Short term accommodation in London

[TooNice]

I am basically looking for a place to stay from the 3rd week of Feb to the end of May (so about 3-3.5 months) to study a short-course that runs twice a week (consecutive days). I am exploring my options now, including the rather crazy travel down every week and spend a night there. Problem is, being located on the opposite side of the country (all the way North), travelling back and forth will still incur easily £100 (at least, more realistically £120) of travel costs even if I book early, short of taking Megabus on a 12 hour journey (total waste of time) back and forth. Add in a night's stay in a half decent hostel, and really, we are looking close to £150. And if the timetable change, then I am done for. So I am more or less ruling that out now.

I used the website findaproperty.com for a quick quote and it looks like I'll be looking at £175/week for a furnished studio flat at the bare minimum at my preferred location (Postcode EC2). Do I assume that those figures usually exclude all bills? How does council tax work for relatively short stays?

What options should I consider and are there any other reliable websites for searching accommodation? I really mostly looking for a roof, a bed, desk, good lighting for studying in an area I won't have to fear getting mugged.

[Sukh]

Gumtree often list rooms in houses to rent

[arthurleung]

£175/week seems very fair to be honest, even with student halls you are looking at £140+ (ex.VAT) for an en-suite.

It is London and don't expect propery to be cheap.
You could try going for student accommodation like UNITE which is all inclusive.
Not sure if they do short-term

Otherwise Travelodge might be your best choice.

Or you could book train ticket which is like about 30 quids two-way if you can get the advance-1 ticket. Quite comfortable compared to mega-bus and on some route you get free internet included.

[TheAnimus]

if you don't mind slumming it, gumtree (as mentioned) get a room.

you will be able to get something tiny for £100 odds are.

but EC2 is an expensive postcode, given its proximity to 'the city'.

Have a think at walking a little further away, ask.com have pretty good walking directions on their map, just devide the walking time by 2 if your like me.

[Zathras]

Get a flatshare on the Gumtree. Also, forget about living in EC2, way expensive. You should be able to find a decent single room for about £110 a week if you go a bit further afield. Even in very nice areas like Fulham there're rooms available in great flats in nice riverside mansion blocks for about that price; I should know, there's one free in my flat! (One of my flatmates is moving in with fiancee)

[TooNice]

Thanks for all the feedbacks. Gumtree looks promising judging by the endorsement (I think I came across it Googling but wasn't sure of the quality of the site). I'll have to rule out UNITE as they don't seem to have anything short term, and I think I will have to give the idea of travelling back and forth a miss. Aberdeen-London is still an 8 hours trip by bus - nothing wrong once in a while, but I don't think I want to do that twice as week. Even by plane it is a little excessive (and I don't mean the flight ticket).

How far away is 'a little further away'? Fulham is slightly out of the way from where I'll be going, but if it makes a fair bit of difference both in terms of how much it'll cost and the quality of the place, then I'll definite take a look. I'll be honest, I don't know much about London (only ever stayed in relatively central location with two exceptions on top of my head - Ealing Broadway and Turnpike Lane). Going from EC2 (in between Old Street and Moorgate), am I more likely to find better value sooner going North, South, East or West?

I'll do my own homework too, most likely taking pot shots in surrounding areas, but I'll take further ideas. Cheers.

[Sukh]

East, why would you travel across the city to Fulham. Try Bow, Hackney or even Stratford. Mile end is on the central line and has plenty of accommodation, but its only suitable if you have lived in a city before, as most people who haven't are a bit uncomfortable otherwise.

[Zathras]

Fulham was only an example of the sort of (nice) area you could get a room in a flat for at £110/wk. It's also a hell of a lot safer than any of the places Sukh suggests if safety is a big factor for you. Anyway, if you're going to live in London, you have to be prepared to commute 'a bit' into the city to get something at a reasonable cost. This can range from 10 mins on a tube/bus to an hour. Fulham isn't well located for Old Street - I used to do the commute myself as I worked in EC2. Take a look at south London, on the Northern line, perhaps somewhere like Borough or Kennington? They're about 10-15mins away. Slightly further out on the same line but more of a community/proper centre feel are Clapham and Balham. I'd avoid Elephant and Castle and Stockwell personally.

[TheAnimus]

Fulham's nice?

You could get a room for £100pw in angel, problem is you'd end up spending another 100pw going out.