home again

Finding somewhere to call home in london is a pretty daunting task, and after hours and hours of scrolling through houseshare websites, it sometimes feels darn right impossible. I'd find what sounded like the ideal flat, to find that it was either gone, or wasn't quite as it seemed. My hunt for the perfect pad took me to some slightly suspect parts of london, lead me from north, to south, to east of the city in the space of a weekend and was probably a lot more stressful than it needed to be. These little buds of wisdom are what i wish i'd known before i set out on my flat finding fiasco.

do your research.

I can't even begin to tell you how important this is. always do your research on the areas your going to be looking for a place to stay. if your like me, and a complete london newbie, you'll learn that places aren't as close as you think they might be; I work in Victoria, and was looking at flats in peckham, camberwell etc. then realised how far from work these actually were. oh, and always pop the postcode of the flat into googlemaps - sometimes what looks like a lovely flat in photos, can be in an area you wouldn't feel safe in.

safety first. 

which brings me nicely onto my next point - always prioritise your safety. there was a few flats that i looked around - amazing people, massive room, cheap rent - but they just felt so unsafe. i noticed myself scurrying to the bus stop feeling uneasy and on edge, but trying to justify that feeling with the cheap rent. it's not worth it, and finding somewhere you feel safe with cheap rent is definitely possible.

spareroom. 

there are so many websites out there promising to help you find the ultimate houseshare - the best? Spareroom. It's easy to use, you can create a personal advert and most of the flats are linked a streetview, so you can take a peek at the area too. you can also narrow down your search to number of housemates, age of housemates, prices and areas etc. saving the scroll through hundreds of useless rooms. I wasn't a huge gum tree fan, but i've heard it's worked well for other house-hunters.

don't rush.

Don't rush into diving into the first houseshare you find. It's tempting - you've spent weeks trawling round London, and you've finally found what seems like a half decent room. Think about everything before you take the plunge. It's not the end of the world if you don't fall in love with the first house you check out, infact, it'll more than likely take twenty, thirty or even a hundred viewings, just make sure you have the right one. You learn a lot from living in a houseshare like, how long people take in the shower (WHAT DO THEY DO IN THERE?), and that you're not actually as weird as you thought you were...but moving in with a bunch of strangers is actually quite exciting - so, happy house hunting!