Suggestions for short term accomodation for 1-2 months in London – couple w/5yo

[Backpacker]

Hello All,

Does anyone have any decent reasonably-priced suggestions for Short term accomodation for 1-2 months in central London (Camden/Islington area and surrounds)?
We are a Couple with a 5yo boy that we need to get to school/pickup in this area during the week. Having a house renovation that has gone terribly wrong, and has gone massively over-time – so we need to find more short-term accomodation in June/July.

Hotels in the area have gone mad with Travel re-starting/the end of covid – it’s 250-300 per night at a minimum for any of Hilton/Marriott/IHG (8-9K per month) and AirBnB has also gone crazy with anything in the area getting towards 180-200 per night (6K per month).

After a day of looking we are both getting pretty worried – anyone have any suggestions for accomodation that could work with our budget of 3-4K per month? The extension costs have broken us. Any ideas appreciated!

[Richie]

Have a look on a local facebook community/group.

[NorthernLass]

Do the builders not have any liability for this? Sometimes home insurance covers costs when you can’t live in the house, though it’s usually for things like floods.

Also – sometimes you can negotiate longer-term rates direct with hotels.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[SamG]

It’s worth messaging airbnbs who have long periods of availability and see what discounts they might offer. It’s quite late to not have bookings so they might be happy to take one booking and not have the worry of managing it (especially cleaning I imagine is a nightmare at the minute if they’re new to market and don’t have reputable cleaners on hand). I don’t know about London but certainly coastal Kent where I own an airbnb you’d have people snapping your hand off, lots of people have come into the market thinking it’s a goldmine when (obviously…) the last two years were always one-offs in terms of demand!

Otherwise hotels I think will be difficult – I had dinner with a friend in the industry recently and she said things are shaping up to be a very good summer in London. Check out Travelodges – some of their newer surburban ones aren’t too bad price wise and you can hunt around for one on a tube line – I used the Manor House one a few times last year and it was brand new and right at the station. Then perhaps go further afield at the weekend to something nicer / with laundry / cooking facilities.

Re: your renovation, you have my sympathies & I hope it gets sorted for you sooner rather than later

[Mirp]

When I was in a similar situation I put an ad on gumtree seeking a short term rental and lucky got one for 2 months. (Of course extension wasn’t finished on time but we went to Brighton for a long weekend and then could use part of the house).

Other friends have used Air B n B and moved every couple of weeks.

Good luck.

It was a pain and I need up having to take my primary school child on 3 different tube lines to get to school. Child thought it was an adventure.

[can]

When I first moved to Paris for short term, I used this twice
https://www.sabbaticalhomes.com

[Rob]

You might get a decent serviced apartment deal – look at, for eg, the Cheval chain. This sector is still bombed out because the foreign execs are still not heading back to London.

[Lady London]

If that’s the case, maybe Citadines/The Ascott (same group) or maybe a decent Adagio? Sounds like Staybridge will be too busy now. The Ascott group brands apparently can discount well under the website pricing especially for longer bookings and that was in normal times.

[SamG]

I think the key is to make direct enquiries with the properties themselves. As with hotels they have a lot of discretion on property vs central reservations and especially anything higher end even if they are empty they’ll not want to publicly discount but private deals can always be done

[AJA]

Can’t help with places to stay but I do express sympathy with your overrunning and over budget renovation. Going to start one shortly and hope to avoid what you’re going through. I’m currently renting a tiny one bed flat as the sale of my previous house and the purchase of the new one did not tie in so took a one year tenancy and and can’t wait to get into the house.

[Backpacker]

Thanks to all for your replies thus far, I’m reading them all and still trying to find a solution.

Can’t claim on insurance for an extension/renovation unfortunately.
Have tried the local neighbourhood community groups, but not had any realistic responses as yet (only a flat for 10 days)
Hotel special deal was 275 per night (8K for a room)
Cheval for one month between £13,000-30,000!
Sebattical – look very promising but most/all places say no kids – will try to contact & change their.

Thanks – please keep the suggestions coming! 🙂

[Mirp]

Expand your target area to zone 2 near transport — Stratford; Tower Hamlets; Hackney — etc. You will find something.

[ZoeB]

If your need is soon you might somehow be able to tap into the student market. I think that most students have to rent for the whole year although they might be away shortly (once their exams are done). Also new landlords aiming to rent their property to students from September might be able to do you a deal? Not sure exactly how you can find these. Hopefully someone who was a student in London more recently than me can point you in the right direction.

UCL used to have uni owned places on Camden Road (Ifor Evans & Max Rayne) maybe pop up there and ask some students?

[ZoeB]

Have you asked the school if they can pop an advert in their weekly newsletter for you?
Maybe place an advert in that free paper you get on the underground?
Are you already looking on Spareroom?

When my daughter needed a to rent a driveway parking space near JP Morgan in Bournemouth we leafleted nearby roads and ended up with 3 offers, maybe you could try something similar but make it clear in the leaflet that you will consider areas further afield than the streets that you target.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[Lyn]

Following on from the university accommodation idea, universities sometimes have apartments they can offer visiting professors which are larger than just the usual rooms for students.

It could be worth contacting the University of London directly in case they have something close enough to your neighbourhood. Here’s a link that may provide a starting point

https://london.ac.uk/staycentral/affordable-accommodation

[Lyn]

Somewhere in that link above they give a number to phone if you are looking for somewhere for more than 8 weeks. That may be too long for you, but they may be able to give some useful advice about options,

[memesweeper]

Leafleting — local family in need — is a great idea.

There are short term flats on OpenRent, eg https://www.openrent.co.uk/property-to-rent/london/3-bed-flat-royal-college-street-nw1/1391180

[ZoeB]

Have you had any luck yet Backpacker?