###Welcome to /r/HousingUK
---
**To All**
* Join Our ***NEW*** Discord! https://discord.gg/pMgUNgWKQH
**To Posters**
* *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws/issues in each can vary*
* Comments are not moderated for quality or accuracy;
* Any replies received must only be used as guidelines, followed at your own risk;
* If you receive *any* private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FHousingUK&subject=I received a PM);
* If you do not receive satisfactory advice after 72 hours, [you can let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FHousingUK&subject=My question is unanswered);
* Feel free to provide an update at a later time by creating a new post with [[update]](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/search?q=%3Aupdate&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) in the title;
**To Readers and Commenters**
* All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and civil*
* If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning;
* Please include links to reliable resources in order to support your comments or advice;
* If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect;
* Do not send or request any private messages for any reason without express permission from the mods;
* Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HousingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Do you mean per month? Any area within 40 miles of London that has rent for £400/month is going to be an extremely dodgy area, and I wouldn't recommend that to someone new to this country. You would also end up spending a lot of money commuting into London because you'd need to be quite far out to achieve that, so your actual expenses would end up being a lot higher than £400.
That's just not happening I'm afraid. Rent prices are crazy at the moment.
There might be some people renting illegally but I don't you'd want to stay in those types of places.
Nope. You are massively deluded with that budget. Sorry. You might get a parking space for that money.
you might find a room for 400pcm, but you'll presumably need to pay another 400pcm or more commuting into London several times a week.
What university are you going to? Why? Are you hoping to network with lots of tech people in London while a student, if so that will add a lot more cost too.
Rightmove will help if you're really set on it.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E87490&maxPrice=400&radius=40.0&propertyTypes=&includeLetAgreed=false&mustHave=student&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=
£400 is just not going to happen - maybe 15 years ago...
I rented a 1-bed house share in a grotty little town about 40 miles away from London about 10 year ago, and it set me back £450/mo, the cheapest you will find now is £600/mo.
Check [https://www.spareroom.co.uk/](https://www.spareroom.co.uk/)
You MIGHT be able to find a Mon-Fri rental for £400/mo, but you'd need to stay somewhere else for the weekend.
I paid £250 a month to live in lower Clapton road around 2008. Huge room in a house share with my mates and the luxury of a huge living room. Mind you no one wanted to live there then, was still referred to as the murder mile!
Why does it have to be London? It’s far more realistic to get accommodation at this price point at universities up North. Even so this is an extremely tight budget for monthly costs, be careful and ensure all contracts/ tenancies are documented in writing before paying deposits.
hahahahahahahahahaha - no.
this link for students shows places going for £400/week..
edit - correct link
[Student accommodation](https://www.student.com/uk/london?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20262730211&utm_term=student%20accommodation%20london&utm_content=155795393491&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6O_8z9zIgAMVWe3tCh14IQhLEAAYAiAAEgKNuvD_BwE)
Yeah rent is cheap in Paisley and the commute to Glasgow is really short. I know Paisley has a bad rep but we lived in London for a while and paisley's not as bad and most people are really helpful, it's actually nicer.
I'm in a wee town not far from paisley, and the rent is cheaper here too. It's 35 mins on the train to Glasgow central, and Glasgow has some great unis. Would definitely recommend
Mate don't come to the UK with nothing, it's not a good place at the moment to risk financially. You can probably rent a room in a scally neighbourhood in a small town and you'll pray everyday before bed why you decided to make such a stupid move in your life.
Absolutely, I don’t think the news has yet gone overseas about what it’s like here now. I know we as a people like to grumble about how things are, but a LOT of people are extremely badly off at the moment and it will only get worse at least in the next 5 years. Everything has skyrocketed in price since Covid, just living here rent aside is a lot more expensive than you are thinking.
If you are deadset on the UK, I would advise you to ignore the South of England completely, anywhere even remotely close to London is super expensive, and most places are getting more pricey by the day. The rest of the South is getting just as bad too, I live about four hours drive from London and you’d not even find a room in a shared house for 400 unless you were lucky. Try the North and Scotland.
