It’s no fun being a student and having to live miles from your university campus. But with student rents in private accommodation well in excess of £1000 per month, the price of getting a first-class education at LSE can be a minimum of £36,000 in housing costs alone.
And rents in London show no sign of falling, even if you hold a student ID card. New research shows the average rent on a two-bedroom flat within walking distance of LSE has hit £707 a week, while one-bedroom properties are renting for £452.
The researchers say one- and two-bedroom flats in the centre of London were popular with corporate tenants and international students, and that demand was fuelling rental growth.
But students gain better results from living close to their campus, according to a US study, and enjoy a better lifestyle. Those results apply to the UK as well. As international LSE student Gonzalo wrote on the Iagora website: “For my first year I stayed in Passfield Hall, a budget residence with reasonable prices (for London standards!) and lots of character.
“It was small, very friendly and close to the university, although American students tended to complain that it was falling to pieces. Later on, I was forced to move to private accommodation, which is the British version of hell.”
Gonzalo doesn’t reveal in which London location his private accommodation was, but we’d hazard a guess that it was more than an hour away from his LSE campus.
There is, however, an alternative to Gonzalo’s “hell”.
While you do not need a degree in economics to work out that the cost of renting a home within walking distance of one of London’s best universities will be more than securing digs more than an hour away, the advantages are clear…
- It cuts travel time and increases the opportunities to work, rest and play
- It reduces the stress caused by sub-standard accommodation
- It can lead to you achieving higher grades and, therefore, your prospects of landing a well-paid job after graduating.
But to find the correct home to rent requires experience of the local property market. Westminster estate agent Garton Jones has identified four new developments for LSE students in a range of locations, from Blackfriars to Elephant & Castle. For more information, click here.
Image Source: Flikr
