Moving to London in a few weeks. Best areas to look at?

Phoenix211 · 29 Jul 2008 at 17:55

Hey all,

well, got my first job out of uni in the big city! Question is, where should I look at living. Will be working in Covent Garden and I really have no idea whats the best place. Money wise, cheaper is better as not on a huge amount to start with

Ive heard good stuff about Acton and angel but really, I'm clueless!

Cheers

sid · 29 Jul 2008 at 18:02

Phoenix211 said:
Hey all,

well, got my first job out of uni in the big city! Question is, where should I look at living. Will be working in Covent Garden and I really have no idea whats the best place. Money wise, cheaper is better as not on a huge amount to start with Ive heard good stuff about Acton and angel but really, I'm clueless!

Cheers

islington, hammersmith, st johns wood, bayswater, paddington, stratford.

covent garden is picadilly so important to have something with easy access to work

sid

scorza · 29 Jul 2008 at 18:06

Think Stoke Newington is still reasonably cheap. No tube but only 30 mins by bus from the High Street to Covent Garden. Not the nicest area, but not the worst either.

Hedge · 29 Jul 2008 at 18:06

Kent

Spleenus · 29 Jul 2008 at 18:37

There's always further out on the Piccadily line up in zone 3/4 such as Oakwood, Southgate and Arnos Grove? Would be cheaper living up there than down near central London.

Lord-Jaffa · 29 Jul 2008 at 18:44

Surrey

Takes 20mins on train to get to central london from here. I would not live in london for anything, rather spend a bit longer commuting. Suppose if you live quite far away though you would want to live closer to work for socialising etc. Personally i cannot stand socialising with people i work with, bad enough seeing them everyday

Phoenix211 · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:21

I want to be fairly close as I may be on call or working long hours etc. Socializing I don't mind as it seems like a fun company!

Indy500 · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:23

It'll be expensive then. Is the job worth it?

Phoenix211 · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:25

totally

its in TV! When I say close I mean zone 2 to 3 ish. Sharing is possible, hopefully some of my uni mates will be getting jobs soon and I can work something out with them, if not then i'll have to find nice people lol.

Indy500 · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:26

Assuming you want a flat in an upmarket area, you're looking at ~£700-800 a month.

Phoenix211 · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:29

not that upmarket then

realistically, I think we are looking at 400-450...

i'm probably way of target but some things ive seen on gumtree suggest that is a doable price?

Indy500 · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:30

Phoenix211 said:
not that upmarket then realistically, I think we are looking at 400-450...

i'm probably way of target but some things ive seen on gumtree suggest that is a doable price?

For a flat? Probably excluding bills\CT, or in a "nasty" area. I've yet to find one that was actually that low without a catch.

Phoenix211 · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:33

sr4470 said:
For a flat? Probably excluding bills\CT, or in a "nasty" area. I've yet to find one that was actually that low without a catch.

are you looking at single ones or sharing? if the latter then I will need to reevaluate

Indy500 · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:36

Phoenix211 said:
are you looking at single ones or sharing? if the latter then I will need to reevaluate

Single, and most of the ones <£500 were studios.

thor · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:37

I've only just moved down to London myself and will be moving into a house (sharing with 2 others) in the Ealing/Acton area this weekend. It's costing me £550pm including all bills so it's not too expensive, and the house is very nice with a nice big bedroom, conservatory, garden etc. So yeah, Ealing/Acton area may be ideal for you as it's also on the Picadilly line.

Indy500 · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:39

thor said:
I've only just moved down to London myself and will be moving into a house (sharing with 2 others) in the Ealing/Acton area this weekend. It's costing me £550pm including all bills so it's not too expensive, and the house is very nice with a nice big bedroom, conservatory, garden etc. So yeah, Ealing/Acton area may be ideal for you as it's also on the Picadilly line.

An entire house for £550? Can't be big then.

Edit: I see now, nevermind.

Phoenix211 · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:39

thor said:
I've only just moved down to London myself and will be moving into a house (sharing with 2 others) in the Ealing/Acton area this weekend. It's costing me £550pm including all bills so it's not too expensive, and the house is very nice with a nice big bedroom, conservatory, garden etc. So yeah, Ealing/Acton area may be ideal for you as it's also on the Picadilly line.

awesome. How did you find out about it? through contacts or via the internet?

Rich_L · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:39

Yeah you get raped if you want to live singly in London, if you're gonna do that you may as well live outside and commute in.

Houseshare for £500 a month will get you nice places almost anywhere in Zone 2/3 if you look around, keep an eye out on Gumtree, Moveflat.com, rollonfriday.com accomodation section

If you're working in Covent Garden you can live anywhere, Holborn, Oxford Circus are all easily walkable so any tube line will suit you fine.

Personally I share a house with 3 other guys in Seven Sisters, pretty ghetto but great transport links for City and Central London, we have 4 big double bedrooms, decent sized kitchen and bathroom, nice garden/patio area and pay £400pm each, £500 if you include all bills inc. broadband etc.

House-sharing is definitely the way to go when you first move up, far more sociable and have loads more disposable cash to enjoy yourself with!

thor · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:44

Phoenix211 said:
awesome. How did you find out about it? through contacts or via the internet?

Just through searching on the net. Spent a lot of time looking through Gumtree, viewed 3 rooms but they weren't what I was looking for (one was disgusting, 2 were too small) so ended up checking out www.rightmove.co.uk and went with one on there. Had to pay £75 extra admin charge as it was through a letting agent though.

Indy500 · 29 Jul 2008 at 19:46

If you're going to share a house, then you can get a reasonable room for around £300-350 a month. Don't spend more than you need to, tube costs are quite high in central London...