cannot find any options for cheaper rent

qwertyjjj

I work in London at the moment and spend £1200 a month for a pretty small 2 bed flat. Admittedly, I'm fairly centra and I have cut costs on transport by cycling to work.
However, council tax is high, bills are £90 a month, etc.
I need to cut costs to pay off some personal loans from before I started work and I need to save up money for a deposit eventually.

I've been looking at moving out of London and I just can't seem to find any balance between rents and commuting. I would still need to get into London.
Even places like Brighton where rents are cheaper, the commute costs £300 a month, which takes it right back up to the total of just living in London.

I could move somewhere smaller in London but then it's pretty bad quality of life living in a small 1 bed flat with no garden and paying quite a lot for it.

I even thought of moving out to go camping for the next few months and commute in but maybe this is just being stupid.

It seems like there are no cheap options in the UK to try and cut costs like this as they are brought straight back up by commuting costs, agency costs, moving fees, etc.

Cycrow

do you just live on your own ?

There are some areas in London that might be cheaper, but they wont be a hugh amount cheaper.

but if you really need to save money then moving somewhere smaller might be your only option.

if you are living on your own, what is the problem with having a 1 bedroom place?

hohum

Or a house share? It all depends what you value most. Personally, I'd rather share than fork out £1200 in rent :eek:

Consider how hard you're working and how much time you actually get to spend in something you spend £1200+ for. Have you ever lived in a 1 bed flat (I'm assuming it's just you there)? Or, dare I suggest, in a cheaper area?

a friend of mine had a similar dilemma (similar, well we're up north so it's not quite that bad!). She moved to a shared house with a friend, saved lots of money but wasn't happy. Moved to another house, so much happier as she gets on with her housemates, costs her less money, has better quality of life because not all her money goes on bills.

I lived in London in a houseshare and spent a third of what you pay. Nice house, garden, housemates.

Hermia

What areas of London have you looked at? Do you work near a mainline station? I used to live in zone 5 near a train station and the train into central London took 30 minutes. Yes, I had to factor in travel costs, but the rents were a lot cheaper because it was one of those areas of greater London that hardly anyone has heard of. It was a dull area, but to be honest I only really slept there. There are a lot of dull areas dotted around London that aren't well-known where you don't have to pay £££££s on rent, but which do have transport links.

Cycrow

living out somewhere like zone 5-6 could save you abit.
and you could even continue to cycle from some places, depending on how many miles you are willing to do.

a season ticket on the tube could help, something like zone 3-6 would be fairly cheap, then just cycle the rest of the way.

i live in a zone 6 and can cycle into central london (about 15 miles)

qwertyjjj

hohum wrote: »

Or a house share? It all depends what you value most. Personally, I'd rather share than fork out £1200 in rent :eek:

Consider how hard you're working and how much time you actually get to spend in something you spend £1200+ for. Have you ever lived in a 1 bed flat (I'm assuming it's just you there)? Or, dare I suggest, in a cheaper area?

a friend of mine had a similar dilemma (similar, well we're up north so it's not quite that bad!). She moved to a shared house with a friend, saved lots of money but wasn't happy. Moved to another house, so much happier as she gets on with her housemates, costs her less money, has better quality of life because not all her money goes on bills.

I lived in London in a houseshare and spent a third of what you pay. Nice house, garden, housemates.

Been living in a houseshare for the past few months but with my partner as well. Don't like it much being in a house share.

Hermia wrote: »

What areas of London have you looked at? Do you work near a mainline station? I used to live in zone 5 near a train station and the train into central London took 30 minutes. Yes, I had to factor in travel costs, but the rents were a lot cheaper because it was one of those areas of greater London that hardly anyone has heard of. It was a dull area, but to be honest I only really slept there. There are a lot of dull areas dotted around London that aren't well-known where you don't have to pay £££££s on rent, but which do have transport links.

I would need to get into Waterloo but rents don't seem much cheaper further out.

Cycrow wrote: »

living out somewhere like zone 5-6 could save you abit.
and you could even continue to cycle from some places, depending on how many miles you are willing to do.

a season ticket on the tube could help, something like zone 3-6 would be fairly cheap, then just cycle the rest of the way.

i live in a zone 6 and can cycle into central london (about 15 miles)

I cycle 4.5 miles at the moment. could do more but it's a farely long cycle then.

Cycrow wrote: »

do you just live on your own ?

There are some areas in London that might be cheaper, but they wont be a hugh amount cheaper.

but if you really need to save money then moving somewhere smaller might be your only option.

if you are living on your own, what is the problem with having a 1 bedroom place?

No, with the missus. I've lived in 1 bed flats before and in terms of value for money and quality of life, they are pretty low on both ratios.

Cycrow

you should be able to find a 2 bed place for abit less, around £1000 if you travel abit further out.
But you have to go really far out of London to get it much cheaper.
There are a few cheaper areas that aren't too far like Croydon which could drop the rent to around £800-900.

The east of london has some cheaper places to live as well, so might be worth looking there.
just checking Zoopla, theres over a 1000 hits for 2 bedroom places for £1000 or lower, within 10 miles of waterloo

Danni-R

Does your Missus contribute? Seems a lot for your share.

hohum

I understand, I prefer as a couple living in a 2 bed house. However I'm prepared to live in a less desirable area to get it.

I think you have to decide what compromises you are willing to make, as 2 beds in the area you want, at a lower price don't appear to be available. There are ways to lower the rent but you have to compromise on space or area. You're right, what you want doesn't exist so what will you compromise on?

My other tip is to go for the suburbs on overground routes to waterloo, and to look around the small ads in shops in the local area. And start telling everyone you know that you're looking for something and you're lovely tenants.

NinjaSavingKat

Do you have a partner or just like the space? I live inzone 5. £450 rent. £199 travel (although this is a monthly tracelcard).. buying a direct return would be less.
I live with my landlady - did it with another prior to this. Prior to that I was renting with a friend..bills etc were too much hassle. Whilst penny pinching to pay back my loan I need to know EXACTLY where everything is going to the last penny - hence an "all inclusive" property is the way forward..
Get out of London Town - come to the suburbs..

[Deleted User]

if you have lived there for sometime and have always been on time with the rent try and do a deal with the landlord,he may be happy to except a little bit less from a good tenant who pays on time then risk having to find a new one
i would suggest at least £150 a month to start negotiations