the rent, so make sure you find out before you sign a contract. Information on Council Tax and student discounts can be found at www.direct.gov.uk. You’ll also have to get a TV license if there is a television in the property, or else you may be fined. Go to www.tvlicensing.co.uk for details.
