Renting a home in Lille

Hi,
I have been living in Lambersart, 2 mins from the metro for a few months in a 2 bed apartment with a tiny garden (big enough for some flowers and 2 people to lie out in , not big enough for a football match. When we were looking we set a budget of between 700 and 850. We ended up with 836 but the 'frais' for using a agency was the 836 too so using an agency can be the expensive part. Our budget was a bit limiting cause there were plenty for 900/1000 but we just couldn't afford that. Also, in France, somee agencies will not rent you a place that is more then 1/3 of your monthly salary. Lambersart is lovely...it was the only one we looked at that had a garden (which is why we chose it in the end. It's quite residential and has quite  a few schools.However it is one of the posh areas so we may just have been lucky. There are shops such as ED, Match and carrefour is at the end of the red line. St Maurice is quite nice and central but i think if your looking for a garden you may have to try a bit out of town.We looked in the vieux lille as well but it was very expensive and the apartments were small.I had to be on the metro line because of work so our search was coloured by that.
Hope that helps.