Belfast - London Relocation

kgrant

Hi all...I have just been offered a promotion in work to a new job in London with my company from Belfast but it means my wife & I must relocate to London & we need URGENT advice please....

Shortly after September, we will be leaving Belfast & permanently relocating to London - My job will be in central London, in the financial district of the city near Liverpool Street and we are wondering where would be the best place to start a new life....


Our rent per month budget will be between £600 and £800 per month to preferably live on our own (no share rent)....

So, where should we live and why?

We would appreciate any advice on good London Rental websites or relocation websites or if anyone has anything else you think might be relevant please feel free to comment-thanks...

Annisele

kgrant wrote: »

We both want to rent a 2+ bed house in a town or village in a 'Smart Neighbourhood' with features like: tree lined streets & safe/ clean parks , little coffee shops, grocery shops and other local amenities...

Our rent per month budget will be between £500 and £650 per month...

Is that budget each, or for the pair of you?

If it's for both of you, then I think you're *really* going to struggle. A quick Rightmove search for stuff within 10 miles of Tower Bridge does bring up some non flatshare properties, but you're looking at this sort of thing. Obviously there are some landlords who don't advertise on Rightmove, but I think tree lined streets on that budget is highly unlikely.

Does your budget include transport costs? Broadly, the closer you live to Tower Bridge to more you'll pay in rent - but if you live further out, you can easily drop £150 per month each on transport.

bitsandpieces

Congratulations on the promotion. rightmove.co.uk is a good site to start looking on.

I imagine you'll be having to head out quite some way - and therefore face a serious commute - before you find something to meet your requirements; you may find that compromising on some of what you want is a better option. Others may be able to suggest appropriate areas, but you're likely to have a hard task with that budget. On the plus-side, at least you're working in an area with good transport links.

Have you thought through the cost implications of the move? Remember that if you have a long commute you will then face significant monthly transport costs for your commute in. Renting in or near London is expensive - you could easily spend more than your budget on a room in a house share in lots of 'smart' neighbourhoods in London or commuter towns. Does your employer pay any extra 'London weighting' to staff working in the city?

casualwalks

I'll second Annisele. If that is truly £650 for the both of you, I don't think you will find much (if anything) and certainly not with treeline streets. Could you stretch on the budget?

kgrant

casualwalks wrote: »

I'll second Annisele. If that is truly £650 for the both of you, I don't think you will find much (if anything) and certainly not with treeline streets. Could you stretch on the budget?

Yes we had a look & we can go to £800 max!We are thinking somewhere near Bishops Stortford as its close to the airport & has good commuting links to London via Liverpool Street....anyone any opinions for that area?thanks...

casualwalks

I don't know anything about that area but a quick search on rightmove yielded:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find.html?searchType=RENT&locationIdentifier=REGION^164&insId=2&radius=0.0&displayPropertyType=houses&minBedrooms=2&maxBedrooms=&minPrice=&maxPrice=800&maxDaysSinceAdded=&retirement=&sortByPriceDescending=&_includeLetAgreed=on&primaryDisplayPropertyType=&secondaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldDisplayPropertyType=&oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType=&letType=&letFurnishType=&houseFlatShare=false

Dave_Ham

Check the train prices from Bishops Stortford to London, as they are quite pricey..

It is quite a nice place, very quiet as heavy commuter zone.

There are a fwe herberts about, but no more or less than anywhere else in the world.

Logistics of the place are good with rail/road and airport...

Annisele

Bishops Stortford is indeed a nice place, and I'd agree that you'll find something at £800 a month. As a vague guide, the LHA ratefor a two bedroom property in that area is £700 a month. (I appreciate OP isn't wanting to claim LHA, but the rates give you an idea of the cost of the bottom 30% of the market. To compare, LHA rates for a two bedroom property in Tower Hamlets, next to Tower Bridge, is £1250 a month).

According to this, a season ticket from Bishops Stortford to London Bridge would be £319 a month if you went to Liverpool Street and walked, or £342 a month with the travelcard to get you to London Bridge.

bitsandpieces

According to this, a season ticket from Bishops Stortford to London Bridge would be £319 a month if you went to Liverpool Street and walked, or £342 a month with the travelcard to get you to London Bridge.

This is worth remembering. Is your wife commuting too, or just you? You may find you can also look a bit closer to work, if you spend less on transport and therefore have more to spend on rent. I don't know if you're used to commuting, but spending 90mins+ (suspect you'd be looking at 2hr+ door-to-door pretty often if you go for Bishops Stortford) per day doing this is a big chunk of time. Depends what you want, of course - Bishops Stortford may not be a bad choice, if you want a 'commuter town' type place to live.

You might also consider whether any of your requirements are flexible. E.g. if you would consider flats as well as houses you might find you have more choice - and could end up with a nicer flat in a given area rather than a more basic house.

anotherginger

You need to really scrutinise train prices, my OH gets off the train earlier than necessary to save a few pounds (it all adds up!). We currently live in a leafy home county and commute, so our quality of life is similar to where we were in leafy South Belfast in terms of location, but our disposable income has reduced significantly and free time is also less due to the commute. Definitely a good idea to be near an airport, just remember to book flights early. I know you say the move is permanent, but from my experience people from NI (and probably elsewhere!) tend to be in London until its time to buy a house/have kids/have some money, unless they are on a super high salary. Good luck!

ukflippy

I'd probably look at Chelmsford, it has a bit more of a cosmopolitan feel than Bishops Stortford, with similar commute times and costs.

For £800, you can probably get a 3-bed terraced house, half a mile from the station.