Migrating into the UK in the foreseeable future is like playing russian roulette with 3 bullets in the chamber. No disrespect OP but you're crazy to contemplate moving into the UK with less than a 10K emergency fund. Please inform yourself properly about it or you'll get in big debt very easily.
Even getting a job paying living wage at 20 hours a week you will struggle to afford to live independently anywhere in the UK unless you are getting significant top ups to your income from home.
Are you going to uni in London - the cost of travel if you are that far out would be £40+ a day
For that budget it would be worth considering a cheaper city in the UK
Have you considered staying where you are and doing an Open University degree course? They are modular and a recognised degree, and all that is needed is a laptop and Internet access.
As others have pointed out, living in or near London is expensive and I'm expecting food and other costs to rise sharply in the coming years.
You don’t need to go to a university in London for software engineering because higher paid SWE jobs are there. I didn’t go to university in London but work there now.
Luton, you'll get a bedroom in an HMO for £400 if you're lucky.
Luton isn't to everyone's taste but I can't think of a place near to London that's cheaper
If you will be studying in London then living 40 miles away and working 20 hours a week would mean you're going to have a terrible time and probably not study well. As you've clearly not got a specific university in mind then I'd suggest looking further afield like one of the unis in the midland towns or Wales where accommodation will be much more affordable. I went to Aberystwyth and it was super cheap, and I did Software Engineering and now work in London, and most people I work with didn't go to uni in London
You must be joking lol. With that budget and also with a plan to do software, you may be better off in one of the European countries that are very much ahead in this super competitive field. Estonia, Bulgaria, all have much better opportunities
Sortof, yes: https://businesschief.eu/technology/estonia-has-greater-depth-digital-skills-uk-says-barclays
I am in a line of work that does property development for two of the world’s largest software companies (top 5). These are two countries they are expanding massively in (and I mean recruiting by the thousands) while shedding as much in the UK and many other European markets. Yes, it may be for cost reasons, but they would not risk their bottom lines if they thought these were not the future. If the OP has not bothered to do basic research on rental prices in London before posting on here then I am sorry to say I don’t think he shows the initiative I’d expect of someone expecting to survive in London’s highly competitive and limited space software industry.
Can’t speak for Bulgaria but Estonia is very advanced in software development. It is rated as one of the most advanced countries in the world for digital development with excellent internet connectivity and digital access across all government services including voting. Skype and Wise both came out of Estonia as well as a lot of the programming for Spotify. That’s a lot of software success for a country of 1.3 million people.
No arguments here but the question is around "opportunities". For me, there is a far greater breadth of jobs in the field here than anywhere in Eastern Europe. There is also a wider range of experience here, given we've been at it longer and have tech teams that are involved in wider parts of the business- as opposed to just being offshore dev teams.
Source: I am a tech lead and hiring manager within an international software company.
You'd know better than me given your background but the question is about accessing opportunities with only £400 budget for accommodation. I don't think that's possible in London and not sure its possible any where in the UK with good tech opportunities. Which uni/city would you aim for given the budget restraints?
Honestly I don't really think it matters. Nobody here is bothered about what uni you get your degree from and a lot of jobs are remote or at least hybrid. 400pm is a bit daft for anywhere in the UK but to maximise the budget against a good uni and good software jobs - maybe Manchester? Even then it'll be a flatshare in the outskirts
Lol probably. To some small town near a parkway station. But thinking about London in terms of miles is still mad, it’s all about travel time (and maybe changes) baby.
As a student you are better off living outside of London. Plenty of good universities in other cities/towns in the UK that are cheaper to live in. You can always move to London later for internships/work.
Might be worth checking student halls, perhaps they are a bit cheaper than rent (it’s not the case in other cities usually, but perhaps in London it is). But still won’t be anywhere near of £400. That price isn’t possible in London or anywhere near it I am afraid :(
Also keep in mind the longer commute will also be pricey.
No chance alone, but if you are looking for shares housing then yes that’s possible. Look at areas within quick commute to London like Woking, Guildford, Basingstoke, Farnborough those kinda areas will have more shared accommodation for around your budget.
