Moving to London next week. Where to live?

boYce

boYce

boYce

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I've landed my first proper job after uni (High-five!) and will be moving to London next week. I actually start work on Monday but will be sofa surfing for the first week till I find something permanent. Im working in the Tea building, Shorditch, 10 mins walk North of Liverpool st. station. I've only been to London a handful of time so before I unwittingly move into a ghetto can you southeners out there give me some advice on where is nice and where to avoid?

Budget is about £550 per month.
Gonna get a room in a shared house off gumtree.
Maximum morning commute 20/30mins.
I'm happy to bike to work or tube if weather is bad.
I've got some friends in Islingotn and Clapham.
 
£550 per month will get you nothing decent. Probably a small 1 bed studio that will be crap. Getting a room from Gumtree will again, be equally crap.

I have friends in Islington, it is a nice area. Lots of shops, restaurants, good distance to everything central in London.
If you look at Mile End area stay away from the Bow side and tend more towards the Stepney Green side. Bow tends to be a bit dangerous. Especially around Roman Road estates.
 
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Limehouse is close to Shoreditch and a nice spot but I'm not sure how many houseshares are about tbh. What's your criteria other than the above?

Oh and commuting from Clapham is a nghtmare.
 
Dan87 said:
hackney, brixton, bow, wood green
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lol trying some good choices of area there? Wood green isn't that bad, Tottenham and Edmonton on the other hand....

If you have friends in Islington that isn't such a bad place and would make it easier to settle in at the beginning. I considered Islington as one of the places to move to when I moved to London.
 
Anywhere in SE London is a pain to get to Liverpool Street so cross it off. You want to look in the east end or north London ideally. You probably want to do the London thing so Shoreditch, Bow, Bethnal Green, Hoxton all worth looking at and REALLY close to where you work. All safe to walk around alone these days too ;) :D
 
Ricochet J said:
£550 per month will get you nothing decent.
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Not entirely true... Just gotta do your research. As suggested shoreditch/islington are worth looking at. My sister lives in whitechapel which seems like a fun place to be... all the markets nearby. She pays under £500 for a 2 bed flat (shared) in a fairly new, gated development. I lived in Rotherhithe which is probably a bit far and you have to cross the river... But limehouse could be an option.

Also, don't rule out bus travel:) As long as you get on a decent route, it's by far the nicest way to travel in london.

Congrats on the job!
 
Spleenus said:
lol trying some good choices of area there? Wood green isn't that bad, Tottenham and Edmonton on the other hand....

If you have friends in Islington that isn't such a bad place and would make it easier to settle in at the beginning. I considered Islington as one of the places to move to when I moved to London.
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lived in Palmers Green for 11 years. n13 all day bitch!. but wood green is pretty bad, depends if you're a young troubled kid growing up there really. most my old mates live in Edmonton.
 
Dan87 said:
lived in Palmers Green for 11 years. n13 all day bitch!. but wood green is pretty bad, depends if you're a young troubled kid growing up there really. most my old mates live in Edmonton.
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nah, N14 all day! Worked in wood green too, lots of people seem to think it's much better these days but I still wouldn't live there. Probably more reputation than anything now.
 
i was once kidnapped by the woodgreen M.O.B when i was 15, was battered with crowbars and had fags put out on me etc. true story
 
Trouble with living in Hackney is the lack of tube. If you don't mind Mainline, the Overground service or Buses then Hackney will seem very attractive.

Leyton and Leytonstone, which is further east is a really good area to live with relatively cheap rent rates compared to the rest of London.
 
Ricochet J said:
£550 per month will get you nothing decent. Getting a room from Gumtree will again, be equally crap.
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Nah, I've had a look over the last week and was pleasently suprised to see you could get a decent sized room in a modern furnished house for £120 a week.

Jonny69 said:
Anywhere in SE London is a pain to get to Liverpool Street so cross it off.
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Sounds like SW/Clapham is a pain for getting in aswell. Am i best just crossing off south of the river all together then?

Jonny69 said:
You want to look in the east end or north London ideally. You probably want to do the London thing so Shoreditch, Bow, Bethnal Green, Hoxton all worth looking at and REALLY close to where you work. All safe to walk around alone these days too ;) :D
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Seeing as work is in shoreditch I wouldnt mind living a little bit out (prob north from the sounds of it) so its not always so manic. How about stoke newington?

Stupot_ said:
Congrats on the job!
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Cheers
 
£550 isnt a bad budget is that including bills or not?

I'm currently commuting from elephant and castle to liverpool street, area isnt that bad, good transport links (takes me 20 mins to get in on the bus) and quite easy to get out to the west end. Though i would not recomment living near the old kent road/walworth road. (the part towards lambeth north is the nicest)

Old street/Islington is quite a nice area, and you could probably walk/ride to work. The east end can be hit and miss, but you get a hell of a lot more for your money.
 
My superb Google skills tell me that your building is near Old Street, which gives you a lot of options as it is on the Northern Line. For £550 a month, I'd recommend somewhere south (like Kennington or Camberwell, which is a short trip up the New Road to Oval station) or east. You will not get anything particularly good in Angel or Clapham for £550 a month without a lot of digging.
 
Live outside the area, travel to your job. You get more for your money the further out you are from the Centre.
 
TJM said:
My superb Google skills tell me that your building is near Old Street, which gives you a lot of options as it is on the Northern Line. For £550 a month, I'd recommend somewhere south (like Kennington or Camberwell, which is a short trip up the New Road to Oval station) or east. You will not get anything particularly good in Angel or Clapham for £550 a month without a lot of digging.
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That not bad advice, depends how much you can take on your commute. Somewhere like Balham or Tooting (south of clapham) will be nice and cheaper than clapham itself but it'll be busy in the morning. And you're at the mercy of the northern line. I worked very near there and lived in clapham for 3 years, it's cool but it's not the most fun in the world in the morning.

Remember the hammersmith and city/circle line will get you there pretty quick too, so that opens up a fair bit of west london too (shepherds bush/hammersmith are central-ish and reasonably cheap).

Really it's fairly limitless, depends what you like. There's no point living clapham way if you're not going to go out round there for instance...
 
Ricochet J said:
£550 per month will get you nothing decent. Probably a small 1 bed studio that will be crap. Getting a room from Gumtree will again, be equally crap.
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I don't agree with that, I have a couple friends paying £450 and £500 a month for rooms in flats of three. One only 3 min walk from Waterloo. Both great flats, large communal rooms, well furnished.

Sure, there's lots of crap out there but after looking at half a dozen you're likely to find something good. £550 is a decent budget for a room in a house/flat of ~3 people.
 
I'd vote for north London! I'm in Sevensisters (Victoria Line). The budget might be a bit of an issue though and as someone already said for £550 per month I don't think you will get much more than a small studio place. Don't forget travel expenses to add on top of monthly spend! (Zone 1-3 Travelcard is £30.20 for reference).
 
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