Working in London 3 days a week

Moretolife

Hi,

I am not sure if this is the right place to post this or if it would get more responses elsewhere.

My husband works in London currently and we live here too but we are thinking of moving away - possibly Wales and my husband would commute to London to work Monday to Wednesday and work the remaining 2 days at home. This is in order for us to spend less money on better and bigger accommodation (renting) and a better way of life for us as a family.

Does anyone else do this or know anyone that does? We have questions on accommodation - what, where and how much? Any downfalls (besides the long drive and petrol costs) that we need to consider?

We have searched google but nothing has really come up and the accommodation we are looking for (cheaply) seems to be coming up as backpacker shared hostels which wouldn't be suitable.


Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

Denning.

You can get Monday to Friday lets (sharing with the property owner) which are popular with people who live far away but work in the city. Its more the case of negotiation with whomever owns the house rather than through agents.

agrinnall

From what you describe your husband would only need accommodation for two nights a week, Monday and Tuesday. So the sharing option described by Denning is likely to be quite expensive, as he'll be paying for 2 or 3 nights that aren't being used. It's quite likely that the most cost effective option will be a hotel or B&B. If he can find a B&B that he likes it may be possible to cut a deal with the owners for a reduced rate for a long term stay.

Denning.

agrinnall wrote: »

From what you describe your husband would only need accommodation for two nights a week, Monday and Tuesday. So the sharing option described by Denning is likely to be quite expensive, as he'll be paying for 2 or 3 nights that aren't being used. It's quite likely that the most cost effective option will be a hotel or B&B. If he can find a B&B that he likes it may be possible to cut a deal with the owners for a reduced rate for a long term stay.

Well no, because it is a private arrangement. People rent out a room in their family home during the week to make extra money. If they only want an extra £300 a month they would rather someone for 2 nights than 5.

ALI1973

Depends on where you choose to move to really. My DH worked in London 3 days per week, but would commute (by train) so would leave at 7am and return about 7pm. Then worked from home 2 days. We are in Staffordshire.

He had also previously house shared (as described above) when he needed to work in Bristol. He lived with a friend of a colleague Mon - Fri and came home weekends (I didn't like this arrangement much, but needs must). He paid £20 per night, and after 6 months the owner had to work away during the week also, so he had the house to himself.

specialboy

I don't get it, you want to move to Wales to save money but then you have the extra cost of him staying in London for 2 nights, feeding himself and commuting, sounds like a lot of hassle for a little gain.
Can you not work and then maybe rent somewhere bigger closer to London?

brendon

specialboy wrote: »

I don't get it, you want to move to Wales to save money but then you have the extra cost of him staying in London for 2 nights, feeding himself and commuting, sounds like a lot of hassle for a little gain.
Can you not work and then maybe rent somewhere bigger closer to London?

It doesn't say they are trying to save money, but have a better lifestyle.

Moretolife

Hi,

Thank you all for your replies.

Denning - we looked at the Monday to Friday lets but as he needs only 2/3 nights per week it is not cost effective. And some of the rooms are going for crazy money.

Ali - we are looking at spending about £30 per night and there must be others that have this kind of working arrangement. We were talking and maybe one option is him trying out the cheap B&B's until he finds one he likes and then tries to put an arrangement into place. Some of the reviews of these places leave a lot to be desired but you do get what you pay for.

Brendon and Special boy - yes it is quality of life but this also comes from the money aspect- renting a 3 bed house in London would cost as least £1300 but renting in Wales a decent 3 bed house would be £600. We could spend what we would spend on rent alone in London on a place in Wales, bills, petrol and London accommodation.

I cannot work for the next year to an imminent baby and a toddler.

duchy

I think with such a vast lifestyle change - from an urban area to something a lot more rural -and effectively being a single parent when it comes to childcare for half of each week renting is definitely they way to go. What sounds very workable in theory can be quite hard in practice especially if you have no support network like family or existing friends in the area with two very small people to look after -obviously employment in Wales is more difficult too anyway even after a year.

If your husband works for a large company it may be worth advertising within the company and letting your existing networks of friends and collegues know what you are looking for -often these arrangements are friends or aquaintances , alternatively Gumtree may throw something up . Frankly £30 a night for a London B&B (plus parking) sounds a tad unrealistic for anything that isn't a pit and you need to be looking at a private home arrangement. Obviously you could use the travelodge/Premier special offers at times by planning ahead and working the deals but at times of high occupancy they may not be available and having a more permanent base like a small room in a shared flat would have more consistency and be less fraught for him.

Does he already work away at times ? Are you happy to end up feeling like a single parent and dealing with "stuff" whilst he is away? Speaking from experience - kids getting sick, cooker blowing up, roof leaking etc always happen when the partner is away and never when you're both home to deal with it. In a new area that can be quite daunting if you've not got a support network (not saying it is impossible just pointing out it has implications for you as well)

EmmaHerts

Consider moving to Kent instead.

jobbingmusician

If it were me I would:

Advertise in Loot and on Gumtree to see if anyone fancies letting a room for 2-3 nights a week

Enquire in branches of cheap hotels such as Holiday Inns to see if they would consider a cheap contract

Depending on the sort of office, think about whether I could stay overnight there for at least one night a week without annoying anyone (or anyone else necessarily knowing). I do appreciate it is quite different if your office is in a serviced skyscraper, from the situation of working in an independent building where you can easily be the last to leave and the first to arrive without anyone knowing. But an inflatable mattress and a duvet fit easily into a suitcase, and a neat suitcase in a corner of many offices wouldn't even be noticed.....

(None of this may be suitable if you wouldn't consider a hostel. Personally I used to camp out in a distant office at least one night a week when I worked some distance from home. I was perfectly happy with a portable DVD player, a duvet and some cushions!)