Lodging options in London - living like a local

I have really enjoyed two stays with B&B networks in London - London Home to Home, and At Home in London. You are staying in someone's home, which for me is part of the charm; I had some great conversations with our hostesses over breakfast! Both networks have houses that can handle 3 people, and some even have self-contained studio apartments. One caveat: my daughter and I visited London a few years ago to see plays and musicals; we stayed in Chiswick and found it was a bit too far out for us after evening theater. We were close to the Tube but it was still awfully late when we got home. So if you plan on spending evenings in London, think about how late you may be getting back to your lodging.
You say "traveling in August" - if you mean next month, a lot of these places may be booked. Good luck, and have a great trip!

Have you looked into universities? Many rent out dorm rooms during off times and spare ones during school time. The London School of Economics even has a special apartment building that students run as a project and they rent apartments to tourists. With the dorm rooms you may be ensuite or a shared bathroom- check each building out, but you always get access to sutdnet services like the lounge (TV and game room), laundry room, kitchens or kitchenetts, etc. Some even have meal services. The apartments look nice, too. I've put their websites below, but be aware that they sometimes have problems and will list no availability when there are actually things available. The cost for each is very reasonable and they have multiple locations around central London- all near Tube stations and / or bus stops.

[lsetopfloor.co.uk][1]
[www.lsevacations.co.uk][2]

Kingston and Bromley are two large commuter towns c 30 minutes by train from central London. Neither are standard tourist destinations. Kingston is by far the more upmarket of the two, being located on the river but Bromley has the better rail service. Trains to both will run until at least midnight. Both areas are safe and have plenty of shopping.

You could also look at Blackheath or Greenwich in southeast London or Twickenham, Chiswick, Strawberry Hill or Richmond in west London or anywhere west that is on the river. The river west is generally better than the river heading east.

St Albans to the north is pleasant and has quick rail services to London.

Traveling at such short notice in peak season will severely limit your options and will push the price up.

We will be there in August 2016.

My family is getting the local feel by renting a flat via AirBnB in Hampstead. Hampstead is in London, zone 2, and is 20-30 minutes from the city center. You also have easy walking access to the Heath, (which has swimmable ponds in the summer!). Hampstead was recommended to us because it has a village feel, while still in London. It can be a bit pricey. Hope this helps.

My family is getting the local feel by renting a flat via AirBnB in Hampstead. Hampstead is in London, zone 2, and is 20-30 minutes from the city center. You also have easy walking access to the Heath, (which has swimmable ponds in the summer!). Hampstead was recommended to us because it has a village feel, while still in London. It can be a bit pricey. Hope this helps.

We've "lived" in several areas around London in the past few years by exchanging houses for 2-4 week periods. We made sure all of the locations had easy access by public transportation into central London.

We stayed in Twickenham, which is near Richmond and Chiswick. We liked all 3 of these cities a lot for their proximity to the Thames, tube/train connections, proximity to attractions to the west like Kew Gardens, Hampton Court Palace and Windsor. Richmond and Chiswick especially had very charming high streets. With the convenient transportation connections we could be "home" in about 30 minutes after a west end show.

A few years earlier we stayed outside of the city in St. Albans because we wanted to drive to the north and explore a bit more. This turned out great because St. Albans had so many historical layers of its own and a great rail connection (Thames Link) into London that zipped us to the center with very few stops in about 20 minutes.

This year we are exploring another home base, Ealing, which has a train line and 3 tube lines. They also have lots of busses which come about every 5 minutes for other travel options and directions. We are finding it to be very easy to get to and from and are enjoying our time also exploring places close to us when we aren't sightseeing in London for the day.

If you want to get the feel of living in a neighborhood and observing daily life in a charming neighborhood I'd encourage you to rent a flat after carefully checking on actual travel times between your home base and where you want to sightsee. Two apps, rome2rio and citymapper really help!

If you are looking for a 'riverside' location, one that has not been mentioned is Putney or for that matter the Hurlingham part of Fulham. Still plenty of long-time locals there if you look hard enough ... even if they are somewhat gentrified these days.