Renting in London

robatwork

Wouldn't do the Watford Jn to Liv St. Disaster.

BUT you could more comfortably do Watford tube to Aldgate which goes via Liv St. You can get the "Fast Aldgate" which misses out most of the stations pre Finchley Road which makes it viable. And you're guaranteed a seat.

However Watford Met line isn't in the centre so you'd need to live near, which realistically means West Watford as Cassiobury Park will be out your price range. Some OK roads but look first. The met line isn't near the centre at all.

Lunchbox

lisyloo wrote: »

Not sure how well you know London, but there are some junctions where you have to wait a while to cross the road and you cannot risk jumping the lights (it’s too busy).
The streetS are packed with walkers.
It can be very difficult to overtake slower people (those on their phones walk more slowly) simply because of the amount of foot traffic.

It not like walking 3 miles in the country.
I know I walk slightly faster than google, but if it’s very busy (at rush hour) it’s not always possible to go at the pace you want and there sometimes is nothing you can do about it.

I was going to say, using the pavements in central London in rush hour is just as time consuming, rage inducing and stressful as using the roads. I often reach work in a homicidal state after getting through the tube station and then a 200m crawl behind phone zombies and tourists, I can’t imagine almost 3 miles of it :rotfl:

GDB2222

davidmcn wrote: »

2.9 miles according to Google. I'd certainly walk that in under an hour, I'll accept that not everyone will.

But yes, if you can choose to live anywhere then why opt for one which takes you into the wrong terminus.

You’d have to work out a route that takes you away from the worst of the traffic fumes. Otherwise it’s seriously unhealthy. There are canals to walk next to for at least part of the route.

If you want to speed up the journey, use a Santander bike.

lisyloo

GDB2222 wrote: »

If you want to speed up the journey, use a Santander bike.

I’ve used a bike sometimes and the cycle super highways are great if there’s a good route.
In some areas it’s not for the faint hearted and can only be relied on every day for the seriously committed in winter.

I don’t have an issue with walking at all but it does have to be added on the the entire commute and 1 hour each way just for the local London bit is quite a lot.

MysteryMe

Is Canary Wharf out of price range, no idea on rents but you could get DLR into bank which is a short walk to LS.

In fact, there are a lot of possibles along the DLR network. Loads of new build flats gone up

GDB2222

lisyloo wrote: »

I’ve used a bike sometimes and the cycle super highways are great if there’s a good route.
In some areas it’s not for the faint hearted and can only be relied on every day for the seriously committed in winter.

I don’t have an issue with walking at all but it does have to be added on the the entire commute and 1 hour each way just for the local London bit is quite a lot.

I agree with all that. It’s probably a nicer walk in Watford than in Central London, so I would be happy to live a mile or two from the station, provided that trains from that station take me more or less straight to where I need to end up.

Bushey is nicer than Watford, and a couple of stops closer in. No idea whether rooms are available, though.

Cakeguts

GDB2222 wrote: »

I agree with all that. It’s probably a nicer walk in Watford than in Central London, so I would be happy to live a mile or two from the station, provided that trains from that station take me more or less straight to where I need to end up.

Bushey is nicer than Watford, and a couple of stops closer in. No idea whether rooms are available, though.

Bushey station is Bakerloo line and slow. Met line is faster which is why I suggested Wembley Park. There are only a couple of stops from Wembley Park to Baker Street. Then it just goes on to Algate with Liverpool Street the stop before that.

MrLlama

Consider somewhere like Stratford.
Very quick and easy to get to Liverpool Street via train or Central Line.
Plenty of new builds in the Olympic Park area so should fit your 'good quality accommodation' requirement.

numbercruncher8

If £550 a month is the budget with transport then it's gonna be a struggle to get a room in the Olympic development.

I don't think there much substitute for looking hard... if you're working in Liverpool St you could get somewhere in Bethnal Green or at a push, Whitechapel towards Aldgate and walk to work.

What constitutes 'nice' is definitely up to you: an older house with nice housemates with good social life for instance may be good, for others the potential for problems goes up with the number of people there are in the HMO.

IMO Archway/Islington might offer a nice blend of everything although you might be more reliant on one train that isn't as good, although you could ride a bike in from there.

Don't generalise that every room is small and poky, there will be plenty like that but there will also be good value ones as well. However, lots of people are looking and they will end up going faster.

Ntsn

No with transport 800 max