Need flat for our son in London. Fast!
Aug 21st, 2019, 09:10 AM
#1
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Need flat for our son in London. Fast!
Our son just got accepted to college near Kilburn tube station. He needs access to Whole Foods, the closest of which seems to be next to Regent's Park. So we're looking around Swiss Cottage area or Maida Vale. If anybody knows of a brilliant realtor, please advise! Also, is the A5 (Abbey Road) very busy around Maida Vale? Thanks much!
Aug 21st, 2019, 09:17 AM
#2
>>He needs access to Whole Foods<<
OK -- as I posted on your other thread -- I'm just leaving and can't post much detail til later - but >>He needs access to Whole Foods<< . . . WHY Whole Foods -- there are perfectly fine/upscale grocers all over London if that is what he needs . . .
His school should be able to refer him/recommend accommodations . . .
OK -- as I posted on your other thread -- I'm just leaving and can't post much detail til later - but >>He needs access to Whole Foods<< . . . WHY Whole Foods -- there are perfectly fine/upscale grocers all over London if that is what he needs . . .
His school should be able to refer him/recommend accommodations . . .
Aug 21st, 2019, 09:38 AM
#3
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The UK doesn't have realtors in the same way as the US does. They are called estate agents, are you looking to rent or buy?
A good place to start is this website
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/
You can look at rentals and student accommodation. When you see a flat on the website, the details of the estate agent is shown and you can contact them.
If its a room you want to rent or flatshare, this website is good.
https://www.spareroom.co.uk/
Aug 21st, 2019, 10:00 AM
#4
How exciting. My friend in London is busy buying at Ikea today for her daughter. They don't give you much time between getting A level results and starting UNI. At least she will be in the halls.
Aug 21st, 2019, 10:55 AM
#6
Have a look on Airbnb. Put in dates for at least 4 weeks to see the sometimes deeply discounted monthly rates. Or for a week to see discounted weekly rates. Use a screen larger than a phone so you can zoom in on the map to pin down a location in the areas he'd like. If your son has a credit card he can register on the site himself, as the person who'll be staying should be the one to book. Otherwise, if it's you who will do the actual booking, have a word with the owner before hitting "book." Using a short-term rental will give him the opportunity to scout the area at his leisure to find a place he likes for long-term.
Aug 21st, 2019, 11:39 AM
#7
I think a short term rental is a really really really smart idea. Let him get his feet on the ground and see what areas might work best for him. You don't want to hurry into a 1-year lease in a place that doesn't actually work very well.
Aug 21st, 2019, 11:57 AM
#9
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I’m really confused here.
i went through the same process.
A levels didn’t get me to my first choice Uni.
My second choice was in London, I had a week to find accommodation. I was homeless and slept time on friend’s sofas for 2 weeks and survived. My first point of contact was my college which had a huge accommodation function. Knew all the local landlords/agents and spent days, weeks, months putting together groups of students to rent large houses together. Great way to grow up fast and make new friends.
Your son’s first port of call has to be student housing at his college.
Not a travel website where the posters knowledge is primarily focused on higher end short term holiday accommodation.
Do this quickly, as I am well aware to my own cost, London can be a great place to be but can also be unforgiving and destroy young people.
i went through the same process.
A levels didn’t get me to my first choice Uni.
My second choice was in London, I had a week to find accommodation. I was homeless and slept time on friend’s sofas for 2 weeks and survived. My first point of contact was my college which had a huge accommodation function. Knew all the local landlords/agents and spent days, weeks, months putting together groups of students to rent large houses together. Great way to grow up fast and make new friends.
Your son’s first port of call has to be student housing at his college.
Not a travel website where the posters knowledge is primarily focused on higher end short term holiday accommodation.
Do this quickly, as I am well aware to my own cost, London can be a great place to be but can also be unforgiving and destroy young people.
Aug 21st, 2019, 12:00 PM
#10
I'm pretty sure the OP is from the States and A levels have not much to do with anything . . .
Nor Ikea - nor should Whole Foods . . . but maybe the OP can come back and shed some light???
Their first stop should be the school admin.
Nor Ikea - nor should Whole Foods . . . but maybe the OP can come back and shed some light???
Their first stop should be the school admin.
Aug 21st, 2019, 12:39 PM
#11
I disagree (see my post #6 above). When I travel I'm on something akin to a student budget and, yes, my accommodations are relatively short term, a week to a month, but short-term sites like the one I mention often have discounts for longer stays. Sometimes even discounted enough to make them viable for months at a time. I realize that some here, many, may not share my budget concerns but enough certainly do to make this travel forum a perfectly useful place to ask the question.
