London living advice

groen said:
I spend £150 a week on my one bedroom flat in Romford. :(

£150 for a student seems a lot. Must have rich parents.
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Seriously? I'm spending just shy of £100 on student accommodation and its pretty much covered by the loans. With my part time job managing £150 would be simples.
 
I'm not going to get into discussing rich parents and all that but it's certainly untrue for the five of us, personally I am on the minimum loan that there is - it doesn't cover my accommodation, and is quite a few thousand short, so I'm having to fund it via other methods.

I forgot to mention that the £150 p/w we are paying at the moment is obviously in halls so we aren't paying bills for internet/elec/gas etc.

We did talk about Camberwell and I think one of them mentioned that there's a load of new developments that have just gone up there that are for students as well as of course there's Camberwell College of Arts there too so will look into that.

I've been to Brixton a few times of an evening and I wouldn't want to walk around on my own - but I'm a bit like that anyway. In a group it seems absolutely fine, just have to be wary so it seemed OK and like you say seems a popular place to be going now.

We had questioned that because it was London if finding a 5 bed would be a bit of a pain in a good area as the houses I imagine will usually be smaller and 4 bed tops - would we see better results/value for money/area wise if we split and started looking at 3 beds etc?
 
TJM said:
Tooting is a nice area, but you may regret living that far out when trying to get a nightbus.
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N155, Trafalgar Square to Morden, never had any problems with it.

Tooting Broadway is only 15 minutes from Clapham on said night bus.
 
The biggest problems you will run in to our deposit, references.

If you split up this might make the above a bit easier. The estate agent might require a parent to sign on which might not be possible. Just phone one up and speak to them about it and tell them your situation.

If you have not been paying bills then i would drop that 150 down a lot as bills on top will be significant and you should over compensate in your budget for bills.

Many people share five bedroom houses in such a way so estate agents are used to it. I shared a house with 3-4 other people and we had no problems dividing up all the bills and the deposit etc.

It is a trade off when it comes to more people. if you share with less people you might not get a garden and a big kitchen as the house will be smaller, smaller bed rooms etc. 5 bed room houses are usually big and big gardens, new kitchens etc. But if you have 5 people in a house it can get a big chaotic and busy and dirty, but if you are students you could have more fun with 5 in a house.
 
DcD said:
You're mad aren't you? Anywhere "reasonable" in zone 1-3 is going to be like £1400 a month for two bedrooms max... Seriously.
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My (fairly decent) 2 bedroom flat in Zone 3 (granted its right on the edge of Zone 3/4) is a lot less than £1400/m - and its only 10 minutes into Waterloo East on the train. Granted you can easily pay 6-7K a month for a good 5 bed place in this area but theres also plenty of respectable properties with 4-6 bedrooms going at ~2.5K a month.
 
I live in the south east and because I share a room pay less than £60 a week including all bills, heating and internet. :D Win.
 
groen said:
The biggest problems you will run in to our deposit, references.

If you split up this might make the above a bit easier. The estate agent might require a parent to sign on which might not be possible. Just phone one up and speak to them about it and tell them your situation.

If you have not been paying bills then i would drop that 150 down a lot as bills on top will be significant and you should over compensate in your budget for bills.

Many people share five bedroom houses in such a way so estate agents are used to it. I shared a house with 3-4 other people and we had no problems dividing up all the bills and the deposit etc.

It is a trade off when it comes to more people. if you share with less people you might not get a garden and a big kitchen as the house will be smaller, smaller bed rooms etc. 5 bed room houses are usually big and big gardens, new kitchens etc. But if you have 5 people in a house it can get a big chaotic and busy and dirty, but if you are students you could have more fun with 5 in a house.
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This is something that concerns me personally quite a bit.

We are all male and are all Graphic Design students bar one, so we are pretty heavy on our Mac usage when we're doing work. We also all have a console, TV, printer etc. We have quite a lot of things that will soak up the electric I imagine and I think between us would get through quite a lot which is a concern.

We've found a few places that are reasonably priced and all inclusive, such as the place in Manor House that I mentioned earlier was £130 P/W with Internet, Bills, SKY etc all included - just a shame about the area.
 
Bucket said:
This is something that concerns me personally quite a bit.

We are all male and are all Graphic Design students bar one, so we are pretty heavy on our Mac usage when we're doing work. We also all have a console, TV, printer etc. We have quite a lot of things that will soak up the electric I imagine and I think between us would get through quite a lot which is a concern.

We've found a few places that are reasonably priced and all inclusive, such as the place in Manor House that I mentioned earlier was £130 P/W with Internet, Bills, SKY etc all included - just a shame about the area.
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If you're all graphic design students, you could always have a look at the Warehouses the come up around the Stoke Newington area - it's not always the easiest for transport, but there's certainly stuff to do there and you might be able to afford some of the places.

Also, I'd probably keep your eye open to see if any of the Long Street Workshops become available (on Kingsland Road near the top of Shoreditch High Street) as they may also cater for your requirements.
 
Pate said:
I live in the south east and because I share a room pay less than £60 a week including all bills, heating and internet. :D Win.
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Are you sharing with your partner? If so, then win, if some other person, then fail, regardless of price.

Bucket said:
We've found a few places that are reasonably priced and all inclusive, such as the place in Manor House that I mentioned earlier was £130 P/W with Internet, Bills, SKY etc all included - just a shame about the area.
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They have to sweeten the package to make up for the area ;)
 
Bucket said:
This is something that concerns me personally quite a bit.

We are all male and are all Graphic Design students bar one, so we are pretty heavy on our Mac usage when we're doing work. We also all have a console, TV, printer etc. We have quite a lot of things that will soak up the electric I imagine and I think between us would get through quite a lot which is a concern.

We've found a few places that are reasonably priced and all inclusive, such as the place in Manor House that I mentioned earlier was £130 P/W with Internet, Bills, SKY etc all included - just a shame about the area.
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Yeah that was an issue for my flat when i was living with my mates, we made sure we got all inclusive and didnt have to pay for electricity on top. Didnt care about heating as all our PCs/TVs kept it warm :D:D

also props for being a red ! ;)
 
Rroff said:
This is living in London tho you can be in a really nice area but 2 streets over its a complete dive.
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Something I really hate.

That's why I think Tooting has a decent balance.

Balham/Clapham to the North.
Putney/Southfields to the West.
Wimbledon to the South.
And Mitcham/Streatham to the East.

So just avoid the Eastern border and you are doing pretty well.
 
id give a shout out to finsbury park. nice area. as long as you stay the north side of the station. some lovely pubs. old dairy and especially the fultering fullback ( 1 of the top 10 in london ) and crouch end just down the road. good bus network. theres the victoria line which will get you to central and south to pimlico in about 17 minutes. also the piccadilly line. there is also an overground line that goes to old street then morgate for all your east end needs. you can get a nice place for pretty cheap too.

essentially its brilliant
 
toshj said:
If you're all graphic design students, you could always have a look at the Warehouses the come up around the Stoke Newington area - it's not always the easiest for transport, but there's certainly stuff to do there and you might be able to afford some of the places.

Also, I'd probably keep your eye open to see if any of the Long Street Workshops become available (on Kingsland Road near the top of Shoreditch High Street) as they may also cater for your requirements.
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Is this Warehouse conversions you are talking about? I'm not really sure, did a quick google and found some things. Some really nice stuff that's about 750 P/W for a 4 bed but with bills I'd imagine it's nearer 1000 P/W?

We don't have to pay council tax as we're students so the bills would be;

Internet
TV Licence
Electric
Gas
Water

I don't think I've missed anything although I'm not really sure!

What would the average sort of bill price do people think for 5 or so people? I'd imagine it's going to be quite high and I guess we'd be looking at 100 P/W for the place, and then 50 P/W for each person?

I genuinely have no idea so would really appreciate the help :(!

krooton said:
They have to sweeten the package to make up for the area ;)
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Certainly seems so!

This was the place I think;

http://www.accommodationforstudents.com/lookathouse.asp?id=22267

Lots of Manor House here so it seems like it's someone doing a load of development.

http://www.accommodationforstudents...=any&searchtype=city&numberofbedrooms=5&cost=
 
Bucket said:
Is this Warehouse conversions you are talking about? I'm not really sure, did a quick google and found some things. Some really nice stuff that's about 750 P/W for a 4 bed but with bills I'd imagine it's nearer 1000 P/W?

We don't have to pay council tax as we're students so the bills would be;

Internet
TV Licence
Electric
Gas
Water

I don't think I've missed anything although I'm not really sure!

What would the average sort of bill price do people think for 5 or so people? I'd imagine it's going to be quite high and I guess we'd be looking at 100 P/W for the place, and then 50 P/W for each person?

I genuinely have no idea so would really appreciate the help :(!
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I don't think any average costs I give you would be accurate in the slightest (our bills get stuff behind sofas immediately and only paid upon threat of being cut off!) but remember that this is an ideal situation to negotiate.

Find place you like (doesn't matter if it's £100 per week over your budget)

Ask the landlord/letting agents what the average bills were for the previous 12 months - and try to get proof if you can

Make them aware that you can move in immediately (or whenever), that you're flexible and that you're looking to rent for 24 months (only sign a 12 month contract if you can, with a 6 month break) and this should give them quite a bit comfort.

Then make cheeky bids - remember, the longer a place is on the market, the cheeper you're going to be able to get it for!
 
Clapham and surrounding seems a no-brainer though normally I'm loath to suggest it, purely because you're going to E&C or Pimlico you could walk it at a push and cycling is a breeze.
 
krooton said:
Ha! That's 5 minutes from where I used to live, on Eade Road to the south.
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A no go area then :D?

With regards to asking the Landlord for the price of bills last year that's good advice if I can get that info off them would be handy.

I've had quite a few friends suggest Clapham too so it definitely seems like somewhere to look at.
 
As others have mentioned, South West London is going to be your best bet.

When they reviewed the quality of life in London in an article recently, something like 12 out of 15 of the best places to live were South West.

Just take a look at a map of Greater London, basically all of the biggest parks in London are SW, people are generally more civilised and better behaved and the rents aren't totally crazy - yet.

Don't be fixated on having a 'true' London postcode either, KT and TW postcodes include some of the nicest parts of London too - and some of the worst too to be fair.

I'm offering an informed opinion too as I live in SW and my job has taken me all over London. There's very little of it I've not experienced - unless you've got big bucks (which evidently you wont as freshly qualified students) very few parts of it are worth living in at all.


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