Double en-suite in Gilesgate, 20min walk to Durham

About the room: This ad is for an ensuite room in a 3 bedroom house with a lounge, kitchen / dining room, downstairs WC, driveway for two cars, two further bedrooms (a double and a single, currently used as a home office), family bathroom, and large rear garden. The room for rent has a comfortable king sized bed. It can therefore accommodate couples, but please note that an adjustment of 100gbp will be made to the price, i. e. rent will be 850pcm. There is an ensuite shower room accessible from this room only, to which you will have exclusive use. The house is fully furnished and decorated, with several upgrades, such as parquet floors and an outside decked area. It has a B+ energy efficiency rating and was built just over three years ago.

Bills: bills are to be split 50/50 and paid on a monthly basis. Council tax: Band C, which is £2,282.91 per annum. If you are a student and are not eligible to pay council tax, I will cover this cost and you will not be liable for it. To date, other utilities have been as follows: on average £44 per month for fast broadband; £85 for gas and electricity in the winter months (down to around £50 in the summer when the heating is not on); £35 for water. I will cover house insurance and estate costs. Please note that you will need your own contents insurance and TV licence if you want to watch TV programmes from the house, as we do not watch or own a TV.

About the sharing arrangements: please carefully note that this ad is for what will, in practice, be a whole house. I am a female in my thirties and work for Durham University as an academic. Whereas I own and ordinarily live in this house, I will be spending my research leave away from Durham, and will not need to be in the house during the 2026/7 academic year, except on rare occasions for meetings/events. No one will be permanently sharing the house with you. I am therefore looking for someone who is happy to use and enjoy the house independently (my husband and I are friendly people and enjoy a chat, but we won’t be there very much). We are happy to rent to postgraduate students, but we don’t want this to become a party house. We think the property would be ideal for a mature student or young professional. We are happy to renew the lease or extend on a rolling basis beyond the 6-month period, or discuss other options.

About the local area: The house is a newly built property in the Hartley Gardens development (close to the Gilesgate Sainsbury’s local, which would be your nearest supermarket). It is also close to the Tesco Metro for larger shops. There is a growing number of amenities in the immediate area, and we particularly like our local Vietnamese and Lebanese restaurants. You would be approximately a 15-minute walk away from the Claypath Deli and surrounding area, 20-25 min walk to the market place, and a 30-minute walk from the Durham Science Site (where the big departments like Chemistry, Engineering, Law, and main teaching buildings are situated, as well as the Bill Bryson library). There is also a frequent bus service from Bradford Crescent (bus stop 2min walk away) or Sunderland Road (bus stop approx. 8min walk away). The development is very quiet and friendly, with a mix of local professionals, academics, and mature students.

We would ideally like viewings to take place during the weekend of 19-20 September 2026.