Zone 2 London - which are the cheapest areas to rent?

Goldfish52

I used to live in West Hampstead and it's perfect for both central London and St Albans as it's on the overground trainline to Bedford, the Jubilee line and the Overground. But we moved as it is quite pricey. We live near Willesden Junction now, which has great transport links but is much much cheaper. It's about as "up and coming" as they get in London! If the bf ever needs to drive to St Albans, it's definitely a better option than South London and it's walking distance to Kensal Rise and Queens Park pubs and shops.

benjus

BigAunty wrote: »

Looks like the OPs daughter and her partner will have to pay around £800 per month for basic accommodation there, unless they are happy to move further out or roomshare. Brockley sounds like a nice enough spot in the disaster area of urban south London but its not Mayfair and therefore provides a basic baseline for their budget.

Brockley has some fine old houses, and a really nice little market on Saturdays. Not a bad area to be considering at all.

verulamium

£600pcm would be way too low for London, even in zone 4/5 areas with decent transport links.

Have they thought about living in St Albans instead? The Thameslink into London Bridge is frequent and fast, and only one of them has to make the pricey commute (about £3.2k for a season ticket). It is a very nice and leafy market town and only 20 mins train ride away from central London.

BigAunty

verulamium wrote: »

£600pcm would be way too low for London, even in zone 4/5 areas with decent transport links.

Have they thought about living in St Albans instead? The Thameslink into London Bridge is frequent and fast, and only one of them has to make the pricey commute (about £3.2k for a season ticket). It is a very nice and leafy market town and only 20 mins train ride away from central London.

Cheapest self contained property on Rightmove is £625 for a studio so not a massive saving compared to Brockley but I bet it has a much lower crime rate.

BillJones

kwmlondon wrote: »

What?!??!???!?!

That must surely be through a housing association....

Most of the people I know pay more than that for a single room in zone 1. WAY MORE!!!!!

As an example of rents in East London...

I asked to be shown a three bedroom flat in Canary WHarf, that was on for £2,750, which seemed very reasonable. The estate agent did not ask if I had the income to cover it, but did suggest that they could find me better at the price. When she sent the others over, I realised that it was £2,750 per week, not per month...

That was too much, you can get a nice three bedroom in Docklands for about £1,300 per week.

verulamium

police.uk does show a higher crime rate in Brockley (as is everywhere in inner London, even Kensington) but it isn't as bad as many years ago when it was overran by drug gangs. Despite having lived in St Albans for many years we have no regrets moving to SE4. Helps that both of us now work in central London!

(Our situation was similar to the OP's daughter, where my partner worked in St Albans and I central London)

mhoc

Thanks again, I was just telling her about the MSE budget thing this morning so I will go and find the link for her.

I think they do have unrealistic expectations as to how far their money will stretch, how close or how far out they will have to live versus the cost of season tickets.

Their social life at the moment is all important and a big part of their outgoings - its as it should be I suppose in your 20s

I don't think they would be willing to house share even for the sake of lower rents.

princeofpounds

It's really not uncommon for young people who move to London to end up spending over 50% of their net wages in rent these days. And that's not even demanding the nicest properties.

But the idea is that you maximise your opportunities and move up the income ladder ASAP. You don't want to be hanging around at entry level.

BigAunty

mhoc wrote: »

Thanks again, I was just telling her about the MSE budget thing this morning so I will go and find the link for her.

I think they do have unrealistic expectations as to how far their money will stretch, how close or how far out they will have to live versus the cost of season tickets.

Their social life at the moment is all important and a big part of their outgoings - its as it should be I suppose in your 20s

I don't think they would be willing to house share even for the sake of lower rents.

It's nice that you are giving them a hand, but to be honest, its better that they problem-solve this and undertake the budgeting/property search themselves. It will help tackle their denial that they can have the same lifestyle when their living and travel costs may double and their social expenses will also be dearer there.

Let the penny, and their jaws drop, by giving them the link to the TFL journey planner, right move and the MSE budget spreadsheet, then stand back.

If their consumer/lifestyle obsessions won't allow for compromise, then later you can provide links to MSE debt management advice....

A couple living up north in a self contained property in the centre of the city with next to no travel expenses are always going to get a shock when they move to London and find out that they can only afford an ex council studio flat on the outskirts of the city and an hour plus commute into work....Never mind a fiver for a pint and £15 for a cinema ticket.

abankerbutnotafatcat

I'd much rather live in Brockley than Mayfair! Mayfair sounds nice in theory and don't me wrong, I'd love to be able to afford a pied a terre there, but it's not really a residential area and Brockley is actually very nice, ditto Crystal Palace.

Sadly, OP, I think your daughter's expectations may be a little unrealistic. I live out in Surrey and not even an expensive part of Surrey and one bed flats are upwards of £700pcm.

I'd probably also either go for Hertfordshire itself (not necessarily St Albans which is also very expensive) or for somewhere in North London on the same line as St Albans. If the St Albans bit is easier reached by car (i.e. not near a train station) then the former option would be better.

That said, there is the cross London train service already stated which gives extra options - I use that route too sometimes as I'm on the way down to Brighton. If you went with the SE London option, utilising that route, then it would have the added benefit for your daughter that she could walk to work from London Bridge (as I do).