[HDNG]IN COLLEGE:[EHDNG][PARA][GRPH]A3[EGRPH][STAT][BULL] Self-catering: 6% [BULL] Cost: ú44-52(41/42wks)[ESTAT][PARA][BOLD]Availability:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Housing is not a serious problem, certainly not as bad[PARA]as the figures above make it look[EITAL]. 60% of students are from [PARA]London anyway or are mature students and have their own [PARA]homes. 35% of 1st years can get a place, and 7% of the others[ITAL]. [EITAL] [PARA]Places are distributed according to who lives furthest away. [PARA]There are 5 halls of residence (one of which is shared with the [ULNE][PARA]University of Westminster[EULNE]) and the University acts as landlord for[PARA]70 houses. No rooms are shared. Ingle House is a small all-male[PARA]hall in Dulwich (which makes travelling expensive), [ITAL]which is, let's [PARA]say, 'pleasant'[EITAL], but reserved mainly for Commonwealth students.[PARA][BOLD]Catering:[EBOLD] At Surrey Lodge students get Sunday lunch, while at [PARA]Uplands breakfast is included. However, essentially, all places [PARA]are self-catering and have access to shared kitchens, the [ITAL]plusher[PARA][EITAL]ones have microwaves.[PARA][BOLD]Car parking:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Forget it.[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][PARA][PARA][ITAL][GRPH]A3[EGRPH][EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Availability:[EBOLD][ITAL] It's easier to find accommodation in South London [PARA]than north of the river (The Thames) and it's cheaper.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Housing help:[EBOLD] The [ITAL]excellent [EITAL]service offers 3 housing advice [PARA]workers to help with house hunting. There are daily [PARA]accommodation vacancy lists, often as long as 70 pages.[PARA][PARA]