You can't get any including student accommodation for that. Cheapest Student specific accommodation I've seen is around £195 a week in a shared studio. And that's in Scotland... Just a tad more than 40 miles from London...
10 years ago I found a room in Oxfordshire for £400 per month, that was living as a lodger with an old lady and her cats and she had advertised in a local online newspaper. A rare find even then. Nowadays I think you will struggle to find something in that range , let alone something liveable.
For software engineering entry level work, London would be great but you don't need to be studying in London. Do your degree at a university outside of London then you'd have a much lower cost of living and at a stretch could find a shared flat for £400 a month. Look into student accommodation as well. Also calculate your food, travel, entertainment expenses on top and see if you'd be able to earn enough on a part time salary to cover all of those. It all adds up.
Definitely avoid London if you're on a budget for now, ocne you've graduated and found full time work then you could consider moving to London for it.
As others have said you probably wont find anything.
Its better to look at the rest of the country. There are opportunities for software engineers across the country, and there are lots of good universities outside of London. Look up russell group universities, these are generally seen as the best - however I also know software engineers from non russell group universities earning a high amount.
Depends what type of accommodation you require.
I know a couple of guys (also students) who are making it by sharing one room in a house. The room itself is around £700, so it's £350 each, but as you may appreciate it's not the best personal space and also location wise.
EDIT: others rightly pointed out the cost and time of commute. The above example of £700 is based on zone 3 in London, easy commute into downtown.
I live about 40 miles from London Victoria and a season ticket is around £193/month for me, you might as well spend slightly more and get a room closer at that point.
There's a single room in Strood up for £400pcm at the moment.
It's <40 miles to central London.
But I presume you'd be getting the train. If doing that regularly, you'll find cheaper options closer to London probably as savings on housing will be eaten up by higher train fares.
£400 a week isn't happening. I live in Warwickshire which is about 90 miles from London but on a main railway line so under an hour and half to Euston. Cheapest room is £433 in a shared house and a London season ticket is £800 a month.
Property guardians might be close to that figure, but come with less rights than tenancy and some extra rules e.g. [dot dot dot](https://dotdotdotproperty.com/available-properties/)
Please consider Manchester or Birmingham for alternative big cities, they also provide excellent opportunities but with a lower price tag on cost of living
You are not going to get any meaningful replies until you confirm whether or not you mean £400 per week, or £400 per month.
Rents in the UK are usually quoted monthly. For £400 a month you could get a very poorly maintained house in the north of England, or a room with a shared bathroom and kitchen, in a multiple occupancy house that's nowhere near the centre of London.
https://m.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/kent/dartford/3369604
£100 per week in dartford. Zone 8 inside m25. About 20 miles from central London, 50 mins on train.
Honestly, don't study in London. If you're really keen to study in the UK, choose somewhere in Scotland (or maybe North England). Then apply for internships etc in London if you're still keen. The sheer volume of people I've seen struggle for a slither of life-quality in London is red flag.
Check the spare room and rightmove. I think you can find something outside of London at this price, but it will be very difficult and very small. And remember that transport can be very expensive. Sometimes it can be cheaper or would be the same if you could walk or bike to your uni/work.
Reading. 25 minutes on the train to London Waterloo. You can get rooms for £500 per month bills included. It won’t be a great room.
Same for Basingstoke (but you may get more room for your money), about 45 minutes to London Waterloo.
£400 is incredibly tight. You need to rethink your budget.
160 a week…
But a student could quite possibly only need to attend in person one to two days a week and manage to travel off peak. With a railcard that's just 160 a month.
hmmm not a bad idea, tbh i would look at buying a place if £400 a month isn’t viable like within commutable distance , see if u can get a mortgage , but probably as a new comer to uk banks won’t lend as willingly . london areas around it are pricey too
i wouldn’t say it’s impossible if you start to go more than 40 miles from London , but u might get a box room for £400-£600 per month price ranges but it’s a long commute or get on a train line in Birmingham or manchester to london via train isn’t unthinkable just pricey. Get a mortgage and buy something tiny box flat maybe ... the mortgage might cost like £400-£700 per month depending on interest rates of course
You're going to struggle to find rent on that budget but if you have Facebook there are lots of renting groups and ur best bet is finding a flatshare with 5-6 ppl as ur rent will be lower.
Might I suggest Edinburgh to you , Worth having a look at , great city with plenty of opportunities and friendly people. London can wait.... The Edinburgh area would be great for someone new to the UK coming in to learn and build relationships.
Edinburgh can be reasonable but not in the city centre. My brother pays £1100 rent for a 2 bed 450sqft flat (same as my mortgage on a 4 bed detached) and its not a particularly fabulous area. However within 40 miles of Edinburgh, there will be some absolute bargains.
3 years ago my friend sub let a room in zone 3 for £400 per month, however prices have gone through the roof recently. I would suggest getting a part time job to subsidise your income, my friend just moved into a house share in Limehouse for £600 per month for a small double, that’s the cheapest I’ve heard in the last few months.
If you live out of London then commuting in can cost about £25 a day, so there is no point.
Reading through this thread is insane. Come to Newcastle uni or Durham.
I can't help but wonder how long until people are priced out of higher education down South simply due to living costs.
honestly if you are budgeting £400 per month for a room you will findvthem. but you are going to be ripped off by illigal slum landlords. best you can hope for is a lodging type situation you might find places at £625 if you do. basically you will serously struggle on just your offical working hours unless you have other savings. you are likely to have £750 or so take home money each month from part time work. but £600 would need to be for rent.
London has many opportunities for software engineers but also very high competition. As a junior after graduating the beginning won’t be easy. Much better to come to London as professional with experience tbh.
As per software engineering, do you have previous working experience? My husband has an MSc and has been looking for a role in London for a year and but has yet to find one. His whole cohort still couldn’t find jobs in London, only in other cities. If you have previous experience it might be easier but because of all the tech layoffs, market is terrible right now. Just an FYI, if you’re tight on budget you might struggle for a while
Nope I’m coming to the UK after completing my Diploma for a top up degree, I do have a lot of personal and school projects…right now I’m not looking for a place in London, just somewhere in UK where I could live a decent life with an affordable rent and a friendly community with some sort of part time job opportunities, after completing my degree I’ll be looking to apply for full time software jobs
Okay I see, we had the same goal as you did. Hopefully the job market will get better by the time you graduate and you can find something easily. Just thought I should give you a heads up about the current situation since you appear to be on a tight budget
If you rent a room in a shared house in London, you can easily live between £500-£600per month.
The place will not be great but Will do the job.
Try Hounslow, there could be a good deal to be had around that area but it’s a safe place
Look at Scotland. The cost of living is cheaper up here and you’re more likely to be closer to Glasgow for that price. It’s an easy commute from Inverclyde and Paisley into Glasgow and there are like 3/4 universities.
###Welcome to /r/HousingUK --- **To All** * Join Our ***NEW*** Discord! https://discord.gg/pMgUNgWKQH **To Posters** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws/issues in each can vary* * Comments are not moderated for quality or accuracy; * Any replies received must only be used as guidelines, followed at your own risk; * If you receive *any* private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FHousingUK&subject=I received a PM); * If you do not receive satisfactory advice after 72 hours, [you can let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FHousingUK&subject=My question is unanswered); * Feel free to provide an update at a later time by creating a new post with [[update]](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/search?q=%3Aupdate&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) in the title; **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and civil* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning; * Please include links to reliable resources in order to support your comments or advice; * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect; * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason without express permission from the mods; * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HousingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Do you mean per month? Any area within 40 miles of London that has rent for £400/month is going to be an extremely dodgy area, and I wouldn't recommend that to someone new to this country. You would also end up spending a lot of money commuting into London because you'd need to be quite far out to achieve that, so your actual expenses would end up being a lot higher than £400.
That's just not happening I'm afraid. Rent prices are crazy at the moment. There might be some people renting illegally but I don't you'd want to stay in those types of places.
