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London, where to live?
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Madge Wildfire
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Your original post said - "Well, I've been offered a job that means working at a number of different railway related placed in London, and several other places, such as Victoria, N Greenwich etc. and I'm wondering where I should be looking to live, since I have never live there before.
I will have a takehome wage of about £1350/4wks, so I reacon I can afford a combined rent + commute of £800 maximum, oh, and anywhere with a zone number I travel in for free...
I want a minimum of a 1 bed flat, no shares, no bedsits, no shares, no studios, no shares, no boxes, no shares.... "
Could you please explain to Mr Idiot here, why you give all those precise details about the property you require, if you were only looking for advice on areas?
And may I add that if you think that your current attitude to people who are only trying to help in their own naive way is brought south with you, you may find your stay much shorter than you were prepared for.
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Nym
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Well, I can safely say I've lived in worse areas...
http://www.police.uk/crime/?q=Manchester M4 7EY, UK#crimetypes/2011-12
http://www.police.uk/crime/?q=Manchester M4 7EY, UK#crimetypes/2011-12
Well I live in Crayford and have several friends in Greenhithe/Swanscombe. My Mum lives in Longfield. There's not a lot wrong with the area IMO, but if you are looking at commuting from Ebbsfleet then you won't want to use the car park very often. My Mum reckons it's cheaper to get a taxi to and from Longfield than park there all day. Gravesend itself is mainly older properties (compared to the new builds along the road to Dartford, esp Greenhithe). I guess one big advantage of Gravesend is that you have two completely different routes to London, albeit one is slow, so a major problem may not disrupt you as much as it might in say Watford.
I've no experience of renting, so these are just views on the area.
I've no experience of renting, so these are just views on the area.
150222
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Although there are many differant routes from Watford. Met Line, Overground, London Midland, Abbey line & FCC, Bus. 
Nym
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Although there are many differant routes from Watford. Met Line, Overground, London Midland, Abbey line & FCC, Bus.
Theres a bus from Watford into C London???
And MikeWh, ta muchly, will have a look round that area and see what I think, was considering living within walking distance of Ebbsfleet International if I was going to move there, and have a season ticket to Gravesend to make it valid to either Northfleet or Ebbsfleet
150222
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I don't know. I never use TFL buses. You could change but I wouldn't reccomend it. I was just illustrating a point anyway.
Lampshade
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Typical rent for university halls in Manchester.
Nym
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Indeed, but I call them expensive compared to what you can get in Fallowfeild, and even there prices are artifically inflated thanks to the student populus, same in Withington and it's spreading even to Chorlton, Didsbury, Ardwick, Withington and Rusholme...
junglejames
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To be fair, he has already worked out his finances, and is happy with them. So he asked based on that. The info he was discounting was that telling him he couldnt live on what he reckons he can.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
So someone who may know particular areas well, can say whether it is possible to get a 1 bed flat for £800. in said area. Also so people can advise him to rule out particular areas as his criteria wouldnt work there.
Instead he had people telling him he would have to buy £3 pints, or that he obviously hadnt factored in bills because it would cost at least £400 per month in booze or whatever etc etc etc. OK im exagerating, but you get the picture.
Yeah I was trying to be realistic in my answer to what the question was and if that means I have to point out the inclusion of bills alongside his rental budget then this has to be pointed out.
Better to try and let people know to be realistic with living in london then not.
Like I said in my deleted post - I was only trying to be helpful from the viewpoint of someone who lives and works in London.
bb21
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You don't just go to an online forum, ask for advice, and only expect to hear things that you want to hear. What is the point of asking for advice then?
The OP might have considered all those things pointed out to him. Great if that is the case. Sometimes people find out things from others which they might not have considered before. Unfortunately his expectation on the financial side would appear unrealistic to many people. If he can make it work then he is more than welcome to go ahead with what he considers the best way forward. He is not under any compulsion to take everything others have said into account. That is the whole point of an internet forum, where you see what people can offer and the pick and choose what is most appropriate for yourself.
However there is no excuse for some of the language used by either side.
junglejames
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He asked for advice on one subject, and was given advice on another. Plus the only reason people thought he couldnt live on it, was because they assumed he had to go out buying drinks galore etc etc.
Ascot
Established Member
If the OP could provide a monthly cost breakdown of what he's expecting/found so far then that would help ongoing disputes between parties. Rent, Council Tax, TV, Gas, Electric, Landline Phone, Mobile Phone, Travel fares, insurances and average foodstuffs. Then salary minus pension and NI. Add or subtract to list as needed.
Nym
Established Member
Mobile Phone £40pcm
Landline & Internet £40pcm
TV Licