London was recently named as the best university city in the world – and for good reason. It currently has 40 higher higher education institutes, 14 of which are regarded as some of the most highly regarded universities in the world.
Due to the sheer amount of universities, it can be tricky to know what the best students areas are. Unlike other cities of the UK where student areas are usually found in one particular place: Manchester has Fallowfield, Newcastle has Jesmond, Sheffield has Eccelsall Road etc, London has quite a few scholarly hubs to choose from.
Major areas to find student accommodation in London
- Bloomsbury
Much of the student accommodation London has to offer is in Bloomsbury.
No, no. This isn’t because London’s students yearn to be near the site of the Bloomsbury group – that’s the sort of educational idealism that three years of studying in the capital will soon bash out of you, one Camden night out at a time.
Rather, there’s a slew of intercollegiate halls in Bloomsbury (College, Connaught, Commonwealth, International), as well as LSE halls nearby.
They’re very popular though so good luck bagging a student room to rent! This is also where UCL is, plus the University of London HQ is on Bloomsbury’s Mallet Street.
This all means Bloomsbury is a bustling student area in London.
- Holloway
Home to the band of the same name that gave us that song, Hollow is a popular student area.
It has good links to central London for LSE and Kings College London’s Strand campuses, as well UCL and SOAS’s Pentonville campus. Holloway is divided into three.
The luckier students will find their London student accommodation in lovely Lower Holloway.
Gentrification is snaking its community-destroying way up Holloway Road from Upper Street, meaning Lower Holloway is now full of lovely cafes, shops and gardens.
Holloway proper is home to London Met., which in part explains why this area is popular with students.
Finally, Upper Holloway and – heaven forfend – Archway, is the kind of endless, soulless wasteland of old, damp student houses that will make all these people move south of the river in their third year.
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- The Arty Belt (Camberwell/Peckham/Newcross)
In South London, a student stronghold can be found along the A202.
There are a few good reasons for this, as we shall see. In the arty belt, it gets hipper the further east you go, so pick your latitude depending on how short your fringe is.
To the east are the creative hubs of Camberwell College of the Arts and South London Gallery.
Here, too, King’s College medics try and snag a room to rent in Camberwell: home to Denmark Hill’s Maudsley and King’s College hospitals.
Cheap rent, nice houses and cool night life ensure a strong student population in Del Boy’s hometown. From here, it’s only a ten minute bus to Camberwell or, the next village. Why not check out our Peckham area guide while we travel to…
- New Cross
The westernmost tip of the arty belt, New Cross is home to Goldsmith’s, bastion of the arts and social sciences and 10,000 students all looking for the trendiest student accommodation London has to offer.
The arty belt is full of cheap, delicious restaurants, cheap, large houses and cheap, amazing bars. It really is a student’s paradise.
