Where to live in London - moving from Birmingham - all so expensive and confusing!!!

chewmylegoff

Alibear wrote: »

Sidcup: Zone 5, SE. Maybe something like this? http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-18321669.html

I used to live in this very area, so am a tiny bit biased! But it's v. close to the station with links to London Bridge, Waterloo, Charing Cross and Cannon Street, meaning you might not even need to buy a tube pass, saving £50+ a month in travel.

i used to live next door to sidcup in new eltham - wasn't bad at all, i quite liked it there.

however, it was a complete nightmare for getting to my parents' house just west of birmingham. unless you would be going on the train from central london straight after work, i really wouldn't recommend. you have to drive all the way around the M25, which is murder at the best of times, and you might as well not bother leaving until about 8.30pm on a friday after work.

petelondon

I live in Ruislip , NW London/Middlesex and it is a great area.

It is on the Chiltern line so direct for Birmingham,and on the central line, or Metropolitan and piccadilly lines o pretty good access to London.

It is very suburban , quiet streets, nice houses and not far from the A40 and m40 and a short drive from the countryside.
Shopping is OK in Uxbridge, Watford and Harrow.

And the Inbetweeners was filmed round here!

thequant

alarafan wrote: »

I am getting married and my husband and I will be living in london in the Summer.
He currently lives in Zone 3 in london and is paying £550 rent for one bedroom in a 2 roomed flat and for transport is paying £116 per month for a Zone 1-3 travel card.

I have no idea where to live.

Requirements.
1. For rent we will be able to pay an absolute maximum of £1000 per month for a 2 bed place.

2. It will need to be close to a good primary school as my daughter will be living with us.

3. It should be very close to a train station

4. It should be at most about 40 mins commute to central london (where he works)

We have been considering maybe Watford but the only reason for that is that it will be marginally easier to travel to see our relatives in the midlands.

I do not have a job lined up and do not know when I will get one so we will be planning on the basis of surviving on one salary. The maximum we will have for food, transport and utilities is about £1500 per month.

This is such an important decision and I don't want to just stick a pin in a map and say 'we'll live there'

How can I find a place that meets all the criterea of
Affordable 2 bedroom place; reasonable commute & train cost; good school?

I would appreciate any advice.

Hi I was in the same position a couple of years as I was moving from Birmingham to London aswell.

The place you need is East Croydon

In answer to your questions

1) We have a 2 bed flat for 850 PCM

2) We live in the affluent suburban part of east croydon (lots of £million+ houses) there a good primary 5 mins away

3) 12 minute walk to train station

4) commute is 12 mins to london bridge,15 mins to victoria

If you do look for something around East Croydon,avoid streets ahead estate agents at all costs.

pinkarsenalprincess

I teach in Sidcup, very expensive place to rent if you want to live in the nice part! Kent is lovely but train fares are ridiculous and the places that are more affordable to live have some very bad schools. As others have said as well, the M25 is a complete nightmare until about 7pm near the dartford tunnel and sevenoaks.

celyn90

vikingaero wrote: »

My brother and SIL looked at renting a 1 bed flat in Maidstone. £650 pcm and £300 pcm each for commuting = £1250. In the end they rented in Greenwich near the Dome - £900 pcm rent and £90 pcm each to commute.

So they saved money by living in Greenwich and he gets an extra hour in bed - vital for the lazy !!!!!!.

I commuted from Maidstone to London for four years. It was really really hard work. A uni friend of mine did it from MK. It's tiring and I wouldn't want to do it now, but it worked at the time.

cel x

The_Blue_Hatter

Luton would be a decent shout. A good area with a good school you could get a 3 bed house with a garden for £700 or a 2 bed for £600. The travelling costs to London would be higher but this is offset by the cheaper rent. Train to Kings Cross takes about 35 mins. It also places you about 1.5 hours drive from Brum.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-26800333.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-32794391.html

Someone earlier mentioned St Albans and this IMO would be the best shout. Very nice (small) City with excellent schools and minimal scumbags/chavs!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-29221411.html?premiumA=true

TonyMMM

I would also look at the areas around Ruislip ...

System

Burnham in Berkshire would give you a flat + commute for under £1k plus excellent local primary schools and in the future an easy commute to a choice of 4 grammar schools.

Lizling

Try Wandsworth or Earlsfield. I rent a nice enough 2-bedroom flat in Wandsworth for £1000/year, although I think I'm lucky not to be paying more. I think not being near the tube makes it cheaper than some of the other areas nearby but Victoria and Waterloo are only about 15 minutes away by train. No idea about the schools but it is called Nappy Valley.

alarafan

Lizling wrote: »

Try Wandsworth or Earlsfield. I rent a nice enough 2-bedroom flat in Wandsworth for £1000/year, although I think I'm lucky not to be paying more. I think not being near the tube makes it cheaper than some of the other areas nearby but Victoria and Waterloo are only about 15 minutes away by train. No idea about the schools but it is called Nappy Valley.

If that's not a typo then that is where we are going! :rotfl: