Moving To/Living In London Megathread - ALL QUESTIONS TO GO HERE

lufties

djpbarry wrote: »

Really depends on what you mean by "expensive". Shepherd's Bush isn't that expensive by London standards and Hammersmith definitely isn't. How much are you prepared to pay?

Thanks for the quick reply, my salary will be around 40-45k per year all up, I suppose I'd pay up to 1k per month max.

djpbarry

lufties wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply, my salary will be around 40-45k per year all up...

That's a good salary by London standards.

lufties wrote: »

...I suppose I'd pay up to 1k per month max.

I don't think that's realistic. If you want a decent place in a decent area, I think you're looking at £1,200 per month, minimum. Then you've got bills and council tax on top of that.

lufties

djpbarry wrote: »

That's a good salary by London standards.
I don't think that's realistic. If you want a decent place in a decent area, I think you're looking at £1,200 per month, minimum. Then you've got bills and council tax on top of that.

:eek:, sharing its gonna be so..:D

djpbarry

lufties wrote: »

:eek:, sharing its gonna be so..:D

I wouldn't be quite so quick to rule out renting on your own just yet. You can definitely afford to live on your own, so I would explore the possibility before making any decision one way or the other. I'm a similar age to yourself and if I were single, I would definitely be trying to find a place of my own rather than sharing. There's a lot to be said for being able to relax in your own private space at the end of hard day at work - you can't put a price on that in my opinion.

Have a look at the different property sites (for example: www.rightmove.co.uk) and get a feel for what's available where. Start with Shepherd's Bush I guess (not a bad spot) and see if it's tempting. I wouldn't consider Hammersmith myself, but a bit further west is Chiswick, which is a nice spot. Ealing might also be an option - don't know it myself but it's been mentioned on here a few times and it would leave you with a very easy commute.

lufties

djpbarry wrote: »

I wouldn't be quite so quick to rule out renting on your own just yet. You can definitely afford to live on your own, so I would explore the possibility before making any decision one way or the other. I'm a similar age to yourself and if I were single, I would definitely be trying to find a place of my own rather than sharing. There's a lot to be said for being able to relax in your own private space at the end of hard day at work - you can't put a price on that in my opinion.

Have a look at the different property sites (for example: www.rightmove.co.uk) and get a feel for what's available where. Start with Shepherd's Bush I guess (not a bad spot) and see if it's tempting. I wouldn't consider Hammersmith myself, but a bit further west is Chiswick, which is a nice spot. Ealing might also be an option - don't know it myself but it's been mentioned on here a few times and it would leave you with a very easy commute.

thanks very much for the information, i've lived in 4 different countries in the last 5 years and always had my own place. I'm currently in Hong kong paying 1200euro for a one bed apt, but its a great deal I got with it considering other rents. i like to cook so would love my own space, but at the same time I don't think I could handle a studio flat(defo not long term at least).

Will check out rightmove.co.uk, a lad I know in the same job recommended hammersmith, bayswater or shepards bush, will check the other areas you mentioned.

Grandpa Hassan

Djpbarry is right that you shouldn't rule out living on your own, especially out in places like Ealing

But like myself when I moved to London (having owned my own home in Dublin for a decade, and living in my own for the most part) you have to make a decision: do you want to live on your own in a place that isn't great, whether by size or location, or live in a much nicer place but sharing.

Or take the third way, which I do. Rent a nice two bed place yourself, then rent the spare room on a series of short term lets....up to 3 months. So you can have a break from sharing every 3 months or so. Or else rent the room on a Monday to Friday basis, for which there is tons of demand (though not being close to the city, that would be harder)

People will warn you against subletting, but in my experience LLs don't really mind as long as they get their money from you. And you can live somewhere much nicer, and only live with someone half the time

lufties

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

Djpbarry is right that you shouldn't rule out living on your own, especially out in places like Ealing

But like myself when I moved to London (having owned my own home in Dublin for a decade, and living in my own for the most part) you have to make a decision: do you want to live on your own in a place that isn't great, whether by size or location, or live in a much nicer place but sharing.

Or take the third way, which I do. Rent a nice two bed place yourself, then rent the spare room on a series of short term lets....up to 3 months. So you can have a break from sharing every 3 months or so. Or else rent the room on a Monday to Friday basis, for which there is tons of demand (though not being close to the city, that would be harder)

People will warn you against subletting, but in my experience LLs don't really mind as long as they get their money from you. And you can live somewhere much nicer, and only live with someone half the time

Sounds like a good idea subletting, but also sounds like a lot of stress, strangers coming and going the whole time. I'm starting a new job too so that's a stress in itself. I might take a gander at ealing, is it close to a line to heathrow? think I'm gonna be a T5.

claus_irl

Hi Guys, I am planning to relocate a bit outside London, somewhere near Gillingham area in Kent next year, my salary will be 1,650 per month net(take home) and I will be working from home 1-2 weeks per month and the rest in London City Centre so I will not need to pay for transport full time, I have a car and a wife that won't have a job for a while until she finds one, can I manage to save anything taking into consideration the possible costs? rent prices in the area I was looking at are around 600-700 pounds with council tax included.

Louche Lad

claus_irl wrote: »

Hi Guys, I am planning to relocate a bit outside London, somewhere near Gillingham area in Kent next year, my salary will be 1,650 per month net(take home) and I will be working from home 1-2 weeks per month and the rest in London City Centre so I will not need to pay for transport full time, I have a car and a wife that won't have a job for a while until she finds one, can I manage to save anything taking into consideration the possible costs? rent prices in the area I was looking at are around 600-700 pounds with council tax included.

Why Gillingham? It's a rough area (there's a reason why it's so much cheaper than London).

PH4T

Do people think the Help to Buy scheme is a good idea?

Is anyone here planning to avail of it?

djpbarry

claus_irl wrote: »

Hi Guys, I am planning to relocate a bit outside London, somewhere near Gillingham area in Kent next year, my salary will be 1,650 per month net(take home) and I will be working from home 1-2 weeks per month and the rest in London City Centre so I will not need to pay for transport full time...

Why would you live all the way out in Gillingham if you're going to be working in London? That's going to be a costly, time-consuming commute and, as said above, Gillingham is not known for being a nice area.

claus_irl wrote: »

...I have a car...

You're not planning on commuting by car are you?!?

claus_irl wrote: »

...and a wife that won't have a job for a while until she finds one...

That shouldn't take long, assuming she's looking in London. Not sure about Kent though.

claus_irl

djpbarry wrote: »

Why would you live all the way out in Gillingham if you're going to be working in London? That's going to be a costly, time-consuming commute and, as said above, Gillingham is not known for being a nice area.
You're not planning on commuting by car are you?!?
That shouldn't take long, assuming she's looking in London. Not sure about Kent though.

Ok guys, change of mind about Gillingham, I guess Reading will do, I don't mind really where as long as it's the outskirts of London, outside the M25, I will be commuting by train and tube so I will be buying a combo ticket that includes train & tube, how much do you think the spendings will be in total, food / bills etc etc? any help would be appreciated, thanks.

enda1

claus_irl wrote: »

Ok guys, change of mind about Gillingham, I guess Reading will do, I don't mind really where as long as it's the outskirts of London, outside the M25, I will be commuting by train and tube so I will be buying a combo ticket that includes train & tube, how much do you think the spendings will be in total, food / bills etc etc? any help would be appreciated, thanks.

You know that reading would be £120/week for the train alone make sure to factor that into your calculations when talking about the prices. It is an option surely but not one I'd jump at if at all possible.

claus_irl

enda1 wrote: »

You know that reading would be £120/week for the train alone make sure to factor that into your calculations when talking about the prices. It is an option surely but not one I'd jump at if at all possible.

Hi Enda, I checked the prices on nationalrail.co.uk and it worked out at £87 per 7 days for the ticket of the train alone, assuming I add the tube it would be around £150 tops, right?

enda1

claus_irl wrote: »

Hi Enda, I checked the prices on nationalrail.co.uk and it worked out at £87 per 7 days for the ticket of the train alone, assuming I add the tube it would be around £150 tops, right?

Not really sure where you're getting those prices but it's £102.6 in the new year. Zone 1, 1 week railcard will be £31.40 in the new year too (but you'd be better off just paying that pay as you go if you're just doing two journeys a day).

ballsymchugh

claus_irl wrote: »

Ok guys, change of mind about Gillingham, I guess Reading will do, I don't mind really where as long as it's the outskirts of London, outside the M25, I will be commuting by train and tube so I will be buying a combo ticket that includes train & tube, how much do you think the spendings will be in total, food / bills etc etc? any help would be appreciated, thanks.

gillingham is about 10 mins from where i live. while it itself is a ****hole, there are plenty of nice small villages around it with easy access to the m2, like hempstead or bredhurst.

djpbarry

claus_irl wrote: »

...outside the M25...

Why are you only considering places so far away - I really doubt the savings in rent justify it?

lufties

djpbarry wrote: »

Why are you only considering places so far away - I really doubt the savings in rent justify it?

Dj do you much about the Ealing area?

woof im a dog

whats wrong if the op wants to live outside the m25

ballsymchugh

woof im a dog wrote: »

whats wrong if the op wants to live outside the m25

it's amazing that some of us function perfectly fine outside it at all!

djpbarry

lufties wrote: »

Dj do you much about the Ealing area?

No, not really, sorry. I'm sure someone else on here probably knows something though.

djpbarry

woof im a dog wrote: »

whats wrong if the op wants to live outside the m25

Nobody's saying there's anything wrong with it, but it seems that, in this particular case, living inside the M25 has been dismissed out of hand on the grounds that rents are too high. Therefore, it is simply being pointed out that the combined cost of renting and commuting may well be lower in some places inside the M25 versus some places outside the M25. Simply put, it's more complicated than "farther away from central London is cheaper".

djpbarry

djpbarry wrote: »

Nobody's saying there's anything wrong with it, but it seems that, in this particular case, living inside the M25 has been dismissed out of hand on the grounds that rents are too high. Therefore, it is simply being pointed out that the combined cost of renting and commuting may well be lower in some places inside the M25 versus some places outside the M25. Simply put, it's more complicated than "farther away from central London is cheaper".

I've found that with London, whatever you save in rent, you pay in transport. I lived in Central London for a year and people used to ask me how I could afford it...well, I wasn't really taking the Tube at all. I could walk almost everywhere. I moved out to Zone 4 and paid 200 less in rent, but then my Oyster card was almost 170 a month and I had a long commute. I look into living outside the M25 and commuting in, but it just wasn't any cheaper, unless you went for a really rough town like Gillingham, because of the train fare. I found it's really much of a muchness in the end.

Am wondering myself if anyone has any experience of living in Brixton, Streatham or surrounding areas? Lease is up in a few months and sick and tired of North London now...too quiet...feels like we're paying London prices to live a suburban lifestyle. Love Brixton but it's got pretty expensive to rent there now. Some other parts of South London are much cheaper but then have no tube link and/or are quite dodgy...any advice?

susanhope

I've ate at the The Pelton Arms and can confirm the food is very good.

Lump

lufties wrote: »

Dj do you much about the Ealing area?

I lived in the Ealing area for a number of years. Very nice, rather expensive, I think it's worth it to rent there, but alas when I bought my flat it was too expensive to buy there, so I bought in W12.

Terrontress

Gerald Curved Elevator wrote: »

I've found that with London, whatever you save in rent, you pay in transport. I lived in Central London for a year and people used to ask me how I could afford it...well, I wasn't really taking the Tube at all. I could walk almost everywhere. I moved out to Zone 4 and paid 200 less in rent, but then my Oyster card was almost 170 a month and I had a long commute. I look into living outside the M25 and commuting in, but it just wasn't any cheaper, unless you went for a really rough town like Gillingham, because of the train fare. I found it's really much of a muchness in the end.

