Iron Edge

Iron Edge => Off Topic Discussion => Topic started by: kagir on November 16, 2009, 02:02:23 pm

Title: Where do you start in London?
Post by: kagir on November 16, 2009, 02:02:23 pm
If I would be so crazy, to move where the weather is notoriously terrible and where there actually lives a lot of Brits.. Ok, jokes aside.

Both me and my girlfriend kinda fancy London, and after a bunch of trips as tourists and in the job, we've been talking about maybe moving there. Copenhagen is nice, but after 2½ years here, it'd be fun to try something new and bigger for a while.

Where do "normal" people live in London? I expect that we'll find jobs in central London and we both don't really fancy 1h train rides to work and are ready to pay the price for that, within reason.

Also, where does one look for apartments? I guess we're looking at renting, maybe with furniture (pretty common in UK right?).

Any inputs from you Brits - or anyone else who've been in a similar situation?
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: Ino on November 16, 2009, 02:13:52 pm
From what I've seen renting in London is pretty damn expensive yes/no?
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: Daekesh on November 16, 2009, 02:38:42 pm
One of the most expensive cities in the world I believe.  If you want to live anywhere near the centre, that is.
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: kagir on November 16, 2009, 02:41:03 pm
Groceries, drinking, dining, shopping etc. is cheaper than Copenhagen by quite a margin. Don't know about renting really, but I assume it's rather expensive, yeah. However, salaries usually follow that.
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: Goza on November 16, 2009, 02:44:57 pm
Where do "normal" people live in London?

In a broom closet.
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: Daekesh on November 16, 2009, 02:49:32 pm
Heh.  Some guy paid £500,000 for a room practically the size of a broom closet for his daughter for uni :D
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: delling on November 17, 2009, 02:05:02 am
Any of the North/East/South bits are fairly reasonable. Main problem is that anything near/on the Underground lines are expensive. If you move away -- a bus-ride away from the Underground, it gets cheaper (reasonable by Copenhagen standards I am sure).

Think the North/NNW is very popular at the moment. Campden, Kentish Town and moving out to East Finchley?

I've never lived there tho'. Tyler will know a lot more.
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: kagemoth on November 17, 2009, 04:09:43 am
I was living in london for 2 years. I found it Good cause i love convenience
and actually having a good (good -.- , in South africa u get shot) mode of
transport.

Getting a place to stay isn't too hard but finding one in the right area will most
likley be tricky. London is divided into Zones and are Priced accordingly.
The Center Zone (zone 1) is the most expensive , this is the bussiest part of the
city cause its literally just bussinesses everywere. I lived on the edge of zone 3
and was pretty comfortable there. A ride to work on the train was 30 min and the bus
was 1h. there are a few Zones but since you want to work in central you will likley
only be using 4 zones max.

Another thing you should know is that since
london is so populated by so many different people from different countrys , there
are areas that are focused by them. For instance the area i lived in was Jewish
and therefore everything was kosher and there was a lot of jewish foods.

oh.. and like everyones already said , Expensive. Find a job fast bro..

Places to look for apartments are Gumtree.com and also there is i think sum london
times newspaper that shows available housing and jobs.
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: Cojche on November 17, 2009, 10:06:16 am
Btw, what was that in London? Ppl stampedo for xmas lights? o.O I saw it on tv but only ending of it... :)
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: Daekesh on November 17, 2009, 01:09:43 pm
No.  That was Birmingham I think.  Definitely not London.
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: delling on November 17, 2009, 03:34:28 pm
Stampede because of JLS... a boy band...!
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: Cojche on November 17, 2009, 03:43:16 pm
No.  That was Birmingham I think.  Definitely not London.
Ah yes, the news said Britain not London. My bad there...
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: kagir on July 15, 2010, 08:12:33 pm
Looks like this might actually be happening this fall :)

I applied for London and NYC - so far London showed the most interest. Is 50.000/year good or bad?
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: kawe on July 15, 2010, 09:29:37 pm
Wow, I don't have much info to offer about london but I think moving to somewhere new is always exciting and fun, hope you enjoy it thoroughly :)
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: delling on July 16, 2010, 02:21:41 am
£50k/year's good! Not massive, if you want a house or something -- but if you are happy with a small'ish flat, or something outside the center...

What will they be paying you for?
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: Tyler on July 16, 2010, 09:00:36 am
Poke me if you want any info Kagir, on IRC or TS. I have lived in London for 20 years and I think its a great place to live.
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: kagir on July 16, 2010, 10:15:24 am
Thanks!

I'd be paid to be a senior consultant at Deloitte doing computer forensics.

I expect that my gf will land a job as well, so hopefully we'd be able to live fairly central, if we end up in London.

I definitely will do, Tyler. If I move, we gotta go see some music together! I have my eyes set on the Brixton Academy schedule atm :)

It's funny how you think you can be stuck somewhere, then throw out a few application (inter company for my part) and suddenly the world is wide open with almost too many choices.
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: treachery on July 16, 2010, 12:44:52 pm
friend of mine rents a two room appartment in notting hill with his GF and pays ~GBP 14-1500/month for 60-ish square metre. not too bad if you are a couple with decent salaries. live close to work and where shit happends is worth alot.
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: delling on July 16, 2010, 01:11:00 pm
Awesome! You'll definitely be able to find something nice if the girl works as well.

Might even have a little left over to create a photography studio... :P
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: Vorte on July 16, 2010, 01:18:03 pm
Holy shit that's expensive  :o
Title: Re: Where do you start in London?
Post by: Tyler on July 16, 2010, 03:11:19 pm
£1500 per month for a decent 2 bed flat in a good location is about right. You can easily pay more...

I agree with Treachery though, it is better to live close to work to start with. Kings Cross is where I would choose to live if I was moving to London for the first time. It is very central and is on about 6 tube lines. However if you and your gf are not used to city life Hampstead might be a little more appropriate. Its a posh (safe) area with a very large park.

Here is link to the property website that I would use if I was looking for a flat and didn't want to share with randoms http://www.findaproperty.com/. If you want a flatshare http://www.gumtree.com/ is a common place to look.