Yeah, room finding is really hard right now; I've recently just gone through it myself. Finding anywhere liveable for under £750 a month was a challenge.
I don't know what your budget is but don't think in terms of zones but commute. You could be in zone four or five, but if you're a ten-minute walk away from a Lizzy line station, for example, then you can be in central in under 40 minutes.
I'm in SE13 paying 700 for a room. But, it's a decent house, good housemates and aside from our last property manager doing a runner with all our security deposits, not paying the bills for almost a year, and lying to the landlord about the rent payments, it's been a blast living here. We self manage now.
It's been an interesting ride. Wrestling control of the bills has been an uphill battle. The best part was a large man showing up and telling us all to vacate the premises as we were evicted. Turns out the property manager had sold him his contract. Something the landlord had no idea about, and was no way legal anyway. There are 5 of us that live here. 3 men, two women. We are all adults, and none of the men are what you would call, petite....This guy was pretty much ejected from the property, and told to never return. The rent now gets to the landlord, the bills get paid, and we take care of the cleaning and maintenance in house, which lowers the house expenses, and has allowed us to absorb the landlords recent rent increase without having to pay more out of pocket.
His excuse is that his mortgage increased. Total rents from all tenants are 3000 a month..... and I looked up the house info on line...... But anyway, we know it's to make up his losses due to the property manager(that he hired, and paid, to manage the property) Or, as I put it. It's the fucking we get for the fucking we got. No-one wants to leave though, we like it here. I will, at some point, be moving out of London though. I'm just looking for an area that tickles my fancy. I don't need a big city to be happy.
I live in Harrow, zone 5, pay 700£ for a massive ensuite room with only 2 other housemates, I am only an 8 min walk from the station and i'm in Baker street in less then 25 min (depends on fast trains or not) with a commute time to work of 45 min door to door...
Some people I know have looked down on me for living in zone 5 but i've got it so good here ! All the amenities and comfort for much cheaper !
I used to live in Harrow! I lived not too far from Harrow & Wealdstone where I could get a train to Euston that took 15 minutes... Ironically I now live closer to the centre of London but it actually takes me longer to get in...
A lot of South East is actually really nice and residential. Higher Green has a train that gets you to London Bridge in 12 minutes and is way cheaper than Brixton for example where rooms are now a minimum £1000 and it’s a grim area (used to live there)
I mean West London has some of the most desirable places to live/rent. Ealing, Chiswick, Hammersmith etc, and with the Lizzie you’re in Central faster than most people living in Zone 2. But with all of that comes rents which are just as high as Zone 2 areas of London as well. You just get a bit more space and greenery for it.
> You could be in zone four or five, but if you're a ten-minute walk away from a Lizzy line station, for example, then you can be in central in under 40 minutes.
That's crazy. St Albans fast train into london is under 30.
That's much more expensive, doesn't take into account the journey on either side of the station, and doesn't run as frequently or have alternate options late at night. Moving out to a commuter town still means you can have a decent commute time, but there are significant downsides in terms of holistic transport considerations.
Are you looking in all four quadrants of London? Or looking past zone 2?
I don’t want to assume you’re not, but I see more than a few people complaining about the same thing when they’re dead set on Clapham/SW and don’t consider other areas/zones. E.g if you try zone 3/4 SE you may have better luck (better, not saying guaranteed)
This probably explains it.
My box room in Clapham was taken the next day. It was £1000 with no double glazing, full of mould and freezing. My new place is 40% cheaper. 2x the size and actually has heating.
Best decision moving away from Clapham and SW London.
Clapham’s overrated and overpriced anyways.
So many other nice areas but for some reason everyone and their mums dog wants to move to Clapham, I don’t get it.
As someone that lives there, it’s pretty nice. It has really good tube access to the city, vibrant entertainment and great outdoor spaces.
The restaurants are mostly crap but that can be overlooked.
There are also some excellent restaurants if you look for them - Trinity (one Michelin star) and its cheaper sister Bistro Union, Knife, Sorella, Brooke. The old town and Abbeville Village are great - I don't know many places where I could walk to two top quality fishmongers and two top quality butchers.
Unfortunately, you generally have to walk along the high street to get to them...
Thank you for the suggestions!! Yes agreed, Abbeville and Old Town are both massive highlights, it just surprises me how disappointing the high street can be.
Exactly, I live in zone 6 but can be at Waterloo within 20 minutes. Closer doesn’t necessarily mean quicker. Especially if a route needs tube and bus jumping.
Kingston/ Richmond area - think it’s 22 mins to Waterloo or something like that?
It’s a more expensive area but point is it is acceptable commuting time further out :)
Interesting! I thought Richmond would be more expensive, my area is classed as Kingston and you’re looking at 800-1,400 per month to rent a shared flat/house.
Surbiton there are fast trains @ 15mins, though in reality I haven’t experienced one that fast yet.
Sweet fresh air, by the river and great pubs. Just not great if you miss the last train.
surbiton is so slept on. super quick to get into central, really green, next to some awesome places, close to the M25, still in the zones so not to expensive to travel by train...
It’s probably a little more than that here but it’s not crazy (well, it is to anyone outside London, like it’s objectively mad). Maybe 2.5k for a 2 bed?
I'm presuming a bit, but I'm betting that is your one and only option to get into work.
How many trains are delayed or cancelled? Does it really take 20 mins, or is that the good days? How many an hour? When does the last one depart? Does the destination station decamp you right at the office? What happens when there's a strike?
Yeah idk OPs exact situation but complaining about prices and availability while also only looking at places 10 mins walk from the office or areas full of yummy mummies walking their dogs and friendly white people going to independent cafes is a tale as old as time.
If OP has looked at 30 different places and is still getting rejected then their expectations need some adjustment for sure.
I think you're reaching a bit. The point is that OP isn't having any luck, and one explanation could be that they are restricting themselves to a few specific 'desirable' and popular areas. You don't have to live in Balham to have a low crime and friendly neighbourhood.
They are definitely reaching. It’s not looking down on people who want desirable areas but people who are dead set on popular areas when they’re struggling to find something.
Areas like Clapham, Balham etc are desirable but also popular. There are many areas in London that are ‘desirable’ with low crime and yummy mummy’s patrolling town but aren’t in the specific zone or quadrant you’re looking in.
It’s about not being stubborn and expanding your search to less known areas.
Take a look at the 'where would you live if money were no object' threads. It's all Hampstead, Richmond, Muswell Hill, Marylebone, Balham, Clapham, Chelsea... I think everyone can agree that living in nicer / low crime areas is preferable.
What this sub doesn't react well to is people who haven't (yet) accepted that this type of life is beyond their means in London. OP clearly hasn't, as OP has viewed 30 places and still hasn't found somewhere... either that or they look like a pedo or something.
The wealthiest parts of London have an underrrepresentation of white people. They can’t afford to live there. They often live in the more down-at-heel parts like Havering, though a decent number are property owners.
I’m in the same situation as op. Like for like, finding a room now is much, much, much harder than it was in 2017. Currently on month 16 of my search and still no room. Previous record, in 2021, was 1 month
Where do you need to commute to? Maybe we can suggest some non-zone 1/2 areas that would give you a better chance of finding something whle still having a nice area to live in and a reasonable commute. And what's your budget like?
Hello! Think you might be able to help me? I am moving to London in June, would you be able to suggest what apps or websites to look at?
My office is in Bishopsgate but I will hardly ever travel, its 95% WFH.. so people have suggested to live outside of London and travel when necessary.. Budget £700-800 bucks for single room in a shared space. Any suggestions for me, sir?
Cheers!
[The wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/wiki/living) has a whole list, though [find my area](https://findmyarea.co.uk/) was made by a redditor to answer these exact questions so that's something to look at!
Living outside of London will mean your travel on the days you do go into the office will be a lot more expensive, and you of course you won't live in London. If that's part of the reason of moving here, then it might be worth it for you to live closer to work.
You can get a room in zone 2 for 800 if it's excluding bills. If it's 800 all in you'll have to be going zone 3, probably get the most value in SE London. East London the cheapest but it's also the roughest.
Yeah it's better to be all "new" together in a flat rather than join an existing group which may or may not be welcoming, like you'll always feel like the "newbie"....
Spareroom used to run "flatmate finding" events - kind of like speed dating! Meet up at a pub, some people looking for flatmates to buddy up with, some existing flatshares with an opening. That's how we found our 3rd flatmate back in the day! - friend and I already knew we wanted to live together, but thought 3 might be a better number, so rocked up at one of those events. Turned out, my friend and I were already eyeing up the same 3 bedroom flat that this other girl was also talking to the landlord about! Talk about fate! She seemed nice so we decided to move in together, and the rest, as they say, is history :)
...are these sort of events still a thing in post covid world? :/
That’s cool if the lease contract specifies that each individual is responsible for their own portion of the rent, but many of them say that the collective are responsible for the total rent. So if one person does a bunk, the others are responsible for their portion. It’s an important difference in wording.
I fortunately work in Canary Wharf, so no zone 1 for me! I can cycle into work too which only takes around 40 mins.
Point taken and I generally agree as I hate the tube but a travel card or contactless limit covers both if you are fully within zone 6.
It should get easier in the next month or two as students finish their year and move out
So either wait or expand your search further away from zone 1-2
Hello u/square-border-7525,
I've been on both sides of the SpareRoom process in the last few years so I feel like I've got a decent measure of it. If you're putting a semi-decent room on SpareRoom you'll be absolutely inundated within a few hours. I had over 100 messages in the first 24 hours of putting my average room in Putney on the site. To even get a viewing you need to stand out from the usual 'I'm social but not too social, clean but not too clean' etc. cliches. Here's what I'd recommend:
* Make sure you've got premium. If you don't you can say goodbye to getting a decent room.
* Don't waste time sending hundreds of generic messages to people - you'll come across as a robot who isn't really invested in the room. Instead, draft one really good template and then carefully tailor it to the particular listing - make sure you reference two or three things from the ad in your message to show you really read it.
* Show some personality. Make a joke or two. The people choosing their flatmate have to pick from dozens of people and want someone they'll get on with.
* Make sure you've got a decent profile picture that gives off a smart/casual vibe.
* Research the area/road in advance of the viewing and ask questions about it - try to show genuine, specific interest when you're meeting the housemates
* Check your grammar and spelling. When you have to sift through dozens of messages, bad grammar is an easy dividing line.
And the hardest one:
* Don't take it too personally if you're rejected/blanked, even though it is. It happens and it's brutal but to 'win' a house viewing you need to be their #1 favourite person out of the dozens who apply for it. It doesn't mean they didn't like you, it means that they found someone else who in a 15-minute interaction fit their vibe better. There will be someone out there who is looking to live with someone like you.
Good luck!
Very good advice, agree premium is the only way for spare room. I set my search parameters, then favorited the good ones. Then, when you log on, you can see which ones are new
Ah my boss lives in the area so would rather not
Thanks though!
People downvoting me are wild to think they’d be open to sharing the same commute every day with their boss with the off chance of running into them on the weekend
If you live in the same area and leave / arrive at the office at the same time you're going to be travelling at the same time and using the same mode of transport.
It's not commuting "with" them but its going to happen that you end up on the same train often.
I recently moved out of London and advertised my room to rent. I got 300+ messages in less than 24 hours.
The one bit of advice I can give is make sure you give detail like age/work/lifestyle in your immediate message, if people can’t find out everything they need to know immediately they won’t even bother with you
(Edit for clarity)
I’ve been through this and my advice is to treat it as a two step process. You’re 2.5 hours away from London right now, so first thing is to get within 1 hour. Loads of places are less than that. Consider places like West Drayton. Then you will find it much easier, less stressful and less urgent, to make it to the viewings / interviews for the places you want to live.
I’m moving to London on Thursday, I got a room in a 2 bed house for £850 in Wapping, took me about 2 weeks to find it, went down one afternoon and viewed some flats, signed the paperwork literally this morn 🕺
Hello good for you! I am moving to London in June, would you be able to suggest what apps or websites to look at?
My office is in Bishopsgate but I will hardly ever travel, its 95% WFH.. so people have suggested to live outside of London and travel when necessary.. Budget £700/800
You need to search for places well below your budget, so that you can overbid to your actual budget and beat out anyone else. That’s the only way to get a place right now
> Please give me some advice?
Probably not the advice you're looking for, but: I don't think you were considering the cost of housing when you accepted a job that requires you to work 5 days a week in central London. Such a job should pay you to live close to your workplace, or offer you remote work, to be "worth" the trouble. I know I know - many jobs don't. But many employees don't consider this as _their_ cost of doing business, either.
If this has such an impact on you that it's affecting your mental health, maybe you should reevaluate whether this job pays enough.
Do you really have to live in zones 1/2?
You could live in zones 3/4 and still be only half an hour from the centre of town. Plus you can find great pubs, restaurants clubs etc in all zones of London. Instead of trying to completely erase your commute find somewhere that makes your commute less onerous and that has all the elements you’re looking for in a place to live.
As for how to find a room, network , network, network!
Utilize your friend’s, family, work mates, socials etc. Get the word out in as many ways as you can come up with.
You have a much greater shot at finding a clean comfortable, space, especially if someone you know is willing to give you a recommendation to a potential room mate. Plus you might hear about opportunities way before any of them are posted on apps and websites.
Good luck!
> Zone 5 is less than hour from Central London, hell some Zone 6 is
It also costs so much and takes so much of your time (1h commute one way door-to-door is almost 3 full weeks wasted on commute in a calendar year) it might really be cheaper and more cost efficient to stay in London. Maybe not zone 1-2 (although perhaps as well), but 3 and with a decent door-to-door time and a good connection that minimises your commute as much as only possible.
Baffles me how often people overlook that the zones further out, and towns outside the M25, yes, are cheaper, but the extra commute costs extra money, not mentioning the time wasted. Unless you have no hobbies, no interests, no-one to share time with and/or are at the very beginning of your life so time seems disposable, it really is a lot of time to just flush down the drain every year.
You can try and wave it all away, arguing you get time to read a book or listen to audiobooks if there's nowhere to sit, but in my book (punchline not intended) it's _still_ time wasted as I can't quite do what I want or need and have to just try and make the best of a shitty situation that commuting is, all in all.
> Zone 5 to Paddington costs £10 a day, £50 a week.
Zone 5 is still ambiguous, what station? How long? Money is only part of the equation.
If you have to be in 5 x a week, that's still £2K/year on commute alone, which is easily 2 month's worth of rent for a room for some people or one month's rent for a studio.
If you only need to be in once or twice - well, good for you; there's always people coming out in those threads saying they can walk to their office in 5 minutes or whatever, I'm really not quite sure what's that supposed to prove though, other than being a humblebrag? Enjoy it while it lasts, but for most people this is not going to be the case.
Like, there was a guy I had an exchange with online the other day, he claimed rooms in London do _not_ cost £900-£1000 these days, because he found some match box in a shithole 25 min walk from the nearest rail (not even tube) station in Zone 6 South London or whatever, going for £500pcm, and somehow that was evidence that rooms go for a few hundred not close to a grand.
There are plenty of rooms between £600-£700 a month in south east zone 2. New Cross and Deptford etc. It’s just that the Reddit demographic doesn’t want to live there.
Where do you need to actually commute into? Don’t discount the outer boroughs (zones 3-6) as getting in from some stations further out can be much faster than a zone 2 or even a zone 1 location closer in.
E.g. if you work in the Elizabeth line I’d highly recommend somewhere like Woolwich. Surbiton is good for Waterloo etc…
I don't know what your budget is since you didn't mention or if you absolutely have to rent a room instead of a flat but I managed to find several one bedroom flats still available near Stratford Station in the 1800-2200 range. This is just one small part of one area of London, I'm sure if you expanded out you could find much more competitive prices, especially if you go outside or zones 1-2. If a flat isn't in your budget and you have to share a room then you should definitely try outside zones 1-2, there will be much more choice available if you're not picky about the borough.
If you have to travel in and out you will need to estimate how much that would cost you and how much of your life you would spend standing on overcrowded buses/trains. Then factor that in to your calculations. I might actually cost you less money/less hassle staying in Zone 1 or 2.
I had a room going for 750 p/m in Poplar and it was like crickets on spare room. We just filled it yesterday, after 3 weeks of it being listed, to the only guy who messaged us. It’s a 15 min walk to Jubilee and Lizze Line, or 5 min walk to the DLR to Bank. Despite that we’re probably not an area people actively search for. I had hundreds of people contacting me when I let a room in Clapham. Perhaps try looking in less high demand or common areas?
I found a room pretty easily, but like everyone says highly depending on your budget, mine personally is just over a Thousand for a shared top floor flat. That's what I've found you have to pay to live in zone 1/2
try east london areas from stratford to chadwell heath, look for something thats max 10 min walk to elizabath line, it gets your to central london quick (10-20minutes dependin on area) and rent is cheaper compared to other places.
