Well, I live oop in North London in a place called Bounds Green. It's still fairly cheap on the rental sides, around £300-£400! a month for a room in a shared house, but that doesn't normally include bills. It about £22 for a weekly travelcard into london and takes about 45mins to get to LGU.
My tip for flat hunting in London; the first thing to do is pick a few areas that you can afford and can see yourself living in and concentrate on finding somewhere in these areas. Once you know where you want to live, then blitz all the flats till you find one you like.
Anyway, good luck and I don't envy you...
