First time moving out of home.... Into London

chralph

Thanks so much for all of your great advice!!
My work will be close to Farringdon station, that would be wear i would like to be near to or get the tube to...
Its very daughnting....
Chris:)

$$$_12

Chris - Do you know anyone in London (even friends of friends of 2nd cousins etc?).

I found out about my first place in London through my landlady (her son had moved to London six months previously so I ended up in his place).

Personally I would look out for a house share - ideally with quite a few people in it as unless you are very unlucky you are bound to get on with someone. And you'll always have someone to talk to/go out with.

A few things to be prepared for though.

Even the best housemates will eat your food, leave the toilet seat up and be annoying sometimes. Tolerance and a laid back attitude goes a long way.

Set boundaries at the outset - you can always relax later. Don't like people going in your room when you're not there? Make it clear - in a friendly way - at the start if it's the kind of house where everyone shares their stuff.

Is there anything you couldn't live with (eg smokers, meat eaters etc)? Basically know thy self.

Personally I'd try and live as close to central London as you can afford (Zone 2/3). Might as well take in all of the sights and things to do when you first move down. You can always move further out later.

This site is great for an insider's view of London
http://london.fridaycities.com/

Oh - and buy an A-Z

lynzpower

You would be p-retty unlikely to find anywhere in EC1/2/3/ for your money, and in all fairness, maybe not ideal to live right on top wof where you work, give yourself a bit of vairiety.

have you looked at the new googlemaps? you can choose hybrid shows some landmarks too and really get a feel for roads and so forth.

A_z is a piece of Essential kit. I got lost yesterday from Minories to L pool st station, and ive lived here 6 years LOL

suffolkb

On the other hand, you are still young and might like to have London on your doorstep. Your rent will be more, of course, but if you can cycle to work in 15 mins, you will save a lot of money (and time) in commuting.

pigeonpie

Will you be coming home late at night alone? London's safe but not that safe and the cheaper areas can be a bit dodgy. You prob get better quality accommodation a bit further out in zone 3-4 for eg, but it can feel a bit cut off and transport costs a fortune. My cuz got a great flatshare in Finsbury Park which is well situated. I'll ask him how if I can get hold of him. Good luck anyhow.

MJMum

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Imelda

chralph you'll be working near me!

I would love to be able to afford Farringdon/ Clerkenwell but they are way out of my price range.

South London/ anywhere on the Thameslink is a pretty good bet as the service runs late (good when out for drinks after work!), I lived in SE London and the trains stopped at midnight (and were every half an hour), but it was cheap and a train pass from zone 4 was just as cheap as a zone 2 tube pass.


That's another thing, get an oyster card before you come down to London, it is much cheaper than buying paper tickets on the tube and bus.

Phirefly

$$$ wrote: »

Even the best housemates will eat your food, leave the toilet seat up and be annoying sometimes. Tolerance and a laid back attitude goes a long way.

Haha that brings back memories. Mr Phirefly and I were discussing recently the phenomena of how a brand new bottle of shower gel has the mysterious knack of being emptied in 2 days when you're housesharing. And how all 5 housemates can convincingly claim that THEY took the rubbish out last. And in the days of a shared landline, spending a sunday afternoon going through the phone bill with a highlighter pen. Those were the days!

$$$_12

Imelda wrote: »

That's another thing, get an oyster card before you come down to London, it is much cheaper than buying paper tickets on the tube and bus.

You can order one for free here:

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/tickets/oysteronline/freeoyster/

Normally they cost £3