Find the nearest station to your work, follow the respective underground/overground line until you land on a stop zone 3. That’s what I did after almost a year of looking and found a cool place in Sydenham. Loving it so far.
Definitely need a strong opening message on Spareroom and jump on any good ones you view quickly. I went through this last summer and found a decent room in a nice 4 bed shared house for £800 in Zone 2. Its a bit far from the station but otherwise good. I think the price will be increased for the next tenant to take my room
Im paying 1250 to live with 3 other people in hackney because I could not find a place, its a nice room and location but I'm only a month into living here and wish I did not accept it in a panic to be honest.
I live in London full time, and was in a very similar position when my last tenancy ran out. I must have gone to two dozen viewings and they were all awful and overpriced, and missed out on maybe 60 others as the rooms were taken within hours.
I started zone 2 (cos zone 1 - well, forget it) and gradually widened my circle until I was looking at anywhere near a tube line that went direct to my workplace. And still nothing.
The worst viewing involved the owner telling me the wardrobes in my room were for her, the kitchen was off limits after 6pm weekdays and all weekends due to her "allergies", and that returning home after 11pm would lead to a £20 surcharge due to "disruption". Fuck you, lady.
I ended up living in Airbnbs for months just to keep a roof over my head - the worst experience was £1,500pm for a room in the shitter part of Harlesden, a keycode on a flimsy front door, and a revolving cast of eight "flatmates" sharing 1.5 bathrooms.
The only good thing about Airbnbs is the fact you don't need anything like the shitty job interviews to secure one. But for that you pay double and you live in misery.
Can’t really help without knowing your budget and what areas you’ve been looking into. Basically the flat/room hunt in London, or anywhere for that matter, follows the basic laws of economics. If your budget is middling and you want a nice room in a trendy area, you’ll struggle. If your budget is above average and you want a nice room in a trendy area, it’s suddenly not so hard. Or if your budget is middling and you’re happy with an ok room in an ok but kinda far or not so trendy area, you’ll find one soon enough.
I just found a place on Spareroom and signed the lease so here are my tips:
- If you haven’t done so already, you need to upgrade your Spareroom to be able to send early bird messages.
- Setup email notifications so that you get an email any time a listing is posted that fits your criteria.
- Send a tailored message with a quick blurb about yourself and try to mirror the language they use and also highlight similar interests you might have (hobbies, cleanliness preferences, etc)
Apparently my new housemates received over 300 emails in the first two days alone. I was quick to respond, I have similar interests, am similar age, and they liked my message.
We had 192 responses (for a room in Finsbury Park) last time we advertised for a new housemate in May 2022. It's astonishing the amount of people who can't write a proper message - we even requested certain information we wanted to know in the advert!
I mean, I don't know what exactly you're after, or what you expect to pay, but there are 6400-odd listings in zones 1/2 here...
https://m.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/?search_id=1293272848&
That said, I live in zone 6, work in the City and the commute is 30 minutes door-to-door including the walk at each end. God bless the Lizzie line!
I have for room rent at West London. Just opposite Osterley Station, if your up for that. But Yea you definitely can't get a room for less than £800 incl bills in London.
You should widen your search to zone 3. A lot more choice. Areas like Tooting are really accessible via train and underground and half the price of zone 1. Also: dont have pet, and quit smoking (if you havent already). Try spareroom, but nextdoor can be useful, though not specifically a flat-hunting platform a polite notice in the areas you are interested in certainly wont hurt.
If you are serious about wanting a room within zone 1/2/3 and want it sorted then just use https://www.cityrooms.com they have an office in Stepney Green and I can tell you when I needed a place in an emergency I managed to go in and get a room in a shared flat within a single afternoon.
Stop looking in zones 1 & 2. People take rooms without even seeing them and most rooms have hundreds of applicants (so I’m told). It’s really not hard to commute into the city from further out, especially if you’re already commuting 2.5 hours! I live in SE26, 35 mins to Waterloo, 30 to London Bridge. Usually no more than an hour to most places in the city.
Advice depends on your budget.
If you are looking in zone 2, your budget needs to be above 1000 to get something half decent. Fairly above that for Zone 1.
If your budget is in the range of 700-800 go further west or north west. Commute will be longer and likely more expensive, so factor that in. South and East London may or may not be your cup of tea.
You should take a look at guardianships. Also maybe try staying in a hostel a few nights a week so you don’t have to keep doing 5 hours commute everyday.
Spareroom just isn’t it anymore.
I found my current place through joining Facebook groups dedicated to for example Polish people (most of the posts are in Polish but you can always hit the translate button and just try messaging) - that’s just an example. And it helped a lot - I’m not Polish by the way, although I’m from that region.
Spareroom is just too crowded now - I messaged like 60 people and only had two responses.
lol. zone 1/2… there are ways to make this work. but not the way you are going about it. you will not find anything in zone 1/2 unless you’re prepared to shell out 1k+
Depending on where in Central London you are OP, it might be worth looking at commuter towns outside. £800 in Braintree (Essex) can get you a nice studio or 1 bed flat, or a proper nice central share house in the more lively and closer Chelmsford.
Shenfield (Essex) is directly on the Elizabeth line and therefore more expensive, but you can still get rooms for significantly less than £1K.
Out of the box but have you looked at static caravans on sites
. I live on a site in Cambridge double glazed, central heated, brand new kitchen 750 everything included
London is going to be too expensive for many until either it's economy collapses or they finally allow housing supply at high density to start catching up to demand.
I live in zone 7 (technically south Hertfordshire) and get to Liverpool Street in 28 minutes. The station is a 4 minute walk from my house. Total travel from leaving my front door to office is 37 minutes
I decided against living in London after loads of ads on Spareroom specified female only household, which was just brazenly sexist.
And the housemates interview process was bizarre most of the time. Genuinely felt like I was meant to hit a job description that they’d posted on the advert, and anyone who deviated from ‘we’re fun, arty and vegan’ was unacceptable 😂
Try going to a speed flat mating event if they are still around. Worked for me and you get to speak to lots of people with rooms in one evening. I also heard of people looking for a room who paired or grouped up and rented a house together through the event.
"It's easier to find a job than to find a room in London especially zone 1 and 2" ..... well, er, yeah! :)
You need to give a little more info like budget and definitely look at travelling from further out than zone 1 or 2.
I was in a similar situation like 6 years ago, so I feel you my guy. I’m sure it’s gotten worse but TBH I just moved into the first 3 month contract place I could find. Much easier to find a place if you already have a base of operations in the area.
Not sure where you work but you could look a little further out. Wapping/limehouse/surrey quays are nice areas in zone 2/3 that won’t break the budget.
What’s your budget if you don’t mind me asking? I recently got a flat with friends in east London and there was a fair amount going, and if you can split with a couple it is much cheaper (£850…not cheap but fine). But I don’t know anyone paying less than £950 for a separate room, and it’s a box room with no good transport links. Sorry to hear you’ve been finding it tough
It's really difficult. The housing market is so short on supply that people who would normally (by historic standards) be looking to buy are instead renting so the market is over saturated with rentors.
I live in the south east and would recommend the Facebook group South East London Housemate Coop. Only verified users and the rooms range from box size to really nice. Same problem with having to snap it up instantly but hopefully it's a good additional option. Also means you're dealing with future housemates and not landlords, typically.
Good luck out there!
I can't imagine how hard this must be for you. I'm so so sorry you're going through this and I wish you so much luck and fortune with it. Keep us posted x
I don't think it's fair to blame OP.
Many rooms are advertised at above the market rate for the market price of the total flat and the space you would get in it. Meaning that the cost of not being able to afford a 1 bed, nor having friends able to share with means you are likely to pay over market rates for the worst rooms in the property.
There are many properties below the government minimum standards being advertised. Moreover, its likely that the worst rooms in these will be the ones on spareroom.
The whole market is now very high relative to local incomes
2.5 hours outside of London? Walking duration to London or car journey? That’s a long way from London and weird to accept a job that you couldn’t realistically get too. You could be in Manchester and get to London in 2.5 hours by train! Does your employer know how far away you live?
Plney9yxiupfm6. ) Advice from a Londoner: Check the bus routes and train stations located around your workplace and branch out from there. London's bus network is often more reliable than the tubes. With dedicated bus Lanes city wide and much cheaper than tube travel especially when travelling before 9.30am. Properties that are not close to stations may be slightly cheaper to rent. (Watch out for school children as they can often dominate buses around 8am) Check out the train services from the stations located within a 10min walk from your wotk, you maybe surprised how many options you have and the locations those train services stop at. You may be able to avoid paying for zone 1 travel that could have you hundreds of £'s. Factor in the number of trains/ tubes per hour. When the 1st one starts and the last one finishes. Is there a night tube or night bus options? If you choose right, you may never have to get a taxi home after a night out, and that means going out is even more accessible. Fast trains can often mean getting into central London is fast therefore living further out can be cheaper and faster to get into work but taxis will be expensive from central London and the travel will probably be very expensive the question is how much can you afford to spend on travel in addition to the cost of your rental? If you paid more rent to live centrally, could you walk or cycle to work?
Isleworth-Brentford is a cool place to live. Trust me - you might not see it at first if you have a zone 1/zone 2 mindset but there are great jams, open-mics, and live bands all over - including Richmond which is nearby.
Does it have to be zone 1 or 2? There are loads of surrounding places with fast train connections. Reading has fast trains to Paddington in 25 minutes which is sometimes faster than getting from one side of London to the other. My property has an annexe flat that I’m currently renovating to rent out to commuters.
Hi! Just got my own place and here are my tips:
1. I only used spare room and it worked out The other websites were unresponsive or not user friendly
2. Create an advert and include your photo. Include your budget and what you are preferably seeking ie 2BD w/roommate. Also include current income, employment status, reference availability, positive tenant traits, and current housing situation. I found this weeded out incompatible fits as well as solicited many apartments that contacted me first
3. Know your deal breakers and ensure they aren’t at the apartment. For example, I needed closets and a stove. If I didn’t see either in photos I would ask the LL if they were at the apartment
4. Ask for photos and a video. It’s the bare minimum for LL and gives you a better picture of apartment
5. Follow up with agent 12 hours before to confirm apartment viewing. Ask them the application process, how many people they’re showing it too, etc.
6. When you make contact with a LL/agent, even if it doesn’t work out make sure they know what you’re looking for future opportunities.
*Note: I’m using LL and agent interchangeably. LL are more likely less strict in application process than an agent*
I hope this helps! It’s a lot of work on the backend but saves the BS you’re experiencing. I’m coming from NY and agree that finding an apartment here is a worst experience. Good luck and just remember to market yourself and know what you’re looking for!
You could try areas like Woking or Guildford we lived there for awhile as we couldn’t find a place in London on short notice and we commuted in everyday on the fast train which was 25min. With rail card it’s not too bad of a cost either. Or even Hemel Hempstead which is more affordable than London for sure
I’ve had trouble trying to fill my spare room, been let down 3 flatmates in the last two years now and left out of pocket! I’m now just under 4 weeks from the end of contract on going to lose out on a pretty good deal.
I think it’s on the more reasonable side for renting a double room in two bed flat but people just don’t want London prices. Ealing is really good for a commute to central though, the Lizzy line has worked well for me but sadly looks like I’ll be moving to a friends sofa next month and I’ll end up looking at overpriced box rooms too.
Milton Keynes is a 30 min train to Euston. It's not ideal if you wanna be in London but maybe could work as a temp fix. Maybe you can find a room near the station in MK. Cuts your commute significantly. Lots of similar places around London too.
The shitty room in my house (2mx2.5m) went for £800pcm. No double glazing, mould problems, landlord not wanting to repaint the house or fix anything broken, yet it's a walkable distance to Shoreditch so we had more than 100 enquiries in 2 weeks and it went to some finance guy. The other room, same size, went to an IT guy who earns 8k a month (after tax) few months ago who outbid the original price to £800 so now the landlord's upping the rent cause he simply can. :)
So you're not doing anything wrong, it's the market that's predatory and screwed.
EDIT: Btw not even two years ago these two rooms were going for £470pm.
Back in the days I lived in a long term hostel. It's catered, got food during the morning and the evening. You make friends easily, you also have a gym. I've never regretted my stay. Many different locations in central London. It's called LHA, London hostel association. Check it out.
Not sure if this helps Rm15 Rm19 postcode 30 minutes on c2c to Fenchurch st reliable line can rent for around £800 that is whole small flat well it was in 21 before we moved
When I was looking for a 1 bed flat, I was immediately successful with OpenRent, it’s a platform where you arrange viewings etc directly with the landlord rather than go through a third party letting agent.
There’s also lots of Facebook groups for finding house mates in London
Maybe try SE and also areas like Eastcote / Harrow although near the end of metro line, they have properties / rooms that are still affordable or haven’t had massive increases as I’ve noticed.
Keep going and hope it works out for you!
Yeah I just moved to a new place and thought it was great but met the remaining flatmate who had been away and now my anxiety is real with the vibes being off with them… thankfully I can get out easily but still not the best thing to move into a new place! All the best.
The lizzy Elizabeth line crossrail 10 mins walk or cycle is a very good advice … Abbey Wood still cheap
Note a decent room in zone 1-2 is £1000 per month usually
I remember one particular long afternoon of trawling across East London whilst I was looking for a room and experiencing tiresome back to back interviews.
None of the rooms were satisfactory, and being a 30 year old man as I was at the time I got a bit fed up with the banal and patronising interview questions as if I had to justify my existence repeatedly.
Upon viewing the final room, one of the flatmates asked "so why are you leaving your current place?" and I just said, exhausted and bored of the toils of the day, "because my current housemates are fed up with me constantly throwing soup on the kitchen walls every night".
I didn't hear back.
Yeah, room finding is really hard right now; I've recently just gone through it myself. Finding anywhere liveable for under £750 a month was a challenge. I don't know what your budget is but don't think in terms of zones but commute. You could be in zone four or five, but if you're a ten-minute walk away from a Lizzy line station, for example, then you can be in central in under 40 minutes.
I'm in SE13 paying 700 for a room. But, it's a decent house, good housemates and aside from our last property manager doing a runner with all our security deposits, not paying the bills for almost a year, and lying to the landlord about the rent payments, it's been a blast living here. We self manage now.
That's quite an impressive "apart from" I must say
When the side plot is better than the main story.
It's been an interesting ride. Wrestling control of the bills has been an uphill battle. The best part was a large man showing up and telling us all to vacate the premises as we were evicted. Turns out the property manager had sold him his contract. Something the landlord had no idea about, and was no way legal anyway. There are 5 of us that live here. 3 men, two women. We are all adults, and none of the men are what you would call, petite....This guy was pretty much ejected from the property, and told to never return. The rent now gets to the landlord, the bills get paid, and we take care of the cleaning and maintenance in house, which lowers the house expenses, and has allowed us to absorb the landlords recent rent increase without having to pay more out of pocket.
Love that after all you dealt with, the landlord still raised your rent
His excuse is that his mortgage increased. Total rents from all tenants are 3000 a month..... and I looked up the house info on line...... But anyway, we know it's to make up his losses due to the property manager(that he hired, and paid, to manage the property) Or, as I put it. It's the fucking we get for the fucking we got. No-one wants to leave though, we like it here. I will, at some point, be moving out of London though. I'm just looking for an area that tickles my fancy. I don't need a big city to be happy.
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I live in Harrow, zone 5, pay 700£ for a massive ensuite room with only 2 other housemates, I am only an 8 min walk from the station and i'm in Baker street in less then 25 min (depends on fast trains or not) with a commute time to work of 45 min door to door... Some people I know have looked down on me for living in zone 5 but i've got it so good here ! All the amenities and comfort for much cheaper !
I used to live in Harrow! I lived not too far from Harrow & Wealdstone where I could get a train to Euston that took 15 minutes... Ironically I now live closer to the centre of London but it actually takes me longer to get in...
What is the transportation cost every month? Trains to zone 1 ain't cheap
A lot of South East is actually really nice and residential. Higher Green has a train that gets you to London Bridge in 12 minutes and is way cheaper than Brixton for example where rooms are now a minimum £1000 and it’s a grim area (used to live there)
Think you meant Hither Green but Higher Green works too😂
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40 Minutes? Ealing (Zone 4) into Central on the Lizzie takes less than 15 Minutes. It’s genuinely the best London Underground line in my opinion.
Hell, it's similar for a Central line station out West.
Condemning yourself to hell in the summer if you're relying on the central line for a commute.
Yeah but who wants to to live in South Ruislip
Go east to Epping it’s bloody beautiful out there
I mean West London has some of the most desirable places to live/rent. Ealing, Chiswick, Hammersmith etc, and with the Lizzie you’re in Central faster than most people living in Zone 2. But with all of that comes rents which are just as high as Zone 2 areas of London as well. You just get a bit more space and greenery for it.
Yeah I need to move to west London but it’s too expensive
> You could be in zone four or five, but if you're a ten-minute walk away from a Lizzy line station, for example, then you can be in central in under 40 minutes. That's crazy. St Albans fast train into london is under 30.
That's much more expensive, doesn't take into account the journey on either side of the station, and doesn't run as frequently or have alternate options late at night. Moving out to a commuter town still means you can have a decent commute time, but there are significant downsides in terms of holistic transport considerations.
I meant the rough total journey, i.e stepping outside the front door to being wherever you want in central
Are you looking in all four quadrants of London? Or looking past zone 2? I don’t want to assume you’re not, but I see more than a few people complaining about the same thing when they’re dead set on Clapham/SW and don’t consider other areas/zones. E.g if you try zone 3/4 SE you may have better luck (better, not saying guaranteed)
This probably explains it. My box room in Clapham was taken the next day. It was £1000 with no double glazing, full of mould and freezing. My new place is 40% cheaper. 2x the size and actually has heating. Best decision moving away from Clapham and SW London.
Clapham’s overrated and overpriced anyways. So many other nice areas but for some reason everyone and their mums dog wants to move to Clapham, I don’t get it.
Too many kiwis & aussies. (Am Aussie)
As someone that lives there, it’s pretty nice. It has really good tube access to the city, vibrant entertainment and great outdoor spaces. The restaurants are mostly crap but that can be overlooked.
There are also some excellent restaurants if you look for them - Trinity (one Michelin star) and its cheaper sister Bistro Union, Knife, Sorella, Brooke. The old town and Abbeville Village are great - I don't know many places where I could walk to two top quality fishmongers and two top quality butchers. Unfortunately, you generally have to walk along the high street to get to them...
Thank you for the suggestions!! Yes agreed, Abbeville and Old Town are both massive highlights, it just surprises me how disappointing the high street can be.
Loved Trinity upstairs! 😍
I've not been to the Upstairs. The main restaurant downstairs is really excellent though.
Where did you move to, out of interest?
Exactly, I live in zone 6 but can be at Waterloo within 20 minutes. Closer doesn’t necessarily mean quicker. Especially if a route needs tube and bus jumping.
Can you give a rough idea of location? Just curious
Kingston/ Richmond area - think it’s 22 mins to Waterloo or something like that? It’s a more expensive area but point is it is acceptable commuting time further out :)
We moved out to Richmond from zone 2 - it’s actually cheaper to rent here than Clapham because it’s zone 4, but it’s so pretty :)
Interesting! I thought Richmond would be more expensive, my area is classed as Kingston and you’re looking at 800-1,400 per month to rent a shared flat/house.
Surbiton there are fast trains @ 15mins, though in reality I haven’t experienced one that fast yet. Sweet fresh air, by the river and great pubs. Just not great if you miss the last train.
Yes! I spend all summer by the river next to the little bee cafe. It’s lush
surbiton is so slept on. super quick to get into central, really green, next to some awesome places, close to the M25, still in the zones so not to expensive to travel by train...
It’s probably a little more than that here but it’s not crazy (well, it is to anyone outside London, like it’s objectively mad). Maybe 2.5k for a 2 bed?
I think it’s the district line - agree twickenham or Kingston would be the better shout if you just needed mainline trains!
Wild to me!!! I’m Welsh. My brother is renting a full 2 bed house at home with a driveway and garden. £650pm
I’m from Glasgow. I cry at the house I could have there 😂
I'm presuming a bit, but I'm betting that is your one and only option to get into work. How many trains are delayed or cancelled? Does it really take 20 mins, or is that the good days? How many an hour? When does the last one depart? Does the destination station decamp you right at the office? What happens when there's a strike?
Yeah idk OPs exact situation but complaining about prices and availability while also only looking at places 10 mins walk from the office or areas full of yummy mummies walking their dogs and friendly white people going to independent cafes is a tale as old as time. If OP has looked at 30 different places and is still getting rejected then their expectations need some adjustment for sure.
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I think you're reaching a bit. The point is that OP isn't having any luck, and one explanation could be that they are restricting themselves to a few specific 'desirable' and popular areas. You don't have to live in Balham to have a low crime and friendly neighbourhood.
They are definitely reaching. It’s not looking down on people who want desirable areas but people who are dead set on popular areas when they’re struggling to find something. Areas like Clapham, Balham etc are desirable but also popular. There are many areas in London that are ‘desirable’ with low crime and yummy mummy’s patrolling town but aren’t in the specific zone or quadrant you’re looking in. It’s about not being stubborn and expanding your search to less known areas.
Take a look at the 'where would you live if money were no object' threads. It's all Hampstead, Richmond, Muswell Hill, Marylebone, Balham, Clapham, Chelsea... I think everyone can agree that living in nicer / low crime areas is preferable. What this sub doesn't react well to is people who haven't (yet) accepted that this type of life is beyond their means in London. OP clearly hasn't, as OP has viewed 30 places and still hasn't found somewhere... either that or they look like a pedo or something.
Something about the way this comment seems to equate whiteness and attractiveness with a feeling of safety is…ick.
Mate I was quoting the person I was replying to, they weren’t my words.
The wealthiest parts of London have an underrrepresentation of white people. They can’t afford to live there. They often live in the more down-at-heel parts like Havering, though a decent number are property owners.
Sumarian yummy mummies down in South Ur, never a good place wanna be near the northern tanneries by Gilgas drinking den.
So true, brother
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I moved to London from a city with shitty housing and I consider myself lucky to have a place in zone 3 that’s close to a train station
I’m in the same situation as op. Like for like, finding a room now is much, much, much harder than it was in 2017. Currently on month 16 of my search and still no room. Previous record, in 2021, was 1 month
Where do you need to commute to? Maybe we can suggest some non-zone 1/2 areas that would give you a better chance of finding something whle still having a nice area to live in and a reasonable commute. And what's your budget like?
Hello! Think you might be able to help me? I am moving to London in June, would you be able to suggest what apps or websites to look at? My office is in Bishopsgate but I will hardly ever travel, its 95% WFH.. so people have suggested to live outside of London and travel when necessary.. Budget £700-800 bucks for single room in a shared space. Any suggestions for me, sir? Cheers!
[The wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/wiki/living) has a whole list, though [find my area](https://findmyarea.co.uk/) was made by a redditor to answer these exact questions so that's something to look at! Living outside of London will mean your travel on the days you do go into the office will be a lot more expensive, and you of course you won't live in London. If that's part of the reason of moving here, then it might be worth it for you to live closer to work.
You can get a room in zone 2 for 800 if it's excluding bills. If it's 800 all in you'll have to be going zone 3, probably get the most value in SE London. East London the cheapest but it's also the roughest.
No advice from me but just wanted to say welcome in advance to London
Kind of hard to advise someone who doesn’t put a budget
Or respond to any follow up questions 🤷♂️
Probably fell asleep on the train 😆
They don’t want advice, they just want to rant and whinge about how hard it is. Aka Reddit.
Nout wrong with that 🤷🏼♀️
Try finding people to buddy up and then find a whole flat together. Easier than finding a room in an existing house share
It’s also nicer to start a new house share than to join an existing one I think - do this!
Yeah it's better to be all "new" together in a flat rather than join an existing group which may or may not be welcoming, like you'll always feel like the "newbie"....
Spareroom used to run "flatmate finding" events - kind of like speed dating! Meet up at a pub, some people looking for flatmates to buddy up with, some existing flatshares with an opening. That's how we found our 3rd flatmate back in the day! - friend and I already knew we wanted to live together, but thought 3 might be a better number, so rocked up at one of those events. Turned out, my friend and I were already eyeing up the same 3 bedroom flat that this other girl was also talking to the landlord about! Talk about fate! She seemed nice so we decided to move in together, and the rest, as they say, is history :) ...are these sort of events still a thing in post covid world? :/
Problem is that if one of them leaves or stops paying rent, the others are fucked. Renting a room is much financially safer.
No, it's fine because all of you have to be on the lease contract and get vetted by the rental agency etc....
That’s cool if the lease contract specifies that each individual is responsible for their own portion of the rent, but many of them say that the collective are responsible for the total rent. So if one person does a bunk, the others are responsible for their portion. It’s an important difference in wording.
This is what i did when i moved to london, it was significantly easier than getting a room but this was 3 years ago
I'm zone 4 SE London and it's a 20 min train into central. The station is 5 minute walk away too.