Aug 21st, 2019, 12:45 PM
#13
I read a previous post just now. Sounds like Ca and not a UK person. Maybe whole foods due to diet and maybe older and doesn't want halls accommodations. We were all on pins and needles last week for this young lady and so happy she got the school of her choice. Maybe they will need Ikea once they get him settled if not a furnished flat.
Aug 21st, 2019, 12:57 PM
#14
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Really, assuming one must be near a WholeFoods seems strange to me but Waitrose is IMO every bit as good as Whole Foods but if unfamiliar with grocery shopping in the UK, one wouldn’t know that.
I’ve seldom heard of a college that would not have recommendations for housing.
I’ve seldom heard of a college that would not have recommendations for housing.
Aug 21st, 2019, 01:01 PM
#15
Aug 21st, 2019, 01:16 PM
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“discounts for longer stays.”
I’ve no idea what it’s like to be a student in New York, Tokyo or Paris.
i do know what it’s like to be a student in London, the hard way. In some ways my time was much easier. Students then lived on beans and had very few materialist expectations. Now iPhones, lap tops and cars seem bare necessities. Housing costs in London have soured over the past 20 years but there are the same mental pressures. No money, too much academic work, tough travel arrangements, etc etc etc.
As a student, you need to either get into a halls of residence or a larger house with other students, establish a stable, convenient affordable, long term base.
Then you have some chance of surviving.
Lookimg for deals on Air BnB is the second to last place you would want to be. May as well key in hotel accommodation for a single traveller on a booking.com.
I’ve no idea what it’s like to be a student in New York, Tokyo or Paris.
i do know what it’s like to be a student in London, the hard way. In some ways my time was much easier. Students then lived on beans and had very few materialist expectations. Now iPhones, lap tops and cars seem bare necessities. Housing costs in London have soured over the past 20 years but there are the same mental pressures. No money, too much academic work, tough travel arrangements, etc etc etc.
As a student, you need to either get into a halls of residence or a larger house with other students, establish a stable, convenient affordable, long term base.
Then you have some chance of surviving.
Lookimg for deals on Air BnB is the second to last place you would want to be. May as well key in hotel accommodation for a single traveller on a booking.com.
Aug 21st, 2019, 01:44 PM
#17
To the OP, Guy, I suggest you disregard comments such as #16 above & see what you can find on Airbnb using a 4 week+ stay to trigger the discounts. My last visit I found a very comfortable room in London, considerably larger than budget hotel rooms, with a private bathroom, even a small frig & microwave corner, for no more than the room I offered in my home in a small town in California on the same site. I can only assume those who dispute the possibility simply have no experience looking for such a thing. They are available.
Last edited by MmePerdu; Aug 21st, 2019 at 01:49 PM.
Aug 21st, 2019, 01:49 PM
#18
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Does anyone read what people post anymore?
i don’t doubt that you could rent a great short term bargain on AirBnB.
For the student welfare issues I’ve indicated, it’s the second to last place I’d dump my son.
The last place being a hotel bedroom!!!
i don’t doubt that you could rent a great short term bargain on AirBnB.
For the student welfare issues I’ve indicated, it’s the second to last place I’d dump my son.
The last place being a hotel bedroom!!!
Aug 21st, 2019, 03:33 PM
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Where is he studying? The college may be able to advise on accommodation options, or perhaps put him in touch with other students if he's willing to share a house rather than renting a whole flat to himself as the title implies. There may be a facebook group for students of that college for instance.
Do you have a specific budget/limit?
I would look on Rightmove: https://rightmove.co.uk/student-acco...n/Kilburn.html https://rightmove.co.uk/student-acco...aida-Vale.html https://rightmove.co.uk/student-acco...pes=&keywords=This is an online platform most UK estate agents use.
It looks as if Whole Foods delivers within London, so he doesn't have to be in walking distance even if he doesn't find other supermarkets an acceptable substitute: https://www.wholefoodsmarket.co.uk/
As you're quite pressed for time hopefully the visa is being processed?
Good luck finding somewhere suitable.
Do you have a specific budget/limit?
I would look on Rightmove: https://rightmove.co.uk/student-acco...n/Kilburn.html https://rightmove.co.uk/student-acco...aida-Vale.html https://rightmove.co.uk/student-acco...pes=&keywords=This is an online platform most UK estate agents use.
It looks as if Whole Foods delivers within London, so he doesn't have to be in walking distance even if he doesn't find other supermarkets an acceptable substitute: https://www.wholefoodsmarket.co.uk/
As you're quite pressed for time hopefully the visa is being processed?
Good luck finding somewhere suitable.
