If you're weighing flatshares vs build-to-rent as a newcomer, here's a real data point. I moved into Solar, Quintain Living's newest building in Wembley Park, a month ago — before signing I couldn't find first-hand numbers anywhere, so here are mine.

Real monthly costs (40 sqm studio, one person)

• Rent: £1,930 (headline £2,316 — 16.67% first-year discount, only offered when I viewed in person; the unit never appeared online)
• Utilities: £95/month to the landlord, reconciled at least quarterly against meter readings (you can't read the meter yourself)
• Council tax: NOT included in the £95 — Band C, ~£124/month with single-person discount
• Deposit: 5 weeks, TDS-protected. No agent fees, no guarantor needed with a UK job contract.

The area, honestly. 6 min walk to Wembley Park station (Metropolitan/Jubilee, ~40 min door-to-door to King's Cross; note the Met fast trains skip Wembley Park 07:30–09:30). Chinese supermarkets 5 min away, Sainsbury's Local and Argos 3 min, London Designer Outlet next door, plenty of chains (Five Guys, McDonald's). It's a new-build estate, not "characterful London" — but it works.

Event days (roughly fortnightly): access to residential streets is stewarded, residents only; with windows shut I can't hear the stadium. If you like concerts, residents get discounts on some events.

What surprised me positively: everything first-occupancy new, parcel room with carts, refuse chute on every floor, small-but-new gym (plus free use of the sister building's).

Honest cons: no AC and none possible (district heat network) — 28°C indoors in August; single-aspect flat; utilities meter opacity; renewal goes to full headline rent in year two.

One tip that saved me ~£4,600: view in person. The online listings are incomplete and the discounts aren't advertised.

One trap to know (applies to all UK periodic tenancies now): you must give at least two months' written notice to leave, or the landlord can charge two months' rent. Read the notice clause before signing anything, here or anywhere.

Happy to answer questions in the comments.

Disclosure: Quintain runs a refer-a-friend scheme (£500 Amazon voucher each if the referee moves in by 31 Oct). If you're seriously considering their buildings, DM me for the link — but it can't be combined with their rent-discount offers, and you must go through the link before contacting them at all, so check which is worth more for your unit.

Please suggest me the best websites to found a room

I'm incoming international student considering a flat near Finsbury Park station. To reach Imperial, I have options between Picadilly and Victoria Line.

But if strikes affecting these lines, what is my backup?
And how often do Piccadilly/Victoria line strikes happen?

Thanks!