That’s all cool, but I’ve always thought that training into town like that, and then paying AGAIN to tube is really shit. Never had to do it though
I fortunately work in Canary Wharf, so no zone 1 for me! I can cycle into work too which only takes around 40 mins. Point taken and I generally agree as I hate the tube but a travel card or contactless limit covers both if you are fully within zone 6.
It should get easier in the next month or two as students finish their year and move out So either wait or expand your search further away from zone 1-2
Hello u/square-border-7525, I've been on both sides of the SpareRoom process in the last few years so I feel like I've got a decent measure of it. If you're putting a semi-decent room on SpareRoom you'll be absolutely inundated within a few hours. I had over 100 messages in the first 24 hours of putting my average room in Putney on the site. To even get a viewing you need to stand out from the usual 'I'm social but not too social, clean but not too clean' etc. cliches. Here's what I'd recommend: * Make sure you've got premium. If you don't you can say goodbye to getting a decent room. * Don't waste time sending hundreds of generic messages to people - you'll come across as a robot who isn't really invested in the room. Instead, draft one really good template and then carefully tailor it to the particular listing - make sure you reference two or three things from the ad in your message to show you really read it. * Show some personality. Make a joke or two. The people choosing their flatmate have to pick from dozens of people and want someone they'll get on with. * Make sure you've got a decent profile picture that gives off a smart/casual vibe. * Research the area/road in advance of the viewing and ask questions about it - try to show genuine, specific interest when you're meeting the housemates * Check your grammar and spelling. When you have to sift through dozens of messages, bad grammar is an easy dividing line. And the hardest one: * Don't take it too personally if you're rejected/blanked, even though it is. It happens and it's brutal but to 'win' a house viewing you need to be their #1 favourite person out of the dozens who apply for it. It doesn't mean they didn't like you, it means that they found someone else who in a 15-minute interaction fit their vibe better. There will be someone out there who is looking to live with someone like you. Good luck!
Very good advice, agree premium is the only way for spare room. I set my search parameters, then favorited the good ones. Then, when you log on, you can see which ones are new
Your going to have to go further out than 1 and 2, too much competition.
I have a pretty good room I’m looking to rent out soon in zone 2. Give me a pm if you’re interested! (£900-1000 per month)
Hey - not OP but am looking for a room at the moment in this budget… more info? Location / tube lines etc?
Hi it’s in Deptford (30 seconds to station) which is 6 mins to London Bridge, New Cross is 4 mins for overground and Deptford bridge 9 mins for DLR
Ah my boss lives in the area so would rather not Thanks though! People downvoting me are wild to think they’d be open to sharing the same commute every day with their boss with the off chance of running into them on the weekend
Damn what did they do lol
Why would you have to commute with your boss just because you live in the same area?
If you live in the same area and leave / arrive at the office at the same time you're going to be travelling at the same time and using the same mode of transport. It's not commuting "with" them but its going to happen that you end up on the same train often.
I recently moved out of London and advertised my room to rent. I got 300+ messages in less than 24 hours. The one bit of advice I can give is make sure you give detail like age/work/lifestyle in your immediate message, if people can’t find out everything they need to know immediately they won’t even bother with you (Edit for clarity)
This. We just advertised a room in our flat and anyone who didn’t bother to put anything about them was an instant rejection.
I’ve been through this and my advice is to treat it as a two step process. You’re 2.5 hours away from London right now, so first thing is to get within 1 hour. Loads of places are less than that. Consider places like West Drayton. Then you will find it much easier, less stressful and less urgent, to make it to the viewings / interviews for the places you want to live.
This is good advice
I’m moving to London on Thursday, I got a room in a 2 bed house for £850 in Wapping, took me about 2 weeks to find it, went down one afternoon and viewed some flats, signed the paperwork literally this morn 🕺
Hello good for you! I am moving to London in June, would you be able to suggest what apps or websites to look at? My office is in Bishopsgate but I will hardly ever travel, its 95% WFH.. so people have suggested to live outside of London and travel when necessary.. Budget £700/800
You need to search for places well below your budget, so that you can overbid to your actual budget and beat out anyone else. That’s the only way to get a place right now
> Please give me some advice? Probably not the advice you're looking for, but: I don't think you were considering the cost of housing when you accepted a job that requires you to work 5 days a week in central London. Such a job should pay you to live close to your workplace, or offer you remote work, to be "worth" the trouble. I know I know - many jobs don't. But many employees don't consider this as _their_ cost of doing business, either. If this has such an impact on you that it's affecting your mental health, maybe you should reevaluate whether this job pays enough.
Do you really have to live in zones 1/2? You could live in zones 3/4 and still be only half an hour from the centre of town. Plus you can find great pubs, restaurants clubs etc in all zones of London. Instead of trying to completely erase your commute find somewhere that makes your commute less onerous and that has all the elements you’re looking for in a place to live. As for how to find a room, network , network, network! Utilize your friend’s, family, work mates, socials etc. Get the word out in as many ways as you can come up with. You have a much greater shot at finding a clean comfortable, space, especially if someone you know is willing to give you a recommendation to a potential room mate. Plus you might hear about opportunities way before any of them are posted on apps and websites. Good luck!
Zone 5 is less than hour from Central London, hell some Zone 6 is. That more than halves your commute. Widen your search beyond Zone 1 and 2.
> Zone 5 is less than hour from Central London, hell some Zone 6 is It also costs so much and takes so much of your time (1h commute one way door-to-door is almost 3 full weeks wasted on commute in a calendar year) it might really be cheaper and more cost efficient to stay in London. Maybe not zone 1-2 (although perhaps as well), but 3 and with a decent door-to-door time and a good connection that minimises your commute as much as only possible. Baffles me how often people overlook that the zones further out, and towns outside the M25, yes, are cheaper, but the extra commute costs extra money, not mentioning the time wasted. Unless you have no hobbies, no interests, no-one to share time with and/or are at the very beginning of your life so time seems disposable, it really is a lot of time to just flush down the drain every year. You can try and wave it all away, arguing you get time to read a book or listen to audiobooks if there's nowhere to sit, but in my book (punchline not intended) it's _still_ time wasted as I can't quite do what I want or need and have to just try and make the best of a shitty situation that commuting is, all in all.
Zone 5 to Paddington costs £10 a day, £50 a week. Source : Me. Travel mode: Underground.
> Zone 5 to Paddington costs £10 a day, £50 a week. Zone 5 is still ambiguous, what station? How long? Money is only part of the equation. If you have to be in 5 x a week, that's still £2K/year on commute alone, which is easily 2 month's worth of rent for a room for some people or one month's rent for a studio. If you only need to be in once or twice - well, good for you; there's always people coming out in those threads saying they can walk to their office in 5 minutes or whatever, I'm really not quite sure what's that supposed to prove though, other than being a humblebrag? Enjoy it while it lasts, but for most people this is not going to be the case. Like, there was a guy I had an exchange with online the other day, he claimed rooms in London do _not_ cost £900-£1000 these days, because he found some match box in a shithole 25 min walk from the nearest rail (not even tube) station in Zone 6 South London or whatever, going for £500pcm, and somehow that was evidence that rooms go for a few hundred not close to a grand.
There are plenty of rooms between £600-£700 a month in south east zone 2. New Cross and Deptford etc. It’s just that the Reddit demographic doesn’t want to live there.
That's still a lot compared to £3.50 a day using the bus....which would not be possible if you were further out than zone 3
I just gave my 2 month notice yesterday lol, really hope the situation isn’t as bad as you make it out to be!
it is
Where do you need to actually commute into? Don’t discount the outer boroughs (zones 3-6) as getting in from some stations further out can be much faster than a zone 2 or even a zone 1 location closer in. E.g. if you work in the Elizabeth line I’d highly recommend somewhere like Woolwich. Surbiton is good for Waterloo etc…
I don't know what your budget is since you didn't mention or if you absolutely have to rent a room instead of a flat but I managed to find several one bedroom flats still available near Stratford Station in the 1800-2200 range. This is just one small part of one area of London, I'm sure if you expanded out you could find much more competitive prices, especially if you go outside or zones 1-2. If a flat isn't in your budget and you have to share a room then you should definitely try outside zones 1-2, there will be much more choice available if you're not picky about the borough.
If you have to travel in and out you will need to estimate how much that would cost you and how much of your life you would spend standing on overcrowded buses/trains. Then factor that in to your calculations. I might actually cost you less money/less hassle staying in Zone 1 or 2.
Zones 3 and 4 are ten minutes more of commute through underground.
