Relocating to London/Renting

1940sGal

Having recently applied for a job in London (i'm currently in Doncaster), apparently I have a very good chance of getting it. (I know this post is getting ahead of myself a bit but I'd like some help all the same.)

Anyhoo as much as i want this job the thought of getting it terrifies me a little if i'm honest. The thought of relocating to a city i hardly know and so far away from my family... What i'd like some help with is rental costs in London, decent places to look at and possibly good internet sites for looking (i know rightmove but that's about it).

The job has a starting salary of £20,197. It's in Southwark. Ideally i'd prefer a 1 bedroom flat of my own without having to share (my experience of renting/house sharing in 2nd year of uni left me scarred and i'm not fabulous with people).

What are your thoughts on what i could ideally afford? I don't mind commuting so living close isn't a must. Would it be cheaper to look outside of London and commute in?

FTBFun

1940sGal wrote: »

Having recently applied for a job in London (i'm currently in Doncaster), apparently I have a very good chance of getting it. (I know this post is getting ahead of myself a bit but I'd like some help all the same.)

Anyhoo as much as i want this job the thought of getting it terrifies me a little if i'm honest. The thought of relocating to a city i hardly know and so far away from my family... What i'd like some help with is rental costs in London, decent places to look at and possibly good internet sites for looking (i know rightmove but that's about it).

The job has a starting salary of £20,197. It's in Southwark. Ideally i'd prefer a 1 bedroom flat of my own without having to share (my experience of renting/house sharing in 2nd year of uni left me scarred and i'm not fabulous with people).

What are your thoughts on what i could ideally afford? I don't mind commuting so living close isn't a must. Would it be cheaper to look outside of London and commute in?

Personally - I know you've said against this - with your level of salary and the fact you don't appear to know many people in London, that some kind of flat/house share would be good.

Remember it should be (obviously with exceptions) a lot different from university as your flatmates will likely be in full time employment so should generally be quite sensible.

You could get a 1 bed flat on your own, but it will likely be in a poor area or so far out from London commuting costs outweigh any advantage you have in rental costs.

Dave_Ham

Definitely house share, have a look on sites like Gumtree too.

All of London is expensive still, even more so for renting.

BitterAndTwisted

The further out you live the more your possible commuting-cost could be, especially on the overground trains rather than on the tube, so any saving in rent could be cancelled out by the fares.

One bedroomed flats are in extremely high demand so attract very high rents compared to sharing. Depending on the area you could be looking at between £800 and a grand a month which on a take-home pay of about £1350 a month would be completely unaffordable.

The received wisdom is for one's rent to be about 40% of nett pay, so by that calculation you should be looking for accommodation at around £125 a week.

19lottie82

1940sGal wrote: »

i'm not fabulous with people

a houseshare could help this. i know you are against it after a bad experience, but you really have to get back on that horse as there is no way you can afford your own place in London.

DannyboyMidlands

If it was me I'd use gumtree to look for a house/flatshare in Camberwell. It'll be 15 min bus ride into work. You could even cycle to keep costs down.

A one bed flat would just eat up too much of your take home pay.

If I had to widen the search I'd try Brixton, Peckham, Herne Hill, Dulwich, Kennington/Elephant.

BitterAndTwisted

19lottie82 wrote: »

a houseshare could help this. i know you are against it after a bad experience, but you really have to get back on that horse as there is no way you can afford your own place in London.

A flat or house-share with young, working professionals is a million miles away from renting with fellow students.


You could get lucky and find a home-owner who is looking for a lodger, so you might only be sharing with one other person. I'd be having a really hard think about doing this, even if it turned out to be a stop-gap until you've had more time to sort something else more favourable.

princeofpounds

To give you an idea of the competition you are facing, the LHA rates for a 1 bed in Lambeth (not too far out, but not wealthy, covers most of the places DannyBoy suggests) are £180-230/wk for a 1 bed. These are set so the bottom third of the market is accessible to people on benefits. If you go for a one bed you will not be in a nice area, or you will be further out than you think.

Unfortunately the way things are people on LHA often do end up with more money than working people. Not in their pocket perhaps, but certainly in terms of accommodation.

On the plus side, you will find plenty of house shares for your budget.

Also, I would urge you not to think about London as a short-term thing. On 21k you might be scrimping a bit, but I would also think that you have the opportunity to earn more a year or two down the line.

Dave_Ham

I live in Essex and aside from the idiots on the TV, there are some nice parts and nice people.

If time on a train does not affect you hugely, it takes 35-40 minutes to Liverpool Street Station. Not sure what your onwards journey looks like, but a house share will work out cheaper here even + additional travel costs...

jamie11

Prices in London are very high, why not consider finding a lodging until you find your feet, It will be a lot cheaper and you will have the advantage of being able to move again at short notice if you need to. Committing to a tenancy could be the wrong move for you, especially on a low wage (£20K in London is a low wage).

1940sGal

Dave_Ham wrote: »

I live in Essex and aside from the idiots on the TV, there are some nice parts and nice people.

If time on a train does not affect you hugely, it takes 35-40 minutes to Liverpool Street Station. Not sure what your onwards journey looks like, but a house share will work out cheaper here even + additional travel costs...

Despite me saying it would be far away from family, you saying that has reminded me that one of my dad's cousins lives in Brentwood and as far as i know he likes it there. He works in London for an IT company but i don't know what his wages are like.