Safe Accommodation in London
Safety is a priority for tourists, students and anybody visiting or moving to London for the first time. It’s a huge city and like many cities across the world, it has high crime rates and certain areas are safer than others. If you’ve never visited London before but find yourself moving there for a course or a job, how will you know where to look for a safe place to live?
It doesn’t matter where you stay, there is always safety concerns when staying in a major city. Some people may be put off at the thought of staying in another person’s home with a host family, however it can be one of the safest options. Here are the top reasons why a HFS Homestay in London is a safe accommodation choice.
Registered with the British Council
The British Council is the governing body which overlooks schools and accommodation provided for overseas students. Any agency which is registered with the British Council has been rigorously assessed, and homestays are selected at random for inspection. Only a handful of accommodation agencies are registered with the British Council, so you can be confident you’re dealing with the best in London. The accreditation body has a strict criteria for the recruitment of host families, which we must follow at all times.
Trained Accommodation Inspectors
We want our guests to have an authentic and positive experience, so we take our host families and the accommodation they provide very seriously. We don’t just take on board anyone with a spare room! There is a long registration process to become a host family, which includes a home inspection from our trained inspectors. Our inspectors make sure the whole property is up to our high standards, as well as interviewing prospective hosts to ensure they are suitable.
Safeguarding Policies
As we regularly work with schools and group bookings, many of our guests are under 18 and we make sure they are safe at all times. We have a safeguarding policy in place, which means all hosts hosting under 18s have a full DBS check, character references and a signed safeguarding policy. We also comply with the British Council Guidelines.
At HFS London we have a strong database of hosts who we work with regularly, and all have been through a comprehensive registration process. Meet some of our lovely hosts here!