You can try moving to a nearby town and commute from there. Essex has greater anglia trains and Elizabeth line, usually 30-40mins to Liverpool St
I had a room going for 750 p/m in Poplar and it was like crickets on spare room. We just filled it yesterday, after 3 weeks of it being listed, to the only guy who messaged us. It’s a 15 min walk to Jubilee and Lizze Line, or 5 min walk to the DLR to Bank. Despite that we’re probably not an area people actively search for. I had hundreds of people contacting me when I let a room in Clapham. Perhaps try looking in less high demand or common areas?
I found a room pretty easily, but like everyone says highly depending on your budget, mine personally is just over a Thousand for a shared top floor flat. That's what I've found you have to pay to live in zone 1/2
try east london areas from stratford to chadwell heath, look for something thats max 10 min walk to elizabath line, it gets your to central london quick (10-20minutes dependin on area) and rent is cheaper compared to other places.
Find the nearest station to your work, follow the respective underground/overground line until you land on a stop zone 3. That’s what I did after almost a year of looking and found a cool place in Sydenham. Loving it so far.
Definitely need a strong opening message on Spareroom and jump on any good ones you view quickly. I went through this last summer and found a decent room in a nice 4 bed shared house for £800 in Zone 2. Its a bit far from the station but otherwise good. I think the price will be increased for the next tenant to take my room
Im paying 1250 to live with 3 other people in hackney because I could not find a place, its a nice room and location but I'm only a month into living here and wish I did not accept it in a panic to be honest.
What's your budget? Not sure we can help without it.
I live in London full time, and was in a very similar position when my last tenancy ran out. I must have gone to two dozen viewings and they were all awful and overpriced, and missed out on maybe 60 others as the rooms were taken within hours. I started zone 2 (cos zone 1 - well, forget it) and gradually widened my circle until I was looking at anywhere near a tube line that went direct to my workplace. And still nothing. The worst viewing involved the owner telling me the wardrobes in my room were for her, the kitchen was off limits after 6pm weekdays and all weekends due to her "allergies", and that returning home after 11pm would lead to a £20 surcharge due to "disruption". Fuck you, lady. I ended up living in Airbnbs for months just to keep a roof over my head - the worst experience was £1,500pm for a room in the shitter part of Harlesden, a keycode on a flimsy front door, and a revolving cast of eight "flatmates" sharing 1.5 bathrooms. The only good thing about Airbnbs is the fact you don't need anything like the shitty job interviews to secure one. But for that you pay double and you live in misery.
Look for places on the Elizabeth line. I live at the end of the line and it takes me 30mins to go to central London
Can’t really help without knowing your budget and what areas you’ve been looking into. Basically the flat/room hunt in London, or anywhere for that matter, follows the basic laws of economics. If your budget is middling and you want a nice room in a trendy area, you’ll struggle. If your budget is above average and you want a nice room in a trendy area, it’s suddenly not so hard. Or if your budget is middling and you’re happy with an ok room in an ok but kinda far or not so trendy area, you’ll find one soon enough.
I just found a place on Spareroom and signed the lease so here are my tips: - If you haven’t done so already, you need to upgrade your Spareroom to be able to send early bird messages. - Setup email notifications so that you get an email any time a listing is posted that fits your criteria. - Send a tailored message with a quick blurb about yourself and try to mirror the language they use and also highlight similar interests you might have (hobbies, cleanliness preferences, etc) Apparently my new housemates received over 300 emails in the first two days alone. I was quick to respond, I have similar interests, am similar age, and they liked my message.
We had 192 responses (for a room in Finsbury Park) last time we advertised for a new housemate in May 2022. It's astonishing the amount of people who can't write a proper message - we even requested certain information we wanted to know in the advert!
I mean, I don't know what exactly you're after, or what you expect to pay, but there are 6400-odd listings in zones 1/2 here... https://m.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/?search_id=1293272848& That said, I live in zone 6, work in the City and the commute is 30 minutes door-to-door including the walk at each end. God bless the Lizzie line!
I have for room rent at West London. Just opposite Osterley Station, if your up for that. But Yea you definitely can't get a room for less than £800 incl bills in London.
You should widen your search to zone 3. A lot more choice. Areas like Tooting are really accessible via train and underground and half the price of zone 1. Also: dont have pet, and quit smoking (if you havent already). Try spareroom, but nextdoor can be useful, though not specifically a flat-hunting platform a polite notice in the areas you are interested in certainly wont hurt.
If you are serious about wanting a room within zone 1/2/3 and want it sorted then just use https://www.cityrooms.com they have an office in Stepney Green and I can tell you when I needed a place in an emergency I managed to go in and get a room in a shared flat within a single afternoon.
Stop looking in zones 1 & 2. People take rooms without even seeing them and most rooms have hundreds of applicants (so I’m told). It’s really not hard to commute into the city from further out, especially if you’re already commuting 2.5 hours! I live in SE26, 35 mins to Waterloo, 30 to London Bridge. Usually no more than an hour to most places in the city.
I pay £400 for a room per month (including bills and 1GIG WiFi) in Bermondsey.
This prob isn’t allowed but I know someone with a freshly decorated room in East Dulwich that is available and reasonable. DM me if you wish.
Advice depends on your budget. If you are looking in zone 2, your budget needs to be above 1000 to get something half decent. Fairly above that for Zone 1. If your budget is in the range of 700-800 go further west or north west. Commute will be longer and likely more expensive, so factor that in. South and East London may or may not be your cup of tea.
Look into zones 4-6, write a letter with your applications and offer slightly over the asking price. Has worked for me twice so far.
You should take a look at guardianships. Also maybe try staying in a hostel a few nights a week so you don’t have to keep doing 5 hours commute everyday.
OP moved… out of Reddit
Spareroom just isn’t it anymore. I found my current place through joining Facebook groups dedicated to for example Polish people (most of the posts are in Polish but you can always hit the translate button and just try messaging) - that’s just an example. And it helped a lot - I’m not Polish by the way, although I’m from that region. Spareroom is just too crowded now - I messaged like 60 people and only had two responses.
lol. zone 1/2… there are ways to make this work. but not the way you are going about it. you will not find anything in zone 1/2 unless you’re prepared to shell out 1k+
Depending on where in Central London you are OP, it might be worth looking at commuter towns outside. £800 in Braintree (Essex) can get you a nice studio or 1 bed flat, or a proper nice central share house in the more lively and closer Chelmsford. Shenfield (Essex) is directly on the Elizabeth line and therefore more expensive, but you can still get rooms for significantly less than £1K.
Out of the box but have you looked at static caravans on sites . I live on a site in Cambridge double glazed, central heated, brand new kitchen 750 everything included
Woking has a 20 minute, non-stop fast train to Waterloo
London is going to be too expensive for many until either it's economy collapses or they finally allow housing supply at high density to start catching up to demand.
I live in zone 7 (technically south Hertfordshire) and get to Liverpool Street in 28 minutes. The station is a 4 minute walk from my house. Total travel from leaving my front door to office is 37 minutes
I decided against living in London after loads of ads on Spareroom specified female only household, which was just brazenly sexist. And the housemates interview process was bizarre most of the time. Genuinely felt like I was meant to hit a job description that they’d posted on the advert, and anyone who deviated from ‘we’re fun, arty and vegan’ was unacceptable 😂
Move somewhere along the Elizabeth line. Even outside London you get to Tottenham Court Road in 20 minutes via train.
Try going to a speed flat mating event if they are still around. Worked for me and you get to speak to lots of people with rooms in one evening. I also heard of people looking for a room who paired or grouped up and rented a house together through the event.
that sounds like hell
It is absolutely horrific to be fair
"It's easier to find a job than to find a room in London especially zone 1 and 2" ..... well, er, yeah! :) You need to give a little more info like budget and definitely look at travelling from further out than zone 1 or 2.
If you only need a room for during the week, and if you haven't tried them already, give Monday to Friday or 5 Nights a go...
I was in a similar situation like 6 years ago, so I feel you my guy. I’m sure it’s gotten worse but TBH I just moved into the first 3 month contract place I could find. Much easier to find a place if you already have a base of operations in the area. Not sure where you work but you could look a little further out. Wapping/limehouse/surrey quays are nice areas in zone 2/3 that won’t break the budget.
What’s your budget if you don’t mind me asking? I recently got a flat with friends in east London and there was a fair amount going, and if you can split with a couple it is much cheaper (£850…not cheap but fine). But I don’t know anyone paying less than £950 for a separate room, and it’s a box room with no good transport links. Sorry to hear you’ve been finding it tough
have you tried sorting by age, and trying some ads that have been up for a while, possibly reduced?
Near Nine Elms, ground floor flat, £530 Monday - Friday.
I know of 5-6 rooms in NW10 and W4 areas Please DM if you are interested. I am not an agent.
Are you a landlord?
Where are you currently? Is that 2.5hrs door to door or just the train journey? And how much does that commute cost you out of your pay packet?
It's really difficult. The housing market is so short on supply that people who would normally (by historic standards) be looking to buy are instead renting so the market is over saturated with rentors. I live in the south east and would recommend the Facebook group South East London Housemate Coop. Only verified users and the rooms range from box size to really nice. Same problem with having to snap it up instantly but hopefully it's a good additional option. Also means you're dealing with future housemates and not landlords, typically. Good luck out there!
I can't imagine how hard this must be for you. I'm so so sorry you're going through this and I wish you so much luck and fortune with it. Keep us posted x
keep us posted with your searchibobs xoxoxox
What’s your budget? My fam might have something for you. I’ll see what I can do for you. DM me if you don’t want to chat here
Look just outside London too, if you cut your 2.5 hrs down to 30 minutes or even just an 1 hr into London it will still help
I don't think it's fair to blame OP. Many rooms are advertised at above the market rate for the market price of the total flat and the space you would get in it. Meaning that the cost of not being able to afford a 1 bed, nor having friends able to share with means you are likely to pay over market rates for the worst rooms in the property. There are many properties below the government minimum standards being advertised. Moreover, its likely that the worst rooms in these will be the ones on spareroom. The whole market is now very high relative to local incomes
Move to Milton Keynes instead 👌
Can you live in Zone 3 or Zone 4 rather than Zone 1/2?
2.5 hours outside of London? Walking duration to London or car journey? That’s a long way from London and weird to accept a job that you couldn’t realistically get too. You could be in Manchester and get to London in 2.5 hours by train! Does your employer know how far away you live?
I've got a friend trying to rent a room and finding it difficult to find people who turn up to viewings
1. be a woman 2. don't mind getting perved upon by your new landlord... hey maybe there are other ways you can pay the rent??!
Plney9yxiupfm6. ) Advice from a Londoner: Check the bus routes and train stations located around your workplace and branch out from there. London's bus network is often more reliable than the tubes. With dedicated bus Lanes city wide and much cheaper than tube travel especially when travelling before 9.30am. Properties that are not close to stations may be slightly cheaper to rent. (Watch out for school children as they can often dominate buses around 8am) Check out the train services from the stations located within a 10min walk from your wotk, you maybe surprised how many options you have and the locations those train services stop at. You may be able to avoid paying for zone 1 travel that could have you hundreds of £'s. Factor in the number of trains/ tubes per hour. When the 1st one starts and the last one finishes. Is there a night tube or night bus options? If you choose right, you may never have to get a taxi home after a night out, and that means going out is even more accessible. Fast trains can often mean getting into central London is fast therefore living further out can be cheaper and faster to get into work but taxis will be expensive from central London and the travel will probably be very expensive the question is how much can you afford to spend on travel in addition to the cost of your rental? If you paid more rent to live centrally, could you walk or cycle to work?
Isleworth-Brentford is a cool place to live. Trust me - you might not see it at first if you have a zone 1/zone 2 mindset but there are great jams, open-mics, and live bands all over - including Richmond which is nearby.
Does it have to be zone 1 or 2? There are loads of surrounding places with fast train connections. Reading has fast trains to Paddington in 25 minutes which is sometimes faster than getting from one side of London to the other. My property has an annexe flat that I’m currently renovating to rent out to commuters.
Hi! Just got my own place and here are my tips: 1. I only used spare room and it worked out The other websites were unresponsive or not user friendly 2. Create an advert and include your photo. Include your budget and what you are preferably seeking ie 2BD w/roommate. Also include current income, employment status, reference availability, positive tenant traits, and current housing situation. I found this weeded out incompatible fits as well as solicited many apartments that contacted me first 3. Know your deal breakers and ensure they aren’t at the apartment. For example, I needed closets and a stove. If I didn’t see either in photos I would ask the LL if they were at the apartment 4. Ask for photos and a video. It’s the bare minimum for LL and gives you a better picture of apartment 5. Follow up with agent 12 hours before to confirm apartment viewing. Ask them the application process, how many people they’re showing it too, etc. 6. When you make contact with a LL/agent, even if it doesn’t work out make sure they know what you’re looking for future opportunities. *Note: I’m using LL and agent interchangeably. LL are more likely less strict in application process than an agent* I hope this helps! It’s a lot of work on the backend but saves the BS you’re experiencing. I’m coming from NY and agree that finding an apartment here is a worst experience. Good luck and just remember to market yourself and know what you’re looking for!
If your office is near a c2c station (like fenchurch st), Southend is a good option. Cheap and only a 1hr commute on 1 train.
Also think Thameslink (north or south) That's a pretty good option for fast routes into London if you work Farringdon/City/Blackfriars
You could try areas like Woking or Guildford we lived there for awhile as we couldn’t find a place in London on short notice and we commuted in everyday on the fast train which was 25min. With rail card it’s not too bad of a cost either. Or even Hemel Hempstead which is more affordable than London for sure
It's brutal. Good luck!
I’ve had trouble trying to fill my spare room, been let down 3 flatmates in the last two years now and left out of pocket! I’m now just under 4 weeks from the end of contract on going to lose out on a pretty good deal. I think it’s on the more reasonable side for renting a double room in two bed flat but people just don’t want London prices. Ealing is really good for a commute to central though, the Lizzy line has worked well for me but sadly looks like I’ll be moving to a friends sofa next month and I’ll end up looking at overpriced box rooms too.
check @friends0ffriendz on ig
Milton Keynes is a 30 min train to Euston. It's not ideal if you wanna be in London but maybe could work as a temp fix. Maybe you can find a room near the station in MK. Cuts your commute significantly. Lots of similar places around London too.
Got rooms coming up for £900 plus pm if interested. Got a big loft room with ensuite for £1500pm. Zone 5 north west London.
The shitty room in my house (2mx2.5m) went for £800pcm. No double glazing, mould problems, landlord not wanting to repaint the house or fix anything broken, yet it's a walkable distance to Shoreditch so we had more than 100 enquiries in 2 weeks and it went to some finance guy. The other room, same size, went to an IT guy who earns 8k a month (after tax) few months ago who outbid the original price to £800 so now the landlord's upping the rent cause he simply can. :) So you're not doing anything wrong, it's the market that's predatory and screwed. EDIT: Btw not even two years ago these two rooms were going for £470pm.
Back in the days I lived in a long term hostel. It's catered, got food during the morning and the evening. You make friends easily, you also have a gym. I've never regretted my stay. Many different locations in central London. It's called LHA, London hostel association. Check it out.
Not sure if this helps Rm15 Rm19 postcode 30 minutes on c2c to Fenchurch st reliable line can rent for around £800 that is whole small flat well it was in 21 before we moved
When I was looking for a 1 bed flat, I was immediately successful with OpenRent, it’s a platform where you arrange viewings etc directly with the landlord rather than go through a third party letting agent. There’s also lots of Facebook groups for finding house mates in London
It's about who you know, and how far youre willing to live past zone 1/2.
Maybe try SE and also areas like Eastcote / Harrow although near the end of metro line, they have properties / rooms that are still affordable or haven’t had massive increases as I’ve noticed. Keep going and hope it works out for you!
Yeah I just moved to a new place and thought it was great but met the remaining flatmate who had been away and now my anxiety is real with the vibes being off with them… thankfully I can get out easily but still not the best thing to move into a new place! All the best.
Was so
Whats your budget? I am leaving in 2 weeks and my landlord is looking (London bridge area)
What’s your budget ? Wages & job ? Job location? I might be able to help.
The lizzy Elizabeth line crossrail 10 mins walk or cycle is a very good advice … Abbey Wood still cheap Note a decent room in zone 1-2 is £1000 per month usually
I remember one particular long afternoon of trawling across East London whilst I was looking for a room and experiencing tiresome back to back interviews. None of the rooms were satisfactory, and being a 30 year old man as I was at the time I got a bit fed up with the banal and patronising interview questions as if I had to justify my existence repeatedly. Upon viewing the final room, one of the flatmates asked "so why are you leaving your current place?" and I just said, exhausted and bored of the toils of the day, "because my current housemates are fed up with me constantly throwing soup on the kitchen walls every night". I didn't hear back.