[HDNG]IN COLLEGE:[EHDNG][PARA][GRPH]A2[EGRPH][STAT][BULL] Catered: 14% [BULL] Cost: ú61-ú65 (30wks) [BULL] Self-catering: [PARA]24% [BULL] Cost: ú35(30wks)[ESTAT][PARA][BOLD]Availability:[EBOLD] All 1st years who apply in time get college [PARA]accommodation. After that students almost certainly have to live [PARA]out (despite claims to the contrary in the prospectus). Those who[PARA]do get housed will be in 1 of UCL's halls of residence or in the [PARA]University's inter-collegiate accommodation. Catered halls [PARA]provide breakfast and evening meals every day, except in Ifor [PARA]Evans, which doesn't at weekends and has cooking facilities [PARA]instead. The cost of electricity is extra. Self-catering halls have [ITAL][PARA]good big [EITAL]kitchens with a couple of cookers and fridges between [PARA]10 people. Around 50% have to share rooms, although it varies [PARA]from hall to hall.[HDNG]EXTERNALLY:[EHDNG][PARA][GRPH]A3[EGRPH][STAT][BULL] Ave rent: ú60[ESTAT][PARA]London Transport (buses, tube and trains) splits the city into [PARA]several 'zones' which are concentric circles from the centre. [PARA]Zone 1, for example, is the area within a radius of about 21/2 [PARA]miles of Trafalgar Square. Zone 2 is the next 3 miles and so on. [PARA]Obviously, rents get cheaper in the outer zones, but then travel [PARA]costs to the centre go up accordingly.[ITAL] [EITAL]Travel costs should be [PARA]taken into consideration when looking at rents because a [PARA]Travelcard from Zone 3 to the centre costs more than ú15 a week.[PARA][BOLD]Availability:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Contrary to popular belief, it's really not that difficult to[PARA]find accommodation in London, just buy a copy of the Evening [PARA]Standard and there are hundreds of places. It is however a [PARA]challenge of epic proportions to find anywhere that is both [PARA]affordable and inhabitable. There's very little housing in Zone 1 [PARA]even for yuppies, and students come a lot lower in the pecking [PARA]order. Zone 2 is a bit better, particularly for single rooms in [PARA]shared flats or houses in places like Wandsworth, Putney and [PARA]Fulham and wherever the tube system is lacking. Zone 3 is [PARA]relatively promising, but the catch is that it can take upwards of [PARA]an hour to get to the centre. Zone 4 and beyond are not popular [PARA]for the same reason, but, as they say, homeless students can't [PARA]be choosers. Although there are many thousands of people [PARA]living, quite literally, in cardboard boxes on London's streets, they [PARA]aren't students. In fact, many students manage to find very [PARA]comfortable flats for almost reasonable rents. There is also a [PARA]growing number living in squats. To be safe, students coming to [PARA]London should work out where they're going to stay first.[EITAL][PARA][PARA][ITAL][STAT][BULL] Renting: 62%[ESTAT][EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Availability:[EBOLD] Many UCL students live in Stoke Newington (direct [PARA]service on the number 73 bus runs to UCL), and the Finsbury [PARA]Park/Manor House ghetto.[PARA][BOLD]Housing help:[EBOLD] UCL keeps information on the College's and private[PARA]accommodation and they publish a regular bulletin.
