Homestay
A home away from home
Homestays are a popular choice for international students visiting the UK. They offer the benefit of a family atmosphere, the chance to practice your English, and a chance to experience a different way of life.
You won’t just be renting a room, you will be treated like a member of the family. You will have full access to the home, and there will be a laundry service available. Our homestay hosts vary from a single host mother, a retired couple, a family with pets and children, to a professional couple who offer independent accommodation with self-catering facilities.
Homestay options are also good for those students looking for temporary accommodation for a few weeks or for those seeking more independent options in the longer term. The hosts reflect our multi-cultural society and English is always the main language spoken in the house.
As a general guide, most homestays live in residential locations around 30-45 minutes from the city centre/school. The price of public transport varies from city to city, with London travelcards costing approximately £6 per day (zone 1-3), and £3 per day in Birmingham. Please see our destination pages for more details.
Meal plans
Our meal plans are:
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- Bed and Breakfast
- Half board (breakfast and evening meal)
- Bed and Breakfast with use of kitchen
- Full board (breakfast, evening meal and packed lunch)
- Self-catering
Bed & breakfast includes a continental style breakfast consisting of cereal, toast, tea/coffee etc. Half board includes a continental breakfast and a cooked dinner consisting of a main course of meat or fish with pasta or rice and vegetables or salad, followed by a dessert, yoghurt or fruit.
Meals are usually eaten with the family unless otherwise arranged and special diets such as vegetarian, halal and other requirements can be catered for. There is a small daily supplement for vegan, gluten free, lactose free and halal diets to reflect the extra food that the host will provide. Please tell us if you have a special requirement when you request your accommodation.
We also offer a self-catering option, where you can prepare your own evening meal, and you will be given storage space in the kitchen and fridge for your own food and drink.
For group accommodation, our families also offer full board, which includes breakfast, dinner and a packed lunch containing a sandwich, fruit, drink, and a bag of crisps or a bar of chocolate.
Our promise
With every family, you can be assured of:
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- A private bedroom or a twin shared room if you wish to share the room with another person travelling with you.
- A bedroom with natural light, with an adequately sized bed (bunk beds may be used students under 16 years old)
- Adequate heating and lighting
- Adequate hanging and drawer space and storage for clothes
- A table or desk and chair for studying (either in the bedroom or in the main part of the house)
- Laundry access once a week
- A key to the house (for adults only)
- A weekly change of towels and bed linens
- Daily access to a bathroom with a bath or shower
- Use of the family home
- English spoken as the main language in the family home
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CANNOT SEE THE LOCATION THAT INTEREST YOU? ENQUIRE WITH US, WE WILL BE HAPPY TO HELP
Homestay destinations
Birmingham
Birmingham
Bristol
Bristol
Coventry
Coventry
Jersey
Jersey
Liverpool
Liverpool
Northampton
Northampton
York
York
Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Cambridge
Cambridge
Dublin
Dublin
Kent
Kent
London
London
Manchester
Manchester
Oxford
Oxford
Brighton
Brighton
Canterbury
Canterbury
Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Leeds
Leeds
Medway
Medway
Swansea
Swansea
Check your journey
Please check your journey here, to see how close your home is to your preferred locations.
Frequently asked questions
House share is independent accommodation, where you ‘rent’ a bedroom from us and share the house and facilities with other international students or interns. Each house can accommodate between 5-7 people and offers a shared lounge or dining room with a television, 1-2 bathrooms, a fully equipped kitchen and most houses have a garden with a patio. We offer single rooms or shared rooms with or without an ensuite bathroom.
We offer a selection of quality house share accommodation in London, located in Canada Water, Surrey Quays, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe. Each house is situated in zone 2 of the public transport network, and is within easy reach of central London, with the average journey time of 30 minutes.
You can browse our houseshare accommodation on our booking page. Once you choose the one you prefer, you can contact us and we will check the availability for you accordingly.
Our house shares are available to any students/interns over the age of 18 only.
We note that the minimum stay in our house shares is 2 weeks and a maximum of 52 weeks. You can renew with us in advance on a periodic/instalment basis if you wish. No block booking needed!
There may be many different transportation options but you can pre-book a taxi service with us to the property for your arrival or departure. For more information contact info@hosts-international.com
You can move in any time from 8 am to 9 pm but you must call 07825 560304 and inform us of your arrival time at the house as we shall arrange for you to be met by our representative with a key. If you arrive too early, you may have to wait in the lounge area until your room is cleaned and ready for you. If you are going to be arriving much later in the day, say after 9 pm, just let us know and we will inform you of the arrangements from where you have to collect your keys and we will help you arrange local transport if you require this at a small cost.
Yes, if you wish to have family/friends stay with you, you should inform us in advance, so that we can check the availability and advise you regarding payment for overtime visitors accordingly.
Our offices are open from Monday to Friday from 8.30 am until 6.00 pm. After these hours and in case of any emergency, you may call our houseshare emergency number – +44 (0) 7747459421
Yes, please contact our offices on 020 7734 4884. You may have to change rooms or houses depending on pre-allocated availability. Please give us as much notice as possible. It is not possible to extend your stay at weekends. You can also email info@hosts-international.com
All our properties are non-smoking throughout. Smoking is only permitted in designated areas usually in the garden. There are usually designated outside areas for you to smoke with smoking pots provided
Homestays are a popular choice for international students coming to study or work in UK and Ireland. They offer the benefit of a homestay atmosphere, the chance to practice your English, and a chance to hat experience a different way of life. You won’t just be renting the room; you will be treated like a member of the household. You will have full access to the home, and there will be a laundry service available. Our homestay hosts vary from a single host mother, a retired couple, a family with pets and children, to a professional couple who offer independent accommodation with self-catering facilities. We also live in a melting pot of cultures, backgrounds and religious faiths and our homestays depict the diverse society we live in.
The minimum stay is 3 nights, but in case that you wish to stay less, please do not hesitate to contact us as we always promise to do our best to help. There is no maximum length you are welcome to book stay as long as you wish. We also offer you the option of booking on a month on month basis.
Once you send us your booking request, we will send you appropriate quote and a homestay profile which should meet your requests. We ask for the payment to be made as acceptance of this office and confirmation of your place. Once we receive your payment, we will be able to send you the Booking Confirmation with the address and contact details of your homestay. Due to the security reason we do not share any contacts or whole address prior to receiving the payment from students. For long term students we confirm that you can pay the first part of your stay (ideally two weeks or month fee) and then pay in agreed instalments.
No, you do not. We can also accommodate interns who are attending an internship in the UK and Ireland as well as professionals, just specify this at time of booking.
Unless you request to book a room with your friend/relative you will have your own room. We do not allow our students to share rooms with strangers. You may book a twin room if you wish to share with a friend or family member of similar age/gender. In the houseshare you can book a shared room if you prefer this option.
The minimum age of students coming without any adult accompanying is 13 years old. Younger students can still be accommodated as long as there is an adult coming with them and have appropriate consents in place. There is no such thing as maximum age – all ages are welcome 😊
We are more than happy to assist you with booking an airport transfer if requested. We use modern, comfortable, clean and fully insured vehicles with competent drivers who are sensitive to the welfare needs of overseas students.
If you decide to travel to your homestay by public transfer, we will be happy to help with navigations if necessary.
Please bring your personal belogings including clothes, toiletries and anything you need for your stay. The homestay guarantees to provide you with a private bedroom with an adequately sized bed, storage space for your clothes and other belongings, a table or desk for studying (either in your bedroom or in the main part of the house/apartment), laundry access once a week, a weekly change of towels and bed linens, daily access to a bathroom and use of the hosts home.
It is not a requirement for the students to bring a gift to their hosts, so this depends on you if you decide to bring a small gift from your country for your host or not.
Our hosts can offer you accommodation on Self-Catering (no meals offered, but full access to the kitchen provided), Bed and Breakfast (continental style breakfast only, you may use kitchen for light meals preparations with use of kettle or microwave), Half Board (continental style breakfast and evening meal) and Full Board (continental style breakfast, packed lunch and evening meal) basis. Evening meals are usually eaten with the host unless otherwise arranged.
If you choose one meal option initially, but decide to switch to another option, please contact us and we can arrange this for you.
We confirm that special diets such as vegetarian, halal and other requirements can be catered for. There is a small daily supplement for vegan, gluten free, lactose free and halal diets to reflect the extra food that the host will have to provide. Please tell us if you have a special requirement when you request your accommodation so we can ensure that your homestay is informed accordingly.
We note that in general zone 1 is a commercial area mainly with offices, hotels, shops, etc. We do have a couple of homestays in zone 1. Alternatively, we can offer you also our homestays in zone 2 with direct access to London city centre. We confirm that many of our host families can offer you with private bathroom. Please mention your request at the time of booking, so we can ensure that we find a suitable homestay with a private bathroom.
Some of our homestay accept students who smoke, it is however not allowed to smoke inside of any homestay. Each host will advise you of the most suitable place to smoke – usually in the garden/terrace etc.
All students who are 18 years old and above will be provided with a key to the homestay. In case you lose your key, please inform your host accordingly and discuss the next step with them.
Our offices are open from Monday to Friday from 8.30 am until 6.00 pm. After these hours and in case of any emergency, you may call our emergency number:\
- Homestay and Airport transfer emergencies – +44 (0) 7799 693566
- House share emergencies – +44 (0) 7747 459421
You will need to provide a spare bedroom for students with adequate storage, study facilities, and internet connection. You also must be willing to welcome international students at your home and provide them with meals as required, as well as a friendly and welcoming, interactive environment. There is also legal compliance, like suitability checks, that we may require before allocating any students with you. Our support team will assist you with this process.
