Hosting Overseas Students – Walthamstow
London is one of the world’s most expensive cities to live in, but the possibilities there are endless. People are always moving there to take up professional, personal and educational development opportunities where they can. With professionals, and now students in particular, homestays are becoming more popular. This involves living with a local family and sleeping in their spare bedrooms during term time, affording them a low-cost living situation and an unbeatable chance to embed within the community.
HFS London specialise in student homestays and have now helped thousands of overseas students live temporarily in the capital. We’ve also helped hundreds of host families set up their homes to earn additional income using their spare room.
At just 7.5 miles from the centre of London, Walthamstow is a great destination for overseas students to use as their base to travel into, and out of, the Big Smoke while they study. HFS London is always looking for host families within the area, as demand is constant.
Why Walthamstow?
Without London’s pollution and noise and constant buzz, living in Walthamstow can feel like a typical, smaller British town. It’s a town, however, with the convenience of the city just a train or bus ride away. It’s this balance that makes Walthamstow popular with commuters into the city centre. Not to mention it helps students feel less overwhelmed and gives them somewhere to focus and study in peace.
Being a large town that covers seven electoral wards, there’s truly an area for everyone, no matter their property preference. Walthamstow Village boasts quaint almshouses and Lloyd Park is full of purpose-built Victorian “Warner” flats. There are also the new builds in the Blackhorse Lane area. Much of the residential community are families due to the area’s excellent schools and easy transportation links. This means that there’s often spare bedrooms as older children move on and out, or deliberately left empty to accommodate families growing later on. Walthamstow is now considered so desirable and ‘cool’ that you’ll even find estate agents travelling the area on bikes!
This all said, students won’t run out of things to do in Walthamstow. It holds its own in terms of leisure activities, compared even to more central areas. God’s Own Junkyard is a favourite bar and gallery amongst bloggers; Walthamstow Wetlands is the city’s biggest nature reserve; L Manze serves up traditional cockney pie, mash and liquor; and Walthamstow Market is the longest street market in Europe. Of course, travelling into the city and checking out the tourist attractions can be done, but there’s plenty to do in Walthamstow itself too – so it makes for a nice change of pace and safe, homely environment for overseas students to make their base.
How to Become a Host Family in Walthamstow
Becoming a Host Family for overseas students in Walthamstow is a quick process, and the our team are always on hand to advise and give information on homestay. If you’d be interested in topping up your income by renting your spare bedroom/s to students, give us a call. Otherwise, fill in our host application form and our team will aim to get back to you within the day. Walthamstow, as with all areas of London, is split into ‘catchment areas’ depending on demand. With just a postcode, the team can advise you if your home is in our current catchment area.
Once you’ve been accepted as a host, we can start sending suitable students your way!
Not in Walthamstow? Other neighbouring areas that are in demand for homestays are Blackhorse Road, Tottenham Hale, Seven Sisters, Woodford, South Woodford, Wanstead, Snaresbrook, Redbridge and Gants Hill.
