Moving - London

charlesworth82

Hi all,

Girlfriend has found a job in London and at the moment we are living in Leeds. I have quite a good job and so does she - we would however like a change.

Could anyone post any positive and negative views on the move, as i know London is going to be a lot more expensive. We will most likely be renting and looking to buy in 1-2 years.

Any help would be very appreciated - as its a decision we need to think a lot about.

Thanks,

HGLTsuperstar

charlesworth82 wrote:

H


Could anyone post any positive and negative views on the move, as i know London is going to be a lot more expensive.

Never a truer word been spoken. what's your price bracket? Does it have to be London itslef, its often cheaper to live in the surrounding counties and commute in, saving on house prices and congestion charge.
Post a bit more info and you'll get more detailed responses

Doozergirl

London is great when you're young and have no family commitments. You'll never get bored of all the culture, theatres, galleries, bars, restaurants etc. The architecture is second to none, the range of period property to live in vast (sorely lacking where I am now). The cost of living is high, but wages are higher too. The range of companies to work for is vast and exciting.

It is cheaper to commute in from the suburbs, but it seems to takes ages and you must steer clear of the Northern Line - it's hell in the mornings! You're packed in so tightly, you don't need to hold your belongings, they are held up by the crush.

It's not the best place to bring up children. The rat race goes at an incredible pace, it's dangerous (roads and more than it's fair share of nutters), it's nigh on impossible to get them into a good school unless you live next door or can afford to go private, (but this defeats the point of earning higher wages). People are also cynical in nature and often rude.

So I'd say move down and have fun, but move back home if and when you decide to have kids.

sooz

stay well well away from the northern line, also known as the misery line. i'm a londoner and have places to rent here too [all currently full - so i'm not trying to sell you anything] pm me if you want more info.

sooz

city girl and proud...i get scared when i am away from tarmac and street lights

orthopod

I moved out of London couple of years ago but did live near Northern Line. I did not have any problems. What has caused you misery ?

Doozergirl

It wasn't living near it that was the problem, just using it!

charlesworth82

hi all thanks for the responses.

We are a young couple (aged 23-24) and are not really planning kids in the next two years.

Like i say i have quite a good job and am gaining valuable experience every day - how easy is it for jobs in London (computer work). I dont want to move and have a nightmare trying to find a job and i really dont want to just take anything as i need the experience while i'm young.

It doesn't have to be in the middle of london - anywhere with less than an hours travel to work would be fine. Looking to pay around 600 a month for 2 bed place - dont now if this is possible around London (would get a nice place in leeds on that though)

J

Doozergirl

There's plenty of jobs to choose from in London, that is not a problem at all.

You'd be looking at a little more than £600 for a 1 bed flat, quite far out of the centre! In London, space is expensive so you don't pay for more space than you need. Where is your girlfriend going to be working? This will probably dictate which area you situate yourself in relation to tube and train lines.

propertyfinder.com is good as it shows available properties on a map for your price range. The closer to the centre properties are, the areas are going to be quite rough/poor.

lush_walrus

For £600 per month I don't think you will find anywhere in central London, perhaps at a push a room I'm not sure on rental values in less central parts of London but Herts, Essex, or Berkshire within commuting distance of London most 2 bed flats are approx £700 upwards, with travel back into London (from just outside zone 6) upwards of £1,500 for a yearly pass.

There is still pretty good employment in London, but probably your best move would be to check on some of the agency sites to find out what is around in the area you work in and what sorts of saleries they attract.

paulsm

Londons great , you cant park , you cant drive , and you pay £8 a day for it. You pay over twice as much for property with no views unless you count rooftops. Its full of dodgy people. But apart from that its great

tiger

i think if you need our prper advice we need to know what sort of jobs your gf got in london including earning, your job experience, slary.where in london she is gonna work.is it temp or per job, what sort of company? etc.otherwise it wont be possible to say to youstay in leeds or move to london.