View Full Version : Defection and flat hunting
Hi chaps. There's a distinct possibility that I'll be switching Massives in the next month from Pennine to Soho. So I'm looking for somewhere to live.
Does anyone know of anywhere that is going really cheap? It doesn't have to be nice or big, just cheap, preferably in zone 1 or 2 along the Central or Northern lines, or around Soho area. Ideally I think I'm looking for a self contained bedsit, but all options will be considered.
I've got a budget of about £100 a week. Do you think this is possible or just pie in the sky?
All opinions and suggestions taken on board as being a northerner I'm a bit green to the ways of the big smoke. I may well be making an appearance at Frith Street soon :)
martianskippy
29-06-10, 01:08 PM
I think your budget's a "tad" low for what you're looking for in this area....
Would suggest looking on www.gumtree.com
HTH
I think your budget's a "tad" low for what you're looking for in this area....
Thanks for the input. Where are the cheapest areas then? I don't mind ugly but I wanna avoid being dead.
martianskippy
29-06-10, 02:42 PM
Thanks for the input. Where are the cheapest areas then? I don't mind ugly but I wanna avoid being dead.
Even some of the most expensive postcodes might turn up really dangerous and/or manky so the most important thing is to visit every place and get a feel of the area. London's too big to give you a definitive guide as to where to look. One of the most important things to look for is transport connections. Just to give you an example: when we used to live in Upper Holloway (Islington, Zone 2) and were working in central London, it took my girlfriend an hour to get to work (I used my bike so it doesn't count). Now we live in Kingston (South of London, Zone 6) and it still takes her 1 hour to get to work!
We used to pay £780/month +bills (circa £1100 all in) for a studio flat in Upper Holloway, now we pay £850 + bills for a 1 bed maisonette with a garden in Kingston...
Generally south of the river tends to be better than north and East London should probably be avoided. Just have a good look on gumtree with the price you have in mind as search criteria and see what pops out. Once you have at least some choices, we should be able to give you more info on the area. I'll PM you my number if you have any specific questions.
PS. Are you taking the dogs with you?
Coming from leeds that leaves a lot of Leeway!
£100 a week is going to be a room, nothing more. You may get a ropey studio but you would end up having to pay the extra to get back into london.
Come south of the river for reasonable places for not a lot, noth london seemes to be faily pricey no matter where you go due to the tube network mainly. All places have good areas and bad and you can get mugged in central london, so dont always judge a book by its cover. Gumtree as suggested, and even the likes of Primelocation etc do have rooms etc. Also try easyroommate and spareroom.co.uk type places.
I have lived in south london for 38.99 years and have survived. As Martin says, if you pick a few locations, then pop them up, we can then say yea on nay
Ta very much. You're right London is really big and this is why I'm asking - it's too big to take in and I don't have any idea where to start. Thanks for the advice as I was looking at Ilford because it seemed really cheap.
Gumtree has so much rubbish to wade through...
No doggies coming with me. I'm just looking for a place to sleep and eat during the week. Weekends will probably be spent back oop norf. I haven't decided whether I'm gonna bring the bike down and commute on that or use the tube - having both options would of course be the best.
Work will be near Tottenham Court Road tube station, so I'm trying to get a reasonable commute to there. That's pretty much the only requirement so it's a bit open ended. I had a mate in Clapham and I've been there a few times and that seemed nice but probably a wee bit pricey.
Ta very much. You're right London is really big and this is why I'm asking - it's too big to take in and I don't have any idea where to start. Thanks for the advice as I was looking at Ilford because it seemed really cheap.
Gumtree has so much rubbish to wade through...
No doggies coming with me. I'm just looking for a place to sleep and eat during the week. Weekends will probably be spent back oop norf. I haven't decided whether I'm gonna bring the bike down and commute on that or use the tube - having both options would of course be the best.
