Where is cheapest place to rent to work in London Centre?

faringdon

Hi,
I am going to be working at Paddington in London.
Do you know  where the cheapest place to rent is so that i can commute in?
I used to live in Luton and work in London and that wasn't too far out, but is there anywhere where rental places  are cheapest for London access?

TadleyBaggie

Paddington suggests coming in from the west. I used to live in Slough which was cheap at the time and access to West London was fairly easy.

lr1277

You could look on Rightmove for rental places. For the search area, type in: West London.

You could set a maximum price (I don't know your budget) but when I just looked there were almost no properties under £800/month that weren't garages or parking spaces (in West London).

As you are aware after living in Luton, you need to consider both rental cost and commuting cost. Almost 30 years ago, I moved from Harrow to a flat near Great Portland Street tube. I saved on commuting time and cost but paid a much higher rent.

Additionally in Rightmove you can search by county name instead of just a specific place. Then sort the results by price.

Or you could search on London and set a maximum rent per month. Then filter by property type to say flat. When I did this, the first few I looked at did not include any parking spaces/garage.

Emmia

faringdon said:

Hi,
I am going to be working at Paddington in London.
Do you know  where the cheapest place to rent is so that i can commute in?
I used to live in Luton and work in London and that wasn't too far out, but is there anywhere where rental places  are cheapest for London access?

I'd consider the routes going into Paddington directly to avoid needing national rail + tube. 

As well as national rail from places like Reading or Slough, you have the Elizabeth line so you can look at places like Stratford, or Romford or Shenfield as well as those on lines like the Central Line (Lancaster Gate is very close to Paddington). The Bakerloo, Circle & District and the Hammersmith & City all stop at Paddington.

If you're on the TFL network and willing to consider a change, then many options open up, like the overground (lioness line) from Watford (switch at Queen's Park and a few other stations for the bakerloo).

You need to also work out the budget for rent + travel - I moved up to London from near Reading ~15 years ago, my rent was more expensive, but my work travel cheaper (especially as I had a bus only season ticket in those days) the net effect was about £30 less in my pocket each month, but I regained 2 hours of my life every day as I spent less time commuting. I was also able to give up costs like running my own car...

soolin

I echo the Emmia said:

faringdon said:

Hi,
I am going to be working at Paddington in London.
Do you know  where the cheapest place to rent is so that i can commute in?
I used to live in Luton and work in London and that wasn't too far out, but is there anywhere where rental places  are cheapest for London access?

I'd consider the routes going into Paddington directly to avoid needing national rail + tube. 

As well as national rail from places like Reading or Slough, you have the Elizabeth line so you can look at places like Stratford, or Romford or Shenfield as well as those on lines like the Central Line (Lancaster Gate is very close to Paddington). The Bakerloo, Circle & District and the Hammersmith & City all stop at Paddington.

If you're on the TFL network and willing to consider a change, then many options open up, like the overground (lioness line) from Watford (switch at Queen's Park and a few other stations for the bakerloo).

You need to also work out the budget for rent + travel - I moved up to London from near Reading ~15 years ago, my rent was more expensive, but my work travel cheaper (especially as I had a bus only season ticket in those days) the net effect was about £30 less in my pocket each month, but I regained 2 hours of my life every day as I spent less time commuting. I was also able to give up costs like running my own car...

I agree, use the Elizabeth line and look east- cheaper rents and lots of new places going up so more properties available and a better market to search. 

Albermarle

faringdon said:

Hi,
I am going to be working at Paddington in London.
Do you know  where the cheapest place to rent is so that i can commute in?
I used to live in Luton and work in London and that wasn't too far out, but is there anywhere where rental places  are cheapest for London access?

Cheap - normally means not very nice area, so it depends if you are happy with that.

Emmia

Albermarle said:

faringdon said:

Hi,
I am going to be working at Paddington in London.
Do you know  where the cheapest place to rent is so that i can commute in?
I used to live in Luton and work in London and that wasn't too far out, but is there anywhere where rental places  are cheapest for London access?

Cheap - normally means not very nice area, so it depends if you are happy with that.

It's also worth remembering that in London you can go from wealthy/nice to deprived/horrible almost in adjacent streets.

Kensington & Chelsea has some incredibly deprived areas, nestling cheek by jowl with areas stuffed with multi million pound properties.

MyRealNameToo

faringdon said:

Hi,
I am going to be working at Paddington in London.
Do you know  where the cheapest place to rent is so that i can commute in?
I used to live in Luton and work in London and that wasn't too far out, but is there anywhere where rental places  are cheapest for London access?

What's the longest you want to be commuting in for on a station to station basis? 
Are you worried about frequency of service as a train thats only every half hour can notably extend your commute if you just miss one?
How often are you commuting in and is the cost of the commute a consideration?