Having gone through empty nest syndrome when my son went to uni, followed by the eggshells and limbo years when he moved back home he’s just got a job in Canary Wharf, a world away from rural Wales.
Definite mixed feelings.
As a mother, my biggest concern is accommodation, and I was wondering if anyone could recommend a reliable rental agency in London?
Sarah x
Gosh l know that feeling Sarah, we never stop worring about them do we, hope you get sorted
Janet
Thank you…I’m sure the older they get the more expensive they get too 
My old stomping grounds! Lived for 10 years in Wapping and both my kids were born on the Isle of Dogs. Really wish we hadn’t sold our flat a year before the property market went mad 
I can’t really recommend anyone for letting but I would specifically NOT recommend: Foxtons (plus they really bump the price up), Ludlow Thompson (poor help with maintenance) or Ea2 (neighbours had a bad experience with them). We bought and sold (sob!) our flat through Cluttons. They were good, but I don’t know how they are about letting as opposed to buying.
My two nieces have recently moved down to London from Scotland - they got their rooms initially through airbnb (www.airbnb.co.uk). It’s a well-known site, and you can rent rooms from as little as 1 night upwards. It’s then easier to find longer term flatshares - they’re both happily settled now.
Thank you
I’ll look up Airnbnb now.
Just a thought. London has really, really good train links. Lots of people commute to central London from where I live in Mid-Sussex. Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Crawley and Horsham are all about half an hour from central London by train in the morning and rents are much cheaper-more than enough to justify the price of a monthly train ticket. This is probably also true of the commuter towns to the East and North of London too, but I can’t say for sure because I haven’t lived there. Bromley is quite a good place to live and is slightly cheaper because, although it’s a London Borough, it is technically in Kent. It is on the Tube line too or you can get a bus.
However, I totally understand if he does want to live in “The Smoke” for a bit as at his age it is an exciting place to be.
Sam x
I grew up in Horsham and lived in Crawley for a few years between backpacking many, many moons ago
I often wish I could afford to move back, but it’s impossible.
I would feel far better about my son living further out of London, but he’s adamant that he wants to live in London itself.
Sarah x
After he’s lived there for a while, he’ll probably want to move out a bit, just to save some money on the rent! My nieces both live in Clapham, which is not exactly central, but easy to get into the centre from. I lived in Tooting as a young city-worker, and couldn’t believe how different the area is now - it was all I could afford back then, but is quite a popular area now, with a very trendy feel to it. Your son will probably have to settle for the edges of London anyway - rents in the centre are exorbitant.
I was about to say what @ciesse has said! He probably needs to get it out of his system before he realizes that it’s worth the savings on rent to live just outside London. It’s all very well us middle-aged mums saying “You don’t want to live there!” He might have to learn it for himself 
Love Sam x
I wouldn’t have missed it for anything - being able to get into the centre of London without a long commute was great, and I loved the buzz of being in London, with so much on the doorstep. But I was broke - completely broke - all the time, so it had to be short-lived!
I couldn’t stand it! Six months in Bromley was more than enough for me. I’m a Westcountry girl and seeing every hill covered with houses for 360 degrees around with no seaside was just depressing.
My friend from childhood seems to like it though, so it’s one of those things. But you don’t know until you’ve tried it.
Love Sam x
Thank you so much for all the replies.
Can’t believe how quickly it’s all coming round, he’s going up to London one day this week to look for accommodation, but with his current boss, who has a much bigger budget than he does for everything, so I’m keeping everything crossed that he isn’t swayed into signing for anything outside his (very tight) budget and I’m not presented with the bill!!!
Sarah x