Ilford, Loughton etc round those parts is fair game. Really, checkout spareroom.co.uk and easyroommate. I found Vernas shared house on there a few years ago
Littlepeahead
29-06-10, 04:53 PM
This website can be quite useful
http://www.upmystreet.com/
I read defecation and flat hunting!
I live almost at the end of the Central line in Ruislip and it's about 40 minutes or maybe a bit less to Tottenham Court Road. The world is your oyster (pun intended) if you're near a tube station.
Von Teese
30-06-10, 04:56 AM
You should speak to some of my friends that work at Battersea Dogs Home.
They ususally rent houses to share with gardens because they all have pets, then you might even get to take doggie too and have a decent place to stay not just a box room.
We are having a staff and ex staff reunion next month, I can ask around if you like?
Fizzy Fish
30-06-10, 05:33 AM
I'd suggest that you look for somewhere slightly further from the centre and take your bike with you to commute.
You'll enjoy it waaaay more than taking the tube (London riding is its own special brand of fun!), and it means that you can afford something a bit nicer. Also, if you're less tied to being close to a tube station you can get more for your money - though if you go out a lot you probably will want to be closeish to a tube as well, for getting home afterwards.
I'm out of touch with rental prices these days, but you could try Southfields/Earlsfield/Wandsworth in SW London, or even parts of Tooting. As has been said there is good and bad in all areas, so check it out and also look at the local high st/station to see if you're happy with that area too. But don't be too picky, this is London we're talking about!
On the plus side, loads of people share in London so you should find plenty of rooms to rent.
Sid Squid
30-06-10, 08:33 AM
Generally south of the river tends to be better than north
So, so, so wrong. South London is a terrible place - you will know this as you live there, just look at the sort of people that do too; Rictus, Jambo, Viney, Spidey, BBC, Davies, Sarj, Pete M, dear me - I shudder just to think about it ;).
To be more helpful, the budget you're suggesting will probably only buy you a share in a flat/house. Certainly it's insufficient for a flat of your own in central London, Gumtree is good, also try Zoopla (http://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/property/london/?price_max=100&q=london), a couple of people I know have had good results from there, (that link is for max £100 a week).
timwilky
30-06-10, 09:26 AM
I hope they are paying you well to compensate for living away etc. I once looked at the monday down, friday back lifestyle and there was no way on this earth I would do it long term.
I would need to move down properly and london wages to not compensate for london inflated prices
TW this is true - I expect it to be harder than my current lifestyle, but there's a few good reasons for it. I need to pay off some debts so I'll be basically renting the cheapest room I can find. Then in a year when the gf's son finishes his current school, they'll move down as well and we'll look at getting a proper place to live. The train back to Accy is quite cheap if you catch the right ones, and it would allow me to sell my car and possibly my bike, and rent out my house in Leeds.
So basically any money saved anywhere is a good thing, so living in London "cheaply" is critical to the plan.
Thanks for the responses so far - I'm scouring the sites posted and getting an idea of what's available. Currently looking at living further out to the north west - Hemel, Watford, Luton etc, cos you can get into the centre reasonably quickly from these places although the tickets are costly.
martianskippy
30-06-10, 10:25 AM
Thanks for the responses so far - I'm scouring the sites posted and getting an idea of what's available. Currently looking at living further out to the north west - Hemel, Watford, Luton etc, cos you can get into the centre reasonably quickly from these places although the tickets are costly.
If you're looking at living outside of London and commuting by bike, I would strongly suggest looking at Surbiton and Kingston - much nicer than Luton, Hemel or Watford. Surbiton has a fast train connection to Waterloo which takes just 15 minutes!
If you really want to be north of London, look at St Albans maybe..
If you're looking at living outside of London and commuting by bike, I would strongly suggest looking at Surbiton and Kingston - much nicer than Luton, Hemel or Watford. Surbiton has a fast train connection to Waterloo which takes just 15 minutes!
