Renting in London

Alleycat

lonelyinlondon wrote:

Not sure about Shepherds' bush Alley Cat, my sister lived there a year or 2 ago (near Goldhawk Road) and felt very unsafe indeed!! Be careful .

Ah, its fine!! Thats my old stomping ground! Used to be a lot rougher than it is now. It isn't the most salubrious of areas, but the rents there are still pretty high unfortunately.

Joannaclaire

We live in Croydon. There are some not so nice parts - west and north of it, but south of it can be quite nice, such as near Purley. It's within Zone 5-6 (depending on where you live), but also close to the coutryside for days out to castles etc or Brighton.We originally moved there as a temporary thing to pay lower rent and save money, but find now it suits us well with all the amenities on our doorstep.

I freelance all over London so find it a great location as trains go into central London to Victoria, London Bridge, Charring Cross, Farringdon and so on, so from there I generally just catch a bus to where I'm working and cna get anywhere withing central London with an hour - which is about the same when actually living in the centre anyway. Also the busses are very good - one every 5 mins or so into central Croydon (which is great for Shopping - a flash new house of Fraser and all the high street shops you could want) or the other way into Purley where the big Tesco is.

Alleycat

Gosh, I haven't been to Croydon for years. Last time I was there, it was to the Shopping Centre where I dumped the weird ex!

It is somewhere that we would consider and I know what you mean about living further out for the community feel, plus as you say the transport links would be good. My sister lives on Abbey Road in North West London in a big tower block and she does feel quite isolated now she has a baby. She went to the local mum and baby group and got told off for talking!

LeanneF

One thing in favour of Wandsworth is that it has very low council tax...lowest in country I think...despite having some of the richest people in the country living there. I don't remember the poll tax, but I think the low council tax is a hangover from that & something to do with Dame Shirley Porter. Anyhow, back in 2002 I'm fairly sure it was £600 a year (band D) & that was after a massive increase from £400. When we moved out of the borough the council tax bill smarted.
Leanne

Joannaclaire

Alleycat wrote:

Gosh, I haven't been to Croydon for years. Last time I was there, it was to the Shopping Centre where I dumped the weird ex!

It is somewhere that we would consider and I know what you mean about living further out for the community feel, plus as you say the transport links would be good. My sister lives on Abbey Road in North West London in a big tower block and she does feel quite isolated now she has a baby. She went to the local mum and baby group and got told off for talking!

The shopping centre is now doubled in size since the Centrale opened a year or so ago, Allders is still there and apparenly John Lewis has plans to open up too, so all rather different I expect from when you were last there. There are lots of mum and baby/toddler things too locally according to a frined who's just had a baby and they are easy to get to as well. I'm sure they wouldn't mind you talking ;-)

Alleycat

I am feeling giddy!! I hadn't really looked previously for rented in Kingston but now I have I want to move sooooon. There seems to be a lot more unfurnished two bedroom flats/houses in this area compared to others.

What do people reckon the best/worst times of the year are to look for rented? I know someone (sorry, forgotten in all the excitement!) said that December was one of the best times, but what about other months in the year? Just looking now, there are some really fab deals to be had - £700 per month for what looks/sounds to be a reasonable property (well, the pics look nice).