Am wondering myself if anyone has any experience of living in Brixton, Streatham or surrounding areas? Lease is up in a few months and sick and tired of North London now...too quiet...feels like we're paying London prices to live a suburban lifestyle. Love Brixton but it's got pretty expensive to rent there now. Some other parts of South London are much cheaper but then have no tube link and/or are quite dodgy...any advice?

Yeah, I know those areas well. Brixton is quite trendy, as you say. There isn't much dodgy surrounding it either, with the exception of those Brixton estates closer to town. Places like Herne Hill, Dulwich are very posh. You'll know Clapham already.

Streatham is on the up too but has the worst high street known to man. Picture doing your shopping at Lidl and walking out to a dual carriageway! Any further south of Streatham, such as Norbury or Croydon, you might as well not live in London.

West Norwood is maybe worth considering. Where do you commute to?

Crystal Palace is nice, has a good café culture, nice pubs, park, leisure centre but is a fair bit further out than Brixton.

bill_lehane

I've lived in southeast London for over two years now and find that it still seems like a hidden gem to most Irish people who stick to the traditional spots like Clapham etc. The best villages are probably the ones on the overground (Brockley, Honor Oak, Forest Hill etc) but the regular trains into London Bridge are fast enough anyways also.

Terrontress

Terrontress wrote: »

Yeah, I know those areas well. Brixton is quite trendy, as you say. There isn't much dodgy surrounding it either, with the exception of those Brixton estates closer to town. Places like Herne Hill, Dulwich are very posh. You'll know Clapham already.

Streatham is on the up too but has the worst high street known to man. Picture doing your shopping at Lidl and walking out to a dual carriageway! Any further south of Streatham, such as Norbury or Croydon, you might as well not live in London.

West Norwood is maybe worth considering. Where do you commute to?

Crystal Palace is nice, has a good café culture, nice pubs, park, leisure centre but is a fair bit further out than Brixton.

Was considering Streatham as it is a good bit cheaper than Brixton, but the high street is quite grim alright. Would still consider it though - if anyone reading this lives there and could give advice, please let me know! I think Clapham is plain unaffordable for us, as is Balham. Croydon is quite cheap but is very unsafe...I hear endless reports of muggings, stabbings and the like from friends who live round there. I've always thought of West Norwood as being similar...is it not as bad?

What has kept me in North London up to now is that most of South London isn't on a tube line so I'd be relying on the Overground or mainline trains - is that easy to get used to? At the moment I generally wait no more than 5 mins for a train at any time of day...I'd imagine some of the mainline trains would only be 4-5 an hour or something?

I currently work in the Euston area but that may well change in the next few months. My job isn't stable, so would rather just pick an area I like and which has good transport links, so even if I can't get to work directly, I could easily change somewhere.

bill_lehane wrote: »

I've lived in southeast London for over two years now and find that it still seems like a hidden gem to most Irish people who stick to the traditional spots like Clapham etc. The best villages are probably the ones on the overground (Brockley, Honor Oak, Forest Hill etc) but the regular trains into London Bridge are fast enough anyways also.

I don't know how anyone affords to live in Clapham. They must all be earning a lot more than me! What are the regular train links like to Brockley, Forest Hill, etc? I've only been down there once on the Overground and the trains seemed to run every 10 mins to either West Croydon or Crystal Palace...is that typical? Is it more frequent during rush hour?

Playboy

I have lived in Streatham/Balham now for about 7 years. Can advise you on anything you need.

bill_lehane

Gerald Curved Elevator wrote: »

I don't know how anyone affords to live in Clapham. They must all be earning a lot more than me! What are the regular train links like to Brockley, Forest Hill, etc? I've only been down there once on the Overground and the trains seemed to run every 10 mins to either West Croydon or Crystal Palace...is that typical? Is it more frequent during rush hour?

Yeah i've heard Clapham's expensive to rent in alright. Brockley and Forest Hill both have a mix of mainline and overground trains, more like every five minutes i'd say for the OG, and perhaps 10 for the regular trains which are a nice short ride into the london bridge/city area but if you're working at Euston perhaps living at a tube stop would be more of a factor.