Added China Walk TRA to the map and a few blog changes

At the suggestion of one reader, I've added China Walk Tenants and Residents Association (TRA) to the map at the top right corner, very near the boundary of SE11. Apparently, they have a community resource, the Chandler Community Hall (and very smart it looks to), which is available for hire. They charge between £15-£25 per hour, depending on what type of group you are. Here's a pic, and see their website for more details:

I'll also add VGERTA, but not sure where they're based in order to put the pin in the correct place. Can anybody advise whether VGERTA have a headquarters?  Does anybody else know of (or belong to) any other TRAs that they might want me to link to the blog or add to the map?

Eagle eyed blog watchers who are not reading through an RSS reader will notice that I've been making a few changes to the blog. It's my eventual aim to move from Blogspot to Wordpress, but I'm terrified of losing my Google positioning as it has taken ages to get to this stage, so in the meantime, I'm just making use of various blogspot features to add bits and pieces.  I've added user comments to the main page, as some of these are lengthy and worth reading for their own sakes.  I've written a Yahoo Pipes mashup that should gather details of everything currently for sale in Kennington, Oval, Vauxhall, SE11 and SW8 on Gumtree, which might be useful if you'd buy items that are available locally (it does seem to change very frequently though, since the Gumtree RSS feed only gives access to 100 items).  The link to that is under "Kennington and SE11 items for sale" at the top of the blog.  I've also swapped the embedded map with a picture of a clickable image which will take you through to the Google map, so that the main site doesn't take so long to load.

Trying to find a flatshare in SE11 [Part 2 of house hunting in SE11]

This is Part 2 of an ongoing series for people interested in buying, renting, flatshares, obtaining local authority or housing association property, squatting or crashing on somebody's floor in the SE11 area.

Today's post is about finding a flatshare in SE11 (or around the area).

First things first... There's no point in trekking around the Kennington or Vauxhall branches of letting agents in order to try and find a room to rent. If you're new to London, you may not realise that letting agents do not advertise flatshares. This is mostly because there's no money in it for them. Consequently, the only sort of property that you'll find in SE11 from letting agents are studios, advertised somewhere between £180 - £210 per week (around £780 - £910 per month). And the likelihood is that if you're looking for a room to rent, you won't be able to afford a studio.

There are a couple of reliable ways of finding flatshares:

1. You could try the age old Gumtree website. http://www.gumtree.com/ Searching through the listings is one option, although you might want to set up email alerts because property will go quite quickly.

2. One new development that I think provides the best way for searching for a Flatshare is from Globrix. The search engine provides the ability to search for lettings properties using the new criterion "Flat Shares" in the box at the top left of the screen. Typing in SE11 and clicking "Flat Shares" reveals that there are currently 23 flat shares available in the area, ranging from £69 to £160 per week. It squeezes information from all of the property portals and puts it in one place, thus reducing the time you'll spend Googling.

3. There are a number of specific websites that deal with flat-shares only. A quick Google reveals:
a. Move flat
b. Spare room

There are at least another 12 sites that seem to specialise in this area.

Once you have spent 10 years sharing a flat, you might be able to afford to buy a run-down studio in SE11. Please then refer to the link below for one idea about buying a property in SE11.

A useful website for those looking for houses in SE11 - [Part 1 of house hunting in SE11]