If you really want to be north of London, look at St Albans maybe..
oh yeah Surbiton + area looks really nice! Thanks :D
martianskippy
30-06-10, 12:34 PM
oh yeah Surbiton + area looks really nice! Thanks :D
Surbiton and Kingston are really nice. And you could pop in for a cuppa at ours as we are only a stone's throw from Surbiton :)
Ealing, acton, Kilburn, hammersmith, shepherds bush, etc etc. Good and not so good bits of all of them. Google is your friend.
Globrix.com any good?
Von Teese
30-06-10, 05:10 PM
If you are single you could always chat up the biker chick that moved into my place in Walton on Thames ;)
(it's a one bedroom!)
gettin2dizzy
30-06-10, 07:08 PM
Would Zone 2, 9 mins from London bridge/DLR do you? Me & my misses are moving in to a nice place in August, with a room we're looking to rent out. It's a real smart place, and I guess you'd gain full access to tools when you were down! :rolleyes: :lol:
Can PM you with proper info if you think it's something up your street (p-pun ;) ) . Otherwise I've been looking frickin' loads recently so more than happy to point you in the right direction.
Rob.
Just got my official offer letter through. I'll be starting on the 2nd August or thereabouts. Woohoo i'm coming to Loooondoooon!!! :smt040
martianskippy
05-07-10, 02:58 PM
congratulations mate!
..damn, there goes the neighbourhood.. ;)
chris8886
06-07-10, 10:48 PM
Just got my official offer letter through. I'll be starting on the 2nd August or thereabouts. Woohoo i'm coming to Loooondoooon!!! :smt040
this is good, but you're missing the AR!! :(
this is good, but you're missing the AR!! :(
If I'd realised that it would have that effect, I probably wouldn't have taken the job! :mad:
I've been so looking forward to the AR, but what with deposits and moving costs, and the fact that it'll probably take the first month to find tenants for my house up north, it's gonna be October at the earliest before I break even. The sunday would also be a nightmare as I'd have to get up really early, shake off the hangover, pack up the huge tent we were gonna buy, get back to Accy, unload everything, then grab a train back down to London.
martianskippy
07-07-10, 08:24 AM
... I'd have to get up really early, shake off the hangover, pack up the huge tent we were gonna buy, get back to Accy, unload everything, then grab a train back down to London.
Sounds like a plan then ;-)
Seriously though, I understand your situation.. It's just a shame you'll be missing out on the AR :(
this is good, but you're missing the AR!! :(
I'm confused, some soho peeps are going to the AR, if you've been in London for a week, surely you don't need to go home the 1st w/e, just go to the AR on your own?
I'm confused, some soho peeps are going to the AR, if you've been in London for a week, surely you don't need to go home the 1st w/e, just go to the AR on your own?
Yeah I will need to go home. There will be lots of things still to do that won't have been completed. It's a fairly major operation, moving down south, and I can't take any time off work atm, so weekends are all I have.
There's also the money element. The move will leave me scraping the bottom of my overdraft and I can't justify any extra expenditure on non-essentials.
I really wanted to go and I'd go if I could - unfortunately it's not gonna happen this year. AR11 anyone?
AR11 anyone?
No, I think this is the last year we're having it.
despite all the effort put in, there just doesn't seem to be enough people interested. Too many people want to go home.
;) Nah srsly, be a shame you'll miss it but we'll get to see you at Soho :D good luck with the move.
;) Nah srsly, be a shame you'll miss it but we'll get to see you at Soho :D good luck with the move.
Cheers fella. Catch up with ya when I'm down there.
ravingdavis
14-07-10, 08:31 PM
Good thread... I'm going to be moving down to London to start my new job sometime soon, so some helpful info! I'm just going to be looking to rent a room somewhere but ill have the bike with me to commute on so I've also got to find some way of storing that. Garages seem like they are in short supply in London! Its just going to be a room/flatshare type thing for me I think.
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