London flat/house sharing

Big Chris

Big Chris

Big Chris

Soldato
Joined
5 Apr 2004
Posts
5,461
Location
Bloxham
I've been living with the (now ex) Mrs for 2 years but we recently split and I'm thinking of moving to London.

None of my mates there are looking to move out though, and since I can't afford to live in my own it looks like I'll be sharing with randoms.

It's not ideal but meeting some new people will be cool. So, having no experience of this whatsoever, what can you guys tell me about it?

Which are the best websites to check, have people had any good/bad experiences with sharing? Is there anything I should be doing/not be doing when looking?
 
Spareroom and gumtree will be a good place to start. I haven't tried it myself but speed flat-mating might be worth having a look at if you know what sort of areas you want to move to, chance to meet potential housemates or people to buddy-up with to look for empty flats. I have to move out in September so will be doing this all again!
 
Sharing specifically in London or just sharing generally? I'm not sure what websites to check as I've never done it that way although Gumtree/Craigslist will probably have options. Generally speaking I've moved in with people I know to some degree but I've had some good times moving in with those I didn't know before.

Sharing with other people can be great or it can be pretty terrible, having shared in probably 10 or so flats over the past 8 years I've been fairly lucky with my flatmates and there's only one I'd probably choose not to live with again. Some you'll naturally get on with better than others but provided you're relatively easy going (or failing that set boundaries that you can each stick to) then there is no reason why it shouldn't be a pleasant enough experience. If there are some specific questions you've got then ask them as this is a very general list at the moment.
 
Sharing with random people I have had some great times and some terrible times. I met one of the guys who I still live with in uni halls, that was almost 8 years ago. This was in halls of course so everyone is in the same boat. A couple of years later some mates moved out and we got some randoms in, one turned out fine but the other had serious screw loose. A year later I lived with 5 mates and another random guy from Oz. He was sound and I went to stay with him on my travels for a week

You can usually pick up on whether you will get on with someone/a group of people but as I have learned this is not always the case
 
I've househsared for 8 years in London, and it's always been fun. I've been very selective of the place and housemates though, to mitigate the horror stories that others sometimes have.

Gumtree and Spareroom netted me all the rooms I have lived in, though the speed-flatmating idea looks pretty good.

Be sure to find out about number of bathrooms and morning routines, so you can make sure you get up and shower/etc at a time that doesn't mess up your or your housemates' schedules.
 
I house shared for a year in London on my placement year. I found my place on facebooks 'marketplace' if you've seen and used that before?

it's very handy as you can obviously add each other... get an impression what they're like from their profile/wall etc and the best bit is that you can see their pictures.

So choose the fittest girls on there advertising and hay presto. Instant win!!!!!

Gumtree's more of a lottery and full of non-descript adverts.
 
i used gumtree to find a place a few years ago. it worked really well, and only took me a few nights of flat searching to find somewhere.

i shared with 3 australian women (12 in total, but three at any one point). fun, but a tad crazy.
 
I just moved in about a month ago to a share that I found on Gumtree, couple South Africans (I am Zimbabwean) great times so far, the first time I have shared with "Randomers"
 
Cheers for the info so far guys, a few websites I can check out.

Are there any things that these guys look for/like to hear when you're applying for a place? I don't smoke (anymore) and I won't be playing any rave music at 4am which I guess will stand me in a good light.
 
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