Graduate Moving To London - Best Areas?

JD87_3

I currently live in the South-West of the country where I am due to complete my degree within the coming week's. I will be working within the music industry so there are no other options with regards to location other than London.

I have already began setting up meetings and interviews with companies in London and I am hopeful at gaining at least a paid internship in the coming months.

I live with my girlfriend in a flat which she has a mortgage for and we would both like to move closer to London in order to aid my career progression. Coming from a small town it all seem's pretty daunting with so many places to choose from around the outside London (London is simply too expensive) so I will be looking at an affordable nice commuter area in which we can settle down and possibly start a family.

Any ideas guys? Thanks in advance.:T

Fire_Fox

Affordable, nice and near London ... you can have two but not all three. Commuter areas might be slightly cheaper but public transport into London is eye wateringly expensive. You would be best taking a double room in a shared house, maybe even somewhere one or both of you can cycle or walk to work.

Without knowing where you are going to be working (nearest tube) or your budget it's impossible to make specific recommendations, London is huge and commuter belt even bigger.

JD87_3

My work will be in the Kensington area. I saw some of the season ticket train price's and your right they are very expensive! The problem is we really want to buy somewhere so we can settle and start a family so house-share's and like are not an option.

Thanks for your reply!

isisini

You could go for somewhere that you can commute into Paddington (not too far from Kensington) e.g. somewhere outside Reading like Twyford or Newbury.

Or buy somewhere nearby where you are now and suck up the commute? Swindon - London isn't that far..

However working a paid internship in the music industry is really not going to get you very far towards buying property in or around London in the short term. You might want to scale back your expectations, unless your girlfriend is on a really good salary.

JD87_3

Thanks isisini. Yes the internship is only for three month's and if successful I would then be offered a permanent role so I would not commit to a mortgage during the internship period. My girlfriend has a reasonable amount paid into her current mortgage so deposit's should be no problem. I will take a look at the area's you suggested, thanks.

Fire_Fox

JD87 wrote: »

My work will be in the Kensington area. I saw some of the season ticket train price's and your right they are very expensive! The problem is we really want to buy somewhere so we can settle and start a family so house-share's and like are not an option.

Thanks for your reply!

You have to be either trolling or living in cloud cookoo land. I suspect house shares are your only option, or a one bed flat in an area you would never want to raise a family nor let your partner walk through after dark.

No lender will give you a mortgage when neither of you have even started a new job, you will need to rent and get payslips together as proof of income and stability. If you start a family your income will drop, how can you cover a mortgage on one salary?

Again you haven't given us any idea of your budget! Does an internship right out of university really pay well enough for a family home in London commuter belt? The people I know who have recently bought family homes around London are in their thirties and on really good salaries.

BitterAndTwisted

An internship in the music business will likely pay nothing. And, although they may pretend there might be a paid position at the end of it, there probably won't. As there are queues a mile long of other recent graduates waiting to take that unpaid internship off you. If you're lucky enough to get offered a paid full-time position don't expect to be earn more than about twenty grand, twenty-five tops. That's going to make renting pretty difficult and buying impossible.

JD87_3

Thanks Bitter and Twisted. It's with the biggest record label in the world who I have done some work for during my time at University and yes your right it is around 19.5k. I have worked for numerous labels in the UK and US and have extensive networks so my experience and what I can offer is what often set's me apart from many of the people willing to do free work. I am pretty confident and have a good relationship with the label... the whole label cannot be run by interns doing free work so luckily for me full time paid positions arise!

If we sell our place here we will have around 160k as a sizeable deposit. But according to other people here I appear to be living in 'cloud cukoo land' for wanting a place within commuting distance to London

sammyjammy

Isn't your "sizeable" deposit your girlfriends? A big deposit doesn't mean you'll get the mortgage you need. Does your girlfriend have a job to go to in London?

rosh1987

Croydon is still relatively affordable and offers decent transport links into Waterloo and Victoria.

BitterAndTwisted

JD87 wrote: »

Thanks Bitter and Twisted. It's with the biggest record label in the world who I have done some work for during my time at University and yes your right it is around 19.5k. I have worked for numerous labels in the UK and US and have extensive networks so my experience and what I can offer is what often set's me apart from many of the people willing to do free work. I am pretty confident and have a good relationship with the label... the whole label cannot be run by interns doing free work so luckily for me full time paid positions arise!

In which case never give them everything you've got. They'll take all your contacts off you and then boot you out the door once you've handed them over. If you think the business-world is ruthless, just wait until you work inside that industry! Dog-eat-dog doesn't quite cover it. If you truly do have the contacts and they are as valuable as you seem to think, you should be working for yourself.