moving to london, but where??

eidolon_2

hello,

i'll soon have to move to london, due to a job in bromley. having looked at rental properties availble, at £500/mnth, i'd also like to consider somewhere in london.

some related posts have mentioned areas like clapham,streatham hill, or victoria, particularly interested in the latter given the 15 minute commute.

basically, this will be my first time in london, i'm from bristol and so wouldn't mind an area which is metropolitan but not to the extent that i don't see familar faces who i can get to know (too much to ask??!?). although i initally want to find a one bedroom place, as last year in uni i shared a house of 5, two of whom i didn't know well and it was a nightmare.

also don't drive, so closeness to public transport would be essential (both tube and rail).

so i would gratefully appreciate *any* advice on moving to london, people here could share...what areas are good, how did you find them (some of the agency sites don't seem to be up to much), any regrets/things you would change, etc.

many thanks in advance.

Outtathaway

You could always try looking in loot and other things like that (check their websites). And around where I live (in between Elephant & Castle and Kennington tube stations) there's plenty of rooms being offered at about £80 a week including bills

zcaprd7

£500 a month will not get a one bedroom flat to yourself in the areas you have mentioned.

You'll have to get a flat share with some people?


Otherwise maybe look further out, Croydon would suit or just get a place in Bromley to save hassle on commuting?

EDIT: And the £80 monthly travel card can be put towards the rent...

Katgoddess

Bromley is a very nice place to live but is very expensive. You can tell by the number of private schools in the area. :eek:

It is possible to get a 1 bedroom flat for 500 pcm in the Bromley area. I don't know how far these places are to your place of work though.

Check out this website:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/

Its a fairly difficult place to get to because there is no tube or major roads that go near there. So you've only really got the train to consider for commuting or being stuck in traffic. But there are 2 stations in Bromley.

Don't know if that helps.

(I live in the nearby borough of Bexley)

kremmen

eidolon wrote:

hello,

i'll soon have to move to london, due to a job in bromley. having looked at rental properties availble, at £500/mnth, i'd also like to consider somewhere in london.

some related posts have mentioned areas like clapham,streatham hill, or victoria, particularly interested in the latter given the 15 minute commute.

basically, this will be my first time in london, i'm from bristol and so wouldn't mind an area which is metropolitan but not to the extent that i don't see familar faces who i can get to know (too much to ask??!?). although i initally want to find a one bedroom place, as last year in uni i shared a house of 5, two of whom i didn't know well and it was a nightmare.

also don't drive, so closeness to public transport would be essential (both tube and rail).

so i would gratefully appreciate *any* advice on moving to london, people here could share...what areas are good, how did you find them (some of the agency sites don't seem to be up to much), any regrets/things you would change, etc.

many thanks in advance.

I would consider Catford or Lewisham as not being too far from Bromley . It is a more cosmopolitan and crowded area with associated problems but is probably cheaper to live in. I would consider commuting by public transport as more fraught that bristol and would think that commuting from the areas you mention would take a lot longer than you might think.

Paul

lswwong

Use https://www.gumtree.com to check out prices in various areas.

I live in SW1P and can tell you that £500 pcm won't get you a flat, or a shoebox even! Though if you are going to share a place with one or two other people, this budget might work (to include council tax, utilities, service charges etc).

itgirlinuk

East London is generally cheaper than other parts and I have been told Stratford and Walthamstow are not bad choices. But be warned and check the areas carefully before you move in. And to echo other people's sentiments, you cannot get a flat for £500 unless you move outside London. You might get a decent flatshare.

Always talk to all the housemates before you move in and ask them what they do and how noisy it is and all the silly things. And I personally would not move in with students as they work to a different schedule to working people and that might annoy you.

Savvy_Sue

kremmen wrote:

I would consider commuting by public transport as more fraught that bristol and would think that commuting from the areas you mention would take a lot longer than you might think.

As with commuting around Bristol, the KEY THING is to check where the buses go and how frequently. I'm originally from London (and still think Bromley is in Kent ) and on recent visits to London have been very impressed by the buses: far cheaper than Bristol, which is where I am now. As I haven't commuted in London for about 100 years I can't comment on how long journeys take, but can't believe rush hour buses can be any WORSE in London than in Bristol! But I do not know whether Bromley is within the area well served by the LTA, so that is essential to check out.

This is the Transport for London website - check out what goes close to your new job and trawl those bus and train routes! AFAIK the tube doesn't go to Bromley! If you can find somewhere which only requires ONE bus or ONE train to get to and from home, life will be much much easier.

Oh, and if you haven't yet found the Megabus, that is the cheapest way to get to London from Bristol!

newsmonkey

I'm from that neck of the woods (I abandoned it in favour of Paris a couple years ago). Bromley itself might be out of your price range, but some of the places you list (esp Victoria) will be even more costly.

As suggested, Catford or Lewisham are a 20min bus ride away. Or perhaps Croydon - again, 20-30mins away, and pretty cosmpolitan. Don't know what prices for Croydon are like, though.

All within easy travelling distance of work, and (perhaps more importantly) within 20mins of the city centre.


Newsmonkey (who never realised just how much London rents are)

isasmurf

eidolon wrote:

hello,

i'll soon have to move to london,

No, don't do it!

Prices in London are ridiculous. I'm currently looking to move, but I am having trouble finding anywhere close to London that I can afford, and I consider myself to be on a good salary.

East London is a good cheap (relatively) area than the rest of London, and I think it is greatly underrated, but is too far for Bromley.

If you're going to go down the houseshare root, I wouldn't buy Loot. Apart from being very expensive, the places in there are... welll... varied. When I was housesharing I always found moveflat.co.uk to have respectable shares.

bobby_jo

I manage to secure myself a graduate job in London (totterham court road area) and going to get £21K. Like most people, I don't have the foggiest on where to move to, what to look for etc. Given my salary how much do you think I should allocate towards the rent?