I would be quite frightened to live in a place that was only 50GBP a week. That is nothing! I'd aim for the higher end of your budget unless you are interested in just renting a room and sharing everything else (even then I would pay more!). But I am guessing that if you are married, you may want your own space? I

We'll be paying 350 GBP + some utilities for a very nicely-decorated 600 sq ft 1 bedroom flat in West Hampstead, near West Hampstead station. I believe that's zone 2. I don't think it's a glamorous or trendy neighbourhood but it's near a main street with decent shopping and a public library -- what I think of as a 'normal neighbourhood' which is just what we wanted.

Of course, if I could afford to live in a higher-priced neighbourhood, I probably would (but then I'd need a whole new wardrobe!)

West Hampstead is a LOVELY neighborhood with wonderful pubs and shopping and obviously great outdoor space. If you work in a area that allows an easy commute from West Hampstead, I would definitely pick that as a top choice!

for college students on an internship, bedsits would be the norm. it would be a very extravagant student who had their own flat. even a lot of new professionals are in bedsits.

the affordable, accessible and relatively safe areas i'd suggest you look in would be:
shepherds bush (central line)
west kensington (but be careful that a dodgy part of kilburn isnt mislabelled as west ken)
southwark (beware that it doesn't bleed into Elephant and Castle)
london bridge
around kings cross.

If you cant check out the neighbourhood of a particular flat yourself, post it on here and we'll review the location.

you certainly dont need to go to 300/week unless you really can afford it. you can get a bedsit on queensway for about 200 all inclusive. a studio in shepherds bush would be in the range of 150 and a bedsit would likely be even cheaper.

I think you need to look in to some of this terminology and find out what is included (private bath or not, kitchen or not, just having a room in a house with bath and/or kitchen shared with numerous other people - whom you may not know. You would need to understand the privacy issues, security issues, options for doing actual cooking etc.

It you're a student and used to sharing a 2 bedroom apt with 3 other people - perhaps that's fine. If you're used to your own apt - you may not be comfortable.

lizzie, that's nice to hear -- thanks!

For some reason I completely missed that you were a college student. Perhaps there are others in your college doing a similar thing and you could split a rental with them?

There are lots of room rents....maybe some others can help you with where to look.

Yes, he's a college student but married and he's going to London with his wife.

Yes, I did see that part...but maybe another student couple is in the same situation and could share a 2 bedroom with them?

Just trying to think of economical ways to live. London is expensive. :)

Yes, that's definitely a possibility. Sorry, I just thought that because you'd missed the student part, you'd also missed the married part.

Thank you all so much for your help. I had done some research before and the flat-share seemed like the only possible solution for me. It still seems like the best option.

Flat shares are very commmon amongst the 20-30 population in London. Most people I work with share flats, and it's totally normal for a couple to live with other flatmates. Gumtree is a great resource for finding these arrangements and it will proabbly give you a higher degree of flexibility given the short time you'll be in town. I would browse the listings on gumtree and share any promising ones on here so that we can give you feedback:

Here are some nice looking ones on gumtree:

http://www.gumtree.com/london/02/59720302.html
http://www.gumtree.com/london/36/59979236.html

west kensington (but be careful that a dodgy part of kilburn isnt mislabelled as west ken)>>>>

I Think you mean West Hampstead (Kilburn is no where near west ken).

Once you have some idea about where you're going come back. I'm a policeman and tend to know all about any area (and I can easily look it up), and the other locals here have similar levels of insight.