[HDNG]IN COLLEGE:[EHDNG][PARA][GRPH]A3[EGRPH][STAT][BULL] Catered: 3% [BULL] Cost: ú50/67 (34wks) [BULL] Self-catering: 26%[PARA][BULL] Cost: ú30-55 (34-51wks)[ESTAT][PARA][BOLD]Availability:[EBOLD] Imperial can accommodate nearly 80% of 1st years. [PARA]Nevertheless, college housing is limited for other students (about [PARA]12%). There are 9 halls in all and 4 so-called student houses, the [PARA]largest of which, Bernard Sunley House, has 98 places for men [PARA]only and which we'd call large enough to be a hall. There's [PARA]another all-male hall, but women have to apply to the University [PARA]for intercollegiate all female housing. Just under 1/2 the students [PARA]in college accommodation (45%) have to share rooms, [PARA]sometimes even in triple rooms, but they are charged less. The [PARA]halls are mostly around South Kensington, but also spread [PARA]throughout west London. Some self-catered places (ú35.50 to [PARA]ú57.50) are in flats in south Ealing.[PARA][BOLD]Catering:[EBOLD] The kitchens shared by 8 students on average are [PARA]usually [ITAL]pretty well equipped[EITAL] and cleaned every day. Catered [PARA]places offer a meal a day, [ITAL]ranging from bad to edible[EITAL].[HDNG]EXTERNALLY:[EHDNG][PARA][GRPH]A3[EGRPH][STAT][BULL] Ave rent: ú60[ESTAT][PARA]London Transport (buses, tube and trains) splits the city into [PARA]several 'zones' which are concentric circles from the centre. [PARA]Zone 1, for example, is the area within a radius of about 21/2 [PARA]miles of Trafalgar Square. Zone 2 is the next 3 miles and so on. [PARA]Obviously, rents get cheaper in the outer zones, but then travel [PARA]costs to the centre go up accordingly.[ITAL] [EITAL]Travel costs should be [PARA]taken into consideration when looking at rents because a [PARA]Travelcard from Zone 3 to the centre costs more than ú15 a week.[PARA][BOLD]Availability:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Contrary to popular belief, it's really not that difficult to[PARA]find accommodation in London, just buy a copy of the Evening [PARA]Standard and there are hundreds of places. It is however a [PARA]challenge of epic proportions to find anywhere that is both [PARA]affordable and inhabitable. There's very little housing in Zone 1 [PARA]even for yuppies, and students come a lot lower in the pecking [PARA]order. Zone 2 is a bit better, particularly for single rooms in [PARA]shared flats or houses in places like Wandsworth, Putney and [PARA]Fulham and wherever the tube system is lacking. Zone 3 is [PARA]relatively promising, but the catch is that it can take upwards of [PARA]an hour to get to the centre. Zone 4 and beyond are not popular [PARA]for the same reason, but, as they say, homeless students can't [PARA]be choosers. Although there are many thousands of people [PARA]living, quite literally, in cardboard boxes on London's streets, they [PARA]aren't students. In fact, many students manage to find very [PARA]comfortable flats for almost reasonable rents. There is also a [PARA]growing number living in squats. To be safe, students coming to [PARA]London should work out where they're going to stay first.[EITAL]
