Relocating to London

Thomas89

Hi,

I have accepted a promotion which involves relocating from Glasgow to London, i am looking for some friendly advice with regards to staying in London.

My main priority at the minute is accommodation, my budget is roughly £1000 per month and for that i would like to rent a 2/3 Bed (Modern/well decorated) house. I am aware closer to Zone 1 the more expensive housing will cost, for this reason i am happy to travel. I will primarily be working in Zone 1, however possibility working from home 1 or 2 per week.

What do you think is a reasonable travelling duration, 1 hour? 1 hour 30 minutes?. I looked at house in Ipswich which said it was roughly 90 minutes travelling each way, house was great however im not sure if after few weeks the travelling will really begin to kill me.

Any areas which you can recommend?, what are the costs of train tickets per month from some of these areas; roughly?

Cheers,
Thomas

Fletchasketch

Hi Thomas,

I know people who travel for around an hour and a half to get to work, and they absolutely hate it. I would have thought you could get at least a 2 bed house within an hour of London. I used to live in Woking which is 25 minutes from Waterloo and had a 3 bed flat for 1200 pounds. Where you are working in London will make a big difference too. If you're near a mainline station, then it will be a lot easier to be somewhere on that line.

Thomas89

Hi,

Many thanks for your reply.

The location is Holborn with the nearest tubes being Chancery lane, Holborn or Farringdon. Do you have any idea which is the nearest main train station which has access to any tube lines that goes to the above stations?

Cheers

Tiglath

Tubes from Liverpool Street will get to you all of those places, although it can also be walked in 25 minutes. I live in zone 3 coming into Liverpool Street (15-20 minutes by train), and monthly rail only tickets are £85.30, or £136.80 to also include zones 1-3 on the tube.

Fletchasketch

Blackfriars is your nearest station, which goes north to St Albans and Luton, or south to Wimbledon and Sutton. You'd probably find somewhere in your price range in either Sutton or St Albans. It all depends on what sort of area you're looking for. Families, young professionals, trendy, quiet etc.

I would look at the stations on that line and see which area fits your needs best.

Thomas89

Hi,

Great thanks that gives me some areas to consider. We are both a professional couple with a young son (1 year). So probably a reasonably quiet/family area would be ideal for the little one.

Tiglath - Many thanks for your input, this demonstrates the importance of finding a good balance between saving on travel costs and saving on rental costs.

I did see a house which we quite liked in Gillingham, roughly 1 hour train journey. House was 900 however then i had to consider travel costs at roughly 350 per month...

Cheers

tower

Bishops stortford or Harlow have fast trains into London about 45 mins and the fare is about £111 per week including travelcard.
Both are near stansted airport for trips back home.

Other places out this way include Hertford,Ware and Cheshunt all nearer than the above so I imagine cheaper fares, but no fast trains

Savvy_Sue

Any of the places suggested would be better than Ipswich ... my geography doesn't allow me to give a Scottish comparison, but let's just say it's nowhere near London ...

Will the company help with relocation, maybe put you in a b&b for a few weeks? Can you put a notice on the company intranet or whatever? Definitely a good idea to rent first, and my suggestion would be to look at areas convenient for train or tube travel - remember to factor in the time needed to get to your starting point.

Oh, and don't forget the Boris Bikes! DS2 is commuting that way, although he's single and living closer to central London than I'd care to!

bargainbetty

If you are considering the Blackfriars route I would recommend it for avoiding tubes. I work just off Holborn, and the walk from City Thameslink is about 8 minutes. I can also travel into Charing Cross, from which you can walk up the Strand and then Kingsway to reach Holborn - it just depends on which end.

If you head southeast, you have Beckenham, Ravensbourne, Shortlands, Bromley etc. No more than 35 mins on the train into town, and all have nice leafy green areas, good shops etc and would fall within your budget. Having commuted for years, I can honestly say that if your total journey time, door to door, reaches 90 minutes, you'll go round the twist. Aim for 45-60 max.

Travel is approx £130-150 per month for a travelcard from zones 4 or 5, less for a straight railcard.

Savvy_Sue

Actually, there are loads of nice leafy green areas all over London, I grew up in Charlton, which had 3 great parks almost on the doorstep, easy access to Blackheath, Greenwich Park etc, not forgetting Woolwich Common, Plumstead Common further out.

In-laws still live nearby. I'd say that like many large cities (probably including Glasgow!) you need to look round yourself before writing off one particular area / postcode, because some bits will be fine and other bits will be awful.

bluedrop

I live in bromley and I commute to holborn everyday.

So ur office is near chancery lane? Rbs, sainsburys or Lloyd's?

Back to the point - I take the 8:18 train from bromley south...it takes me to city thameslink station by 8:52. A nice 8 minute walk (or 2min bus) takes me to office by 9am.

Evenings: 5:23 train from city thameslink, in bromley by 5:47.

Happy life! Can't complain!