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 :)

Re: Defection and flat hunting
 

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

Re: Defection and flat hunting
 

Thanks for the input. Where are the cheapest areas then? I don't mind ugly but I wanna avoid being dead.

Re: Defection and flat hunting
 

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?

Re: Defection and flat hunting
 

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

Re: Defection and flat hunting
 

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.

Re: Defection and flat hunting
 

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.

Re: Defection and flat hunting
 

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

Re: Defection and flat hunting
 

This website can be quite useful

http://www.upmystreet.com/

Re: Defection and flat hunting
 

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.