Looking for a 2-3 person share in/around London

Please skip my ad if you're an estate agent or a male renter. And please read the whole thing before messaging, thanks!

Hello, I'm Ru 👋🏽 I'm looking to move next autumn (2025), and I've started looking very early because the rental market is an unregulated hellscape and I want to give myself enough time to find the right place/person.

I've lived in SE London for yonks and am open to moving somewhere in or around London (preferably not East). I'd like to share with 1-2 others max and open to buddying up or moving into an existing share. My budget is around £850 though I'm open to spending a little more for the right place.

I'm 37 and work in HE. I normally keep to standard office hours, usually working from home 1-2 days, and occasionally evenings and weekends. Ideally I would like to live with someone with a similar routine but happy to keep an open mind on this.

I'm looking for a long-term contract (18 month min) with a reliable option to extend. I'd like a double room with enough space for a desk and a good stretch. The kitchen is probably my fav/most important communal area, though I would love a shared living room and walking distance to a park or woodland would be great. My current living space is not clean, tidy or organised and this has been very stressful to deal with. Living with people who want to keep things clean, tidy and organised to a fairly high standard is really important to me and not something I can compromise on.

I would like to live with women or non-binary folks. I don't want to live with men, couples or children. Pets are great and I'd be delighted to live with a cat (personal favourite, no hate to canines) or a small, calm dog.

Personality-wise, I'm tidy, organised, pretty independent, friendly and on the quiet/introverted side. I like a fair amount of alone time, though I enjoy a good cackle and hope to be friends with whomever I share a home with. I like cooking, going out to eat, walking, fancy ceramics, and zoning out in front of the tv. I would love to live in a calm and peaceful household without too many people coming and going, and I'd really love to live with someone who cares about living in a well-loved and looked after home.

My values are firmly to the left and I'd rather not live with anyone who isn't. I'm queer and happy to live with people of any orientation, so long as you're not remotely bigoted. I'm not vegan or vegetarian and would prefer to avoid food-related rules unless it's allergy-related. I rarely drink but not at all fussed if you do.

If this aligns with what you're looking for, please drop me a line with some info about you and what you're looking for. Trying to find a place to live and someone to live with is exhausting and I've had some frankly insane responses, but I'm keen to devote time and effort to finding the right fit :)