£400 per week presumably
Nope. You are massively deluded with that budget. Sorry. You might get a parking space for that money. you might find a room for 400pcm, but you'll presumably need to pay another 400pcm or more commuting into London several times a week. What university are you going to? Why? Are you hoping to network with lots of tech people in London while a student, if so that will add a lot more cost too. Rightmove will help if you're really set on it. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E87490&maxPrice=400&radius=40.0&propertyTypes=&includeLetAgreed=false&mustHave=student&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=
If you move far enough out you are paying 400pcm rent you would be looking at monthly travel costs of closer to 1k per month
https://media.tenor.com/zIDRKZQJHr4AAAAM/gif.gif
3 results and one of them being a garage 💀 That sums up everything perfectly lol
£400 is just not going to happen - maybe 15 years ago... I rented a 1-bed house share in a grotty little town about 40 miles away from London about 10 year ago, and it set me back £450/mo, the cheapest you will find now is £600/mo. Check [https://www.spareroom.co.uk/](https://www.spareroom.co.uk/) You MIGHT be able to find a Mon-Fri rental for £400/mo, but you'd need to stay somewhere else for the weekend.
15 years ago i was still paying £650 pcm for a room in a shared house in London!
15 years ago I was paying £400 a month in a share house including bills in Streatham.
Wood green/ Crouch End border
I paid £250 a month to live in lower Clapton road around 2008. Huge room in a house share with my mates and the luxury of a huge living room. Mind you no one wanted to live there then, was still referred to as the murder mile!
Why does it have to be London? It’s far more realistic to get accommodation at this price point at universities up North. Even so this is an extremely tight budget for monthly costs, be careful and ensure all contracts/ tenancies are documented in writing before paying deposits.
[удалено]
That's just evil
hahahahahahahahahaha - no. this link for students shows places going for £400/week.. edit - correct link [Student accommodation](https://www.student.com/uk/london?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20262730211&utm_term=student%20accommodation%20london&utm_content=155795393491&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6O_8z9zIgAMVWe3tCh14IQhLEAAYAiAAEgKNuvD_BwE)
I too want to win the lottery
Lol
Try scotland, not London. You'll get this outside Glasgow no problem.
Yeah rent is cheap in Paisley and the commute to Glasgow is really short. I know Paisley has a bad rep but we lived in London for a while and paisley's not as bad and most people are really helpful, it's actually nicer.
I'm in a wee town not far from paisley, and the rent is cheaper here too. It's 35 mins on the train to Glasgow central, and Glasgow has some great unis. Would definitely recommend
Paisley had a bad rep about 30 years ago with knife crime and bampots but they are all in their 60's now and keeping a low profile.
For the past 20 years, I have been told Paisley is up and coming
Mate don't come to the UK with nothing, it's not a good place at the moment to risk financially. You can probably rent a room in a scally neighbourhood in a small town and you'll pray everyday before bed why you decided to make such a stupid move in your life.
Absolutely, I don’t think the news has yet gone overseas about what it’s like here now. I know we as a people like to grumble about how things are, but a LOT of people are extremely badly off at the moment and it will only get worse at least in the next 5 years. Everything has skyrocketed in price since Covid, just living here rent aside is a lot more expensive than you are thinking. If you are deadset on the UK, I would advise you to ignore the South of England completely, anywhere even remotely close to London is super expensive, and most places are getting more pricey by the day. The rest of the South is getting just as bad too, I live about four hours drive from London and you’d not even find a room in a shared house for 400 unless you were lucky. Try the North and Scotland.
Migrating into the UK in the foreseeable future is like playing russian roulette with 3 bullets in the chamber. No disrespect OP but you're crazy to contemplate moving into the UK with less than a 10K emergency fund. Please inform yourself properly about it or you'll get in big debt very easily.
Yup this.
Even getting a job paying living wage at 20 hours a week you will struggle to afford to live independently anywhere in the UK unless you are getting significant top ups to your income from home.
£400 pm? Might be able to pay a crackhead to share his sleeping bag with you..
Are you going to uni in London - the cost of travel if you are that far out would be £40+ a day For that budget it would be worth considering a cheaper city in the UK
Have you considered staying where you are and doing an Open University degree course? They are modular and a recognised degree, and all that is needed is a laptop and Internet access. As others have pointed out, living in or near London is expensive and I'm expecting food and other costs to rise sharply in the coming years.
