Accommodation
One of the main concerns for people moving to London is finding reasonably priced accommodation. Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) has invested in the development of high-quality accommodation in the area surrounding the hospital. We offer our nurses reasonably priced rooms in shared flats, single rooms and, increasingly, housing for couples and families.
The accommodation is open to all new nursing starters. We also have a staff hotel so people who live too far to commute every day can use this on a temporary or ad-hoc basis.
Key Worker housing is provided for essential public sector workers such as NHS staff, police and teachers. Find out more information about this below.
GOSH has a dedicated Accommodation Bureau on site which is free to all staff.
Accommodation bureau
Set up and funded by the Special Trustees, the accommodation bureau is a free service to all staff and associates of GOSH and the Institute of Child Health (ICH).
The accommodation bureau:
- can help you find long- or short-term accommodation in the private sector
- can nominate you for Key Worker housing where required
- can recommend local hotel and B&B accommodation if you are a short-term visitor (i.e. observers, temporary placements, locums and those attending courses at GOSH)
Where is the Accommodation Bureau?
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Level 4, Barclay (formerly York) House
37 Queen Square
London
WC1N 3BH
Do I need an appointment?
No appointment is necessary. The Accommodation Bureau operates a drop-in service on Monday – Thursday, between the hours of 9am and 4pm.
Contact us
To find out more, including whether you are eligible for assistance from the accommodation bureau, please contact:
Vitalija Sivickiene
020 7829 7896 (internal ext. 7896)
The Accommodation Bureau maintains a database of landlords with accommodation to let in the vicinity of GOSH. We recommend you contact those who can offer available accommodation appropriate to your requirements and budget.
The accommodation bureau cannot guarantee suitability or safety of accommodation as information is taken on a trust basis. It is up to you as an individual to assess suitability according to your own needs. Similarly, the accommodation bureau cannot take responsibility for payment arrangements or issue receipts for rent expenditure. These must be agreed between you and your landlord.
We hold variety of residential accommodation which is available to staff and let on six-month assured shorthold tenancies.
The Charity have introduced a differential banding system and your rent is now set according to the banding of your salary and is inclusive of all utility bills and Council Tax except for self-contained flats where the tenant is responsible for the payment of the Council Tax.
Only new starters can apply for staff accommodation. You are considered to be a new starter within nine months of your start date. Your eligibility and allocation will be determined by a points system (more details below).
Requests for accommodation will be accepted from the following sources on receipt of the appropriate paperwork:
- new recruits via Personnel Department
Telephone requests not substantiated in writing will not be accepted from any source.
Information required to undertake evaluation will be provided by:
- The recruiting/employing manager and verified by Personnel during the recruitment process.
Points system used to determine eligibility for, and allocation of, staff accommodation.
You will be allocated points in accordance with the criteria below and will be prioritised on this basis, followed by the date we receive a fully completed, authorised application form.
On receiving an offer of employment from GOSH you will be provided with a staff accommodation application form.
You should return your completed application form to your Personnel Officer or the Accommodation Services Department.
The Accommodation Services Department will evaluate your request using the points system above. They will then inform you whether you are eligible or refer the unsuccessful application onto the Accommodation Bureau.
You must be on the GOSH payroll to be eligible for staff accommodation.
Band 5 and 6 Nurses will be granted an Assured Short-hold tenancy for six months but can remain in the staff accommodation for a maximum of 18 months. All other GOSH employees will also be granted an Assured Short-hold tenancy for six months but can remain in the staff accommodation for a maximum of 12 months.
Please download and complete an accommodation application form and return to:
Accommodation Services Department
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust
Barclay (formerly York) House
37 Queen Square
London WC1N 3BH
Telephone: 020 7405 9200 (ext. 7833)
E-mail: staffaccommodation@gosh.nhs.uk
Staff hotel
The staff hotel is available for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) staff needing overnight accommodation at the hospital in order to carry out their role. A total of 27 hotel rooms are provided in two Georgian houses within close proximity to the hospital in Endsleigh Street and Doughty Street.
For further information contact the Accommodation Team on 020 7829 7833 or e-mail: staffhotel@gosh.nhs.uk
GOSH has 14 on-call rooms available for rest and downtime, located on Level 6, Southwood Building. These rooms are available for GOSH staff to book if you are on the on-call rota.
Key Worker housing
Key Worker housing is provided for essential public sector workers such as NHS staff, police and teachers.
Key Worker Housing comprises:
- Intermediate rented properties
- Shared ownership - part buy/part rent. This is a way onto the "property ladder" where applicants may buy a share of a property and pay a modest rent. Should their circumstances change, applicants may later wish to buy a larger proportion of the property until they have greater or complete ownership.
- First Time Buyers’ Initiative (FTBI) is a 'home buy' loan that enables first-time buyers to purchase a share in a house or an apartment.
- Rooms within cluster flats (i.e. shared kitchen and bathroom, no lounge)
- Rooms with own bathroom and shared kitchen
- Rooms with own kitchenette and shared bathroom
- Studios, one-bed, two-bed flats (nominations required)
Rent for rooms would be approximately £125 – £165 per week (inclusive of utility bills and council tax). Rent for flats would be greater but would be favourable compared to market rates for similar properties.
In most cases, rent for rooms in shared accommodation would include utility bills and council tax. For self-contained accommodation, council tax and bills are generally additional to the rent.
Eligibility criteria vary widely from organisation to organisation. Some providers would consider any member of NHS staff eligible while, for example, others might only accept clinical staff. We recommend you enquire about eligibility criteria before making your application.
If you are interested in key worker housing, please contact the Accommodation Bureau for a list of housing organisations to whom we can refer you. We are also able to nominate staff to the Peabody Trust should intermediate rented properties (generally self-contained) be available.
Private accommodation
Long-term accommodation usually means accommodation is taken for an agreed period (generally minimum six months) and, unless a break clause is agreed within that time, it is only after that term that the landlord may give notice (of two months) to the tenant or the tenant notice (of one month) to the landlord.
Should no notice be required by either party, the contract may be renewed to continue by agreement.
Short-term accommodation is generally for less than six months and can encompass anything from single nights in hotels, hostels or B&Bs to weeks or months in an informal letting with a landlord.
Rent will vary according to the quality of accommodation and its location.
Near GOSH, travel zone 1 (where, in general, no travel expenses would be incurred travelling to and from GOSH) the average rents are:
- Room in shared accommodation: £150 – £200+ per week
- Studio flat: £200 – 300+ per week
- One-bed flat: £250 - £400+ per week
Further afield, in travel zones 2,3 and 4, average rents could be up to £50 cheaper, but you may incur expenses travelling to and from the hospital.
There are many shared flats in London. Sharing with others is an exercise in consideration and at the outset, it would be useful to establish agreement with flatmates regarding 'house rules' (for example, a cleaning rota) with particular attention given to communal areas (kitchen, bathroom and, where applicable, lounge areas).
Sharing with colleagues can be a good thing, especially to staff new to London. The best way to organise a flat-share with colleagues would be to advertise on the intranet and then approach an agent or the Accommodation Bureau to assist in finding a suitable property.
You may find the following websites a useful starting point for finding private accommodation:
These organisations specialise in studio flats in central London:
- Studios 2 Let (six- to 12-month lets)
- London Short Letting (one- to five-month lets)
- Serviced Studios 2 Let (one- to four-week lets)
You could also look in property sections of London newspapers, local journals or consult the agency list provided by our Accommodation Bureau.
Please be aware that we are in no way affiliated to any of these companies, and cannot be held responsible for anything on their external websites, or the accommodation they provide you.
Should you have difficulties with your private accommodation, you could contact
- Citizens Advice Bureau
- Camden Housing Advice Centre (for persons living and working in this area)
Please be aware that we are in no way affiliated to any of these organisations, and cannot be held responsible for anything on their external websites, or the advice they provide you.
Other
There are many websites aimed at helping people new to the city find their feet, from understanding the transport system to identifying the best area for you based on your personal priorities.
The following websites give a good general overview of the different parts of London and may help you narrow down your search. However, please bear in mind that the information they provide may go out of date - always check things out for yourself before making a commitment about where to live.
http://www.move2residential.co.uk/
Please be aware that we are in no way affiliated to any of these companies, and cannot be held responsible for anything on their external websites, or the accommodation they provide you.
Apart from GOSH’s own residential accommodation, you can also find private rental properties in the area around the hospital. However, because of their central location, these can be pricey. Most of our staff commute from some distance away - journeys of between 30 and 90 minutes are standard.
