Whilst you might well find that your first year accommodation is provided via your university, it’s a common occurrence that once you move on, you will start having to find housing for yourself.

Now, unless you’re fortunate enough to move into a friend’s house, there are three main ways in which you’ll be able to find somewhere to live: 

Your university
Some universities are lucky enough to own their own properties which they rent out to students. Understandably these are highly sought after and they leave the market very quickly. We strongly recommend that you enquire early as to whether your university operates such a scheme, and if they do, to get on to the application list as soon as possible.

Estate agents
Renting houses in London is big business and there are plenty of estate agents on hand to help you out. These vary betweens the smaller ones that service specific areas and larger outfits that cover the whole of the city. Both sets generally have a good selection of properties on their books and it makes good sense to register with an agent and keep in regular contact during your house hunt.

Private landlords
Private lettings can often be cheaper than an agency deal. The one thing that counts against them is that they are often hard to find, even with the most dedicated of searching. There are, however, two channels which are often worth searching. On the one hand there is the Gumtree www.gumtree.com which actually provides a wide range of listings for London, of which properties are just one. The second is The Loot, which operates a weekly newspaper as well as a website www.loot.com – again providing a whole host of different advertised services.

By Nick Sidwell