You don’t need to go to a university in London for software engineering because higher paid SWE jobs are there. I didn’t go to university in London but work there now.
Find a spare room with a pensioner who lives in a council estate or housing association. Possible to find this within Zone 2 in London.
£400 a month is what I paid twenty years ago. Do you mean a week? Where are you studying?
Luton, you'll get a bedroom in an HMO for £400 if you're lucky. Luton isn't to everyone's taste but I can't think of a place near to London that's cheaper
Contact Zebra Trust, they provide subsidised housing for overseas students. https://www.zebrahousing.com/
If you will be studying in London then living 40 miles away and working 20 hours a week would mean you're going to have a terrible time and probably not study well. As you've clearly not got a specific university in mind then I'd suggest looking further afield like one of the unis in the midland towns or Wales where accommodation will be much more affordable. I went to Aberystwyth and it was super cheap, and I did Software Engineering and now work in London, and most people I work with didn't go to uni in London
Thank you
You must be joking lol. With that budget and also with a plan to do software, you may be better off in one of the European countries that are very much ahead in this super competitive field. Estonia, Bulgaria, all have much better opportunities
Where are you getting your information from? You really think Estonia and Bulgaria are ahead of the UK when it comes to software development?
Sortof, yes: https://businesschief.eu/technology/estonia-has-greater-depth-digital-skills-uk-says-barclays I am in a line of work that does property development for two of the world’s largest software companies (top 5). These are two countries they are expanding massively in (and I mean recruiting by the thousands) while shedding as much in the UK and many other European markets. Yes, it may be for cost reasons, but they would not risk their bottom lines if they thought these were not the future. If the OP has not bothered to do basic research on rental prices in London before posting on here then I am sorry to say I don’t think he shows the initiative I’d expect of someone expecting to survive in London’s highly competitive and limited space software industry.
Can’t speak for Bulgaria but Estonia is very advanced in software development. It is rated as one of the most advanced countries in the world for digital development with excellent internet connectivity and digital access across all government services including voting. Skype and Wise both came out of Estonia as well as a lot of the programming for Spotify. That’s a lot of software success for a country of 1.3 million people.
No arguments here but the question is around "opportunities". For me, there is a far greater breadth of jobs in the field here than anywhere in Eastern Europe. There is also a wider range of experience here, given we've been at it longer and have tech teams that are involved in wider parts of the business- as opposed to just being offshore dev teams. Source: I am a tech lead and hiring manager within an international software company.
You'd know better than me given your background but the question is about accessing opportunities with only £400 budget for accommodation. I don't think that's possible in London and not sure its possible any where in the UK with good tech opportunities. Which uni/city would you aim for given the budget restraints?
Honestly I don't really think it matters. Nobody here is bothered about what uni you get your degree from and a lot of jobs are remote or at least hybrid. 400pm is a bit daft for anywhere in the UK but to maximise the budget against a good uni and good software jobs - maybe Manchester? Even then it'll be a flatshare in the outskirts
Don’t focus on distance, focus on time on a bike or public transportation to central. You won’t be driving in central London.
Time on a train to get from London to a room costing 400pcm… 3 hours?
Lol probably. To some small town near a parkway station. But thinking about London in terms of miles is still mad, it’s all about travel time (and maybe changes) baby.
As a student you are better off living outside of London. Plenty of good universities in other cities/towns in the UK that are cheaper to live in. You can always move to London later for internships/work. Might be worth checking student halls, perhaps they are a bit cheaper than rent (it’s not the case in other cities usually, but perhaps in London it is). But still won’t be anywhere near of £400. That price isn’t possible in London or anywhere near it I am afraid :( Also keep in mind the longer commute will also be pricey.
No chance alone, but if you are looking for shares housing then yes that’s possible. Look at areas within quick commute to London like Woking, Guildford, Basingstoke, Farnborough those kinda areas will have more shared accommodation for around your budget.
You can't get any including student accommodation for that. Cheapest Student specific accommodation I've seen is around £195 a week in a shared studio. And that's in Scotland... Just a tad more than 40 miles from London...
10 years ago I found a room in Oxfordshire for £400 per month, that was living as a lodger with an old lady and her cats and she had advertised in a local online newspaper. A rare find even then. Nowadays I think you will struggle to find something in that range , let alone something liveable.
For software engineering entry level work, London would be great but you don't need to be studying in London. Do your degree at a university outside of London then you'd have a much lower cost of living and at a stretch could find a shared flat for £400 a month. Look into student accommodation as well. Also calculate your food, travel, entertainment expenses on top and see if you'd be able to earn enough on a part time salary to cover all of those. It all adds up. Definitely avoid London if you're on a budget for now, ocne you've graduated and found full time work then you could consider moving to London for it.
You probably need to double that to £800 a month to find an ok room without high travel costs
It might be possible if you consider sharing a room
As others have said you probably wont find anything. Its better to look at the rest of the country. There are opportunities for software engineers across the country, and there are lots of good universities outside of London. Look up russell group universities, these are generally seen as the best - however I also know software engineers from non russell group universities earning a high amount.
Our survey says…
Depends what type of accommodation you require. I know a couple of guys (also students) who are making it by sharing one room in a house. The room itself is around £700, so it's £350 each, but as you may appreciate it's not the best personal space and also location wise. EDIT: others rightly pointed out the cost and time of commute. The above example of £700 is based on zone 3 in London, easy commute into downtown.
Illegal warehouse accommodation tottenham/Walthamstow
I live about 40 miles from London Victoria and a season ticket is around £193/month for me, you might as well spend slightly more and get a room closer at that point.
400 per week is doable. 400 per month requires a time machine unfortunately.
luton
There's a single room in Strood up for £400pcm at the moment. It's <40 miles to central London. But I presume you'd be getting the train. If doing that regularly, you'll find cheaper options closer to London probably as savings on housing will be eaten up by higher train fares.
£400 a week isn't happening. I live in Warwickshire which is about 90 miles from London but on a main railway line so under an hour and half to Euston. Cheapest room is £433 in a shared house and a London season ticket is £800 a month.
Property guardians might be close to that figure, but come with less rights than tenancy and some extra rules e.g. [dot dot dot](https://dotdotdotproperty.com/available-properties/)
Please consider Manchester or Birmingham for alternative big cities, they also provide excellent opportunities but with a lower price tag on cost of living
You are not going to get any meaningful replies until you confirm whether or not you mean £400 per week, or £400 per month. Rents in the UK are usually quoted monthly. For £400 a month you could get a very poorly maintained house in the north of England, or a room with a shared bathroom and kitchen, in a multiple occupancy house that's nowhere near the centre of London.
Mate I’m 120+ miles away from London and rent here is about £750-£2000 a month, contractors are paying around £350 a WEEK for a room.
Not even in Scotland you will find rent for 400 a month
https://m.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/kent/dartford/3369604 £100 per week in dartford. Zone 8 inside m25. About 20 miles from central London, 50 mins on train.
HA! Sorry but incredibly unlikely these days.
Honestly, don't study in London. If you're really keen to study in the UK, choose somewhere in Scotland (or maybe North England). Then apply for internships etc in London if you're still keen. The sheer volume of people I've seen struggle for a slither of life-quality in London is red flag.
Check the spare room and rightmove. I think you can find something outside of London at this price, but it will be very difficult and very small. And remember that transport can be very expensive. Sometimes it can be cheaper or would be the same if you could walk or bike to your uni/work.
Reading. 25 minutes on the train to London Waterloo. You can get rooms for £500 per month bills included. It won’t be a great room. Same for Basingstoke (but you may get more room for your money), about 45 minutes to London Waterloo. £400 is incredibly tight. You need to rethink your budget.
How much is a season ticket though?
160 a week… But a student could quite possibly only need to attend in person one to two days a week and manage to travel off peak. With a railcard that's just 160 a month.
Yeah, railcard, not every day is sooo much cheaper
£400 per week? Most areas have rents in that range
not in london mate
Per week they do
omg my bad haha i missed the per week part, was like £400PCM? dreaming.
for that you could get a meal in a mid priced restaurant, drinks in the pub, club afterwards, kebab and taxi home
Really didn’t know about the renting scene in the UK guess I’d have to ask for monthly cash topups from home 🥲Thanks everyone for the responses
In this country you put a pound sign before the number.
[удалено]
hmmm not a bad idea, tbh i would look at buying a place if £400 a month isn’t viable like within commutable distance , see if u can get a mortgage , but probably as a new comer to uk banks won’t lend as willingly . london areas around it are pricey too
[удалено]
i wouldn’t say it’s impossible if you start to go more than 40 miles from London , but u might get a box room for £400-£600 per month price ranges but it’s a long commute or get on a train line in Birmingham or manchester to london via train isn’t unthinkable just pricey. Get a mortgage and buy something tiny box flat maybe ... the mortgage might cost like £400-£700 per month depending on interest rates of course
You're going to struggle to find rent on that budget but if you have Facebook there are lots of renting groups and ur best bet is finding a flatshare with 5-6 ppl as ur rent will be lower.
Might I suggest Edinburgh to you , Worth having a look at , great city with plenty of opportunities and friendly people. London can wait.... The Edinburgh area would be great for someone new to the UK coming in to learn and build relationships.
Edinburgh can be reasonable but not in the city centre. My brother pays £1100 rent for a 2 bed 450sqft flat (same as my mortgage on a 4 bed detached) and its not a particularly fabulous area. However within 40 miles of Edinburgh, there will be some absolute bargains.
Edinburgh is not cheap either I've heard. Probably cheaper than london.
Not much chance of finding a place in that budget in Edinburgh either
It will certainly be cheaper than London though, especially if we're including the outskirts, which op seems fine with
I think OP is asking for a room/ensuite and not a full home. He said he is a student looking to move to London shortly.
Yes and a room will still be more than 400 a month
A small room in zone 6 london will be 650 minimum. Outside London the train in will cost more than rent.
York
Look for a single bedroom/box room in Zone 4-9, you’ll have a shared bedroom and bathroom and not a great place but possible.
3 years ago my friend sub let a room in zone 3 for £400 per month, however prices have gone through the roof recently. I would suggest getting a part time job to subsidise your income, my friend just moved into a house share in Limehouse for £600 per month for a small double, that’s the cheapest I’ve heard in the last few months. If you live out of London then commuting in can cost about £25 a day, so there is no point.
Reading through this thread is insane. Come to Newcastle uni or Durham. I can't help but wonder how long until people are priced out of higher education down South simply due to living costs.
honestly if you are budgeting £400 per month for a room you will findvthem. but you are going to be ripped off by illigal slum landlords. best you can hope for is a lodging type situation you might find places at £625 if you do. basically you will serously struggle on just your offical working hours unless you have other savings. you are likely to have £750 or so take home money each month from part time work. but £600 would need to be for rent.
London has many opportunities for software engineers but also very high competition. As a junior after graduating the beginning won’t be easy. Much better to come to London as professional with experience tbh.
As per software engineering, do you have previous working experience? My husband has an MSc and has been looking for a role in London for a year and but has yet to find one. His whole cohort still couldn’t find jobs in London, only in other cities. If you have previous experience it might be easier but because of all the tech layoffs, market is terrible right now. Just an FYI, if you’re tight on budget you might struggle for a while
Nope I’m coming to the UK after completing my Diploma for a top up degree, I do have a lot of personal and school projects…right now I’m not looking for a place in London, just somewhere in UK where I could live a decent life with an affordable rent and a friendly community with some sort of part time job opportunities, after completing my degree I’ll be looking to apply for full time software jobs
Okay I see, we had the same goal as you did. Hopefully the job market will get better by the time you graduate and you can find something easily. Just thought I should give you a heads up about the current situation since you appear to be on a tight budget
If you rent a room in a shared house in London, you can easily live between £500-£600per month. The place will not be great but Will do the job. Try Hounslow, there could be a good deal to be had around that area but it’s a safe place
Look at Scotland. The cost of living is cheaper up here and you’re more likely to be closer to Glasgow for that price. It’s an easy commute from Inverclyde and Paisley into Glasgow and there are like 3/4 universities.