Hello,

I'm a Biology PhD student starting at Barts and the London in October 2011. I was wondering if anyone can share their experiences with looking for accommodation in London. Also, is there anyone also looking for accommodation in London who would be happy to team up with me to look for a flat-share? Inbox me!

Hi Alleycat,

I spent a year in London doing a research MA and are now back for another three months to work on my PhD (the rest of the project is done in another country). The MA year I spent at Claredale House (easily found via google), which was good in terms of comfort and cost, though the area was at the time not the best - but this is five years ago, so it might have improved meanwhile. What was nice was that they put people together who were in the same situation and had the same preferences, so I was sharing a flat with three other post-grad non-smoking females, without having to look for flatmates myself.

Right now I am staying at a sort of B&B which I guess is only feasible for a short period, although this one's extremely cheap and nice (found it through AirBNB, which is linked to Facebook). You could always use something like that to get started. Where I am staying now there are a lot of people who spend a couple of weeks there while checking out more permanent places to stay. 

So if you're looking for a place to spend the full length of your program, there are basically two options: student housing or taking part in a flat share. The latter can be found through places like Gumtree. Keep in mind that it's often much cheaper to stay somewhere outside zone 1/2, even with the increased transport costs added. Also, check the area before you decide to move somewhere. My experience of London is that even within one neighbourhood, a certain street or block can be ever so nice, but around the next corner it can be very run down or even gang land - very inconvenient if you have to walk through that at night from the tube on your own, especially if you're a girl.

Hope this helps!

Thanks very much. Very helpful indeed. I've already been on all the websites mentioned-gumtree, spareroom, easyroommate etc but am paranoid about ending up with people who I don't get on with.

In this case, I think it might be really the best for you to follow the advise Awen mentioned: Get a room or cheap hostel / B&B for the beginning (first weeks) and then look for a more permanent accommodation once you are here.
Not sure where you are coming from, but it might be good for you to know that the flat share market in London works very short-term. If you started looking already now for a room to move in in October, you would be far too early. For flatshares, you almost don't need to look until 4 weeks before coming here. And if deciding to start looking for a permanent accommodation once in London, you might find quite often rooms where you can move in immediately or within 1-2 weeks.
This refers to flat share only as I am not familiar with student housing.

Thanks...I plan to do just that-live somewhere short-term and look for a more permanent place to live while I'm there. I'm also applying for Uni accommodation as a back-up.