This will depend on the student’s stay. Many students come only for short stays – usually from 3 days up to 4 weeks. The longer-term students stay with homestays over 4 weeks, sometimes the whole school semester or the entire year. It is will be your decision whether you will prefer a short stay or long-term students or a mixture of both.
Once you register with us and go through the registration process, we will activate your profile in our system and will be contacting you with potential bookings for your area. We will always provide you with all the information about the booking and it will be then up to your availability and preference if you accept it.. We aim to provide our homestays with bookings throughout the whole year.
Our booking rates are varying per booking and are based on whether the booking is an individual adult, junior group, facility, location, meal plan, room and sharing preferences. All our rates are pro-rata so you are paid for all the nights the student stays with you. You will be also provided with the exact price for each booking at the time of us confirming each booking. Hosts International pays all hosts regularly so you will have a security of regular payments for your students.
We pay our hosts regularly on a weekly basis by bank transfer or cheque. This means that you don’t have to worry about students paying or any financial arrangements with the students.
Our offices are open from Monday to Friday from 8.30 am until 6.00 pm. After these hours and in case of any emergency, you can call our emergency number +44 (0) 7799 693566.
Yes, having a pet is fine and many of our current hosts have pets. We will make a note on your profile that you have a pet to ensure that all the students interested in your accommodation are aware before they arrive to your home.
Lodgers are usually more independent. We ask our hometays to make sure that they communicate with their students on regular basis as this is the main reason why students chose homestay accommpodation. This enables them to experience living in local family and, in many cases, also to improve their English.
We work with many schools,colleges and universities and therefore can give you students year round especially in the summer busy period, to suit your avaibility. This gives you the flexibility to host year round or as you wish.
Yes, Hosts International operate a 24/7 out of hours emergency contact +44 (0) 7799693566 number, you may contact if you need assistance.
Yes, Hosts International operate a 24/7 out of hours emergency contact +44 (0) 7799693566 number, you may contact if you need assistance.
Homestay hosts across the UK welcome international students into their homes, whether that’s for short stays or year-round courses. However, what many don’t know is that they might not have the correct level of protection with a standard household policy, or could be unintentionally invalidating their home insurance by having additional guests stay at the property.
When you have ‘lodgers’ staying at your home, most insurers will place extra exclusions on your policy, for example, removing cover for theft without forced entry. This can cause unnecessary worry for hosts welcoming international students and wanting to make them feel at home.
Hosts International works in partnership with Endsleigh Insurance Services. Endsleigh provides a policy specifically designed to cover your home when you host international students.
Endsleigh can offer a competitive policy that will cover you for the following:
- Buildings and contents
- Specified items
- £2 million public liability
- Full cover for theft
- Extension of contents cover to the student
To get a quote or find out more, please call 0333 234 1507 or email nonstandard@endsleigh.co.uk and reference Hosts International.
Find out more at www.endsleigh.co.uk
Testimonials
The family I was with, was very kind, the food tasted delicious and was abundant, the room was very clean. The members of the family were in real contact with me during dinner time. All of them helped me with my poor pronunciation. In one word; they were Fantastic.
I am very grateful to my host family, She really knows how to treat students in her home. She enormously helped me in all the aspects; by the way, she was the person with whom I had the most real contact in this country. Real English conversation is one of the most important topic to strengthen this difficult language, and she knew how to engage me to do it. My sincerously thankfulness to her. Thanks 😊
She has been a very good woman with me, I have could speak a lot with her, the dudes than I had she resolved me. So I’m so grateful. 10 out of 10
My host mother have given me one of the greatest experiences I could ever get on this interchange. She treated me with care, always starting conversations to welcome me in their family. Their two sons, are so great! I loved the times we spent playing together and I’m very sad to let it go (cannot forget that they are also Doctor Who fans, which is a talent in my book). The host father is a great host, helping me out whenever I needed. He’s also very comprehensive and his company was invaluable. in the end, all I wanted to say is that the times i spent here were amazing and if I could I would stay here way longer. “I Don’t wanna Go!”
Hello. My stay at my homestay accommodation was quite good I would say. The house is nice, the bedroom is big and spacious. But one thing I disagree with the description I read regarding the accommodation is the adjective “warm”. I think is just normal, nothing more, nothing less. There were very few conversation between me and my host, with not much interest. So that is why I would not say is a warm house. Nota bene: I am not saying I had a bad welcome, it was just normal, nothing outstanding.
Finally, one thing is that I still don’t get is why she said there was another person coming to her house (that is why I moved one day earlier), when it was not. But after all, a good accommodation.
