Which areas should I look for places to rent in London?

Cheetah Designs

Cheetah Designs

Cheetah Designs

Associate
Joined
10 Jul 2006
Posts
2,423
I will be starting a new job soon near London Bridge.

I would like to live within 30 mins commute if possible. I don't know London all that well so was hoping for some suggestions for where I won't get stabbed - looking for somewhere relatively quiet with a nice local pub.

Max £1000 pcm but ideally would like lower.

Obviously I'm not expecting people to look for a place for me, I'm just looking for some suggestions on areas so I can look myself.
 
Crystal Palace has direct trains to London Bridge and would take about 25 minutes or you could get the Overground and Jubilee lines to do the same job, however you might want to check if they're at suitable times for you. It's also a bit away from the City Centre and South of the River so might be a pain getting back late at night.

It's fairly quiet and there are some nice green spaces around - can't really recommend any pubs in particular as I don't go out there often enough but I've enjoyed Westow House on a few occasions.
 
If you're after a more rural location you could try sanderstead woldingham Hurst green they are 30 mins ish from LB overland southern train
 
Cheetah Designs said:
Looking like the top end of my budget in those places....are they particularly nice?
Click to expand...

They're not particularly nice but they're popular with new grads and aussies - good night life plenty of bars etc.. - if you're in your early 20s then its prob worth a look.

On the down side they're on the other side of South London and also on the northern line (which is pretty dire) and well into the top end of 30 mins away in terms of commute - in reality you'd be looking at over 30 mins to get to work door to door.

I'd look at the overground and South East London - New Cross, Lee, Black Heath - you can get a train direct to London bridge in more like 15 mins. Lee and Black heath are near to each other (Lee is slightly cheaper) - black heath is a nice area, few nice bars/pubs though not as much nightlife as Clapham. New Cross has a fair few students about, not as nice an area but very quick to get to London Bridge.

(edit- I'm assuming you're looking at renting a 1 bed flat - if you're going for a flatshare and want a nice area then disregard the above and get a flatshare close to upper street in Angel - this is where I moved to when I first came to London and its the best area IMHO if you're in your 20s etc..)
 
Last edited:
dowie said:
On the down side they're on the other side of South London and also on the northern line (which is pretty dire) and well into the top end of 30 mins away in terms of commute - in reality you'd be looking at over 30 mins to get to work door to door.
Click to expand...

You know, I used to assume that, but after living on it for the past 6 years, it's really not that bad. Had more issues with the Jubilee when I live on the Isle of Dogs. Purely based on what I here on announcements, bakerloo and hammersmith & city are the 2 worst lines for problems.
 
I used to use it and tbh.. am only comparing it to the overground, which I use now- but personally (and I realise its subjective) I thought it was dire.

the below

http://www.thelondonmagazine.co.uk/...Underground-which-is-the-worst-tube-line.html

has it down as the second worst line behind the central line - again its probably quite subjective though.

edit - I guess my recommendation to the OP is to avoid the tube in general - there are plenty of quick overground services to London Bridge :)
 
Last edited:
Does that £1000 a month include the commuting costs or are you fine with putting them on top? Personally I'd rather pay a little bit more and live closer (and not have to pay as much commuting) than living farther out and paying several hundred a month.

I'd also avoid south of the river if you want to spend time in central london as the connections north and south of the river just... don't, other than the tube. Could be fun when you're trying to get back after midnight...
 
Amp34 said:
Does that £1000 a month include the commuting costs or are you fine with putting them on top? Personally I'd rather pay a little bit more and live closer (and not have to pay as much commuting) than living farther out and paying several hundred a month.

I'd also avoid south of the river if you want to spend time in central london as the connections north and south of the river just... don't, other than the tube. Could be fun when you're trying to get back after midnight...
Click to expand...


TBH....didn't take travel expenses into account. So I get that price was excluding travel expenses.
 
Amp34 said:
I'd also avoid south of the river if you want to spend time in central london as the connections north and south of the river just... don't, other than the tube. Could be fun when you're trying to get back after midnight...
Click to expand...

To be fair the Tube normally stops about Midnight anyway so it's not as if the options are that much worse when you're relying on the ordinary trains - they tend to go just as late. I can get a train back from Victoria to where I live at around Midnight for example.

I'm in complete agreement that it's a pain after that point and that's why I highlighted it earlier but depending on priorities I don't think it's completely worth writing off areas for it. 24 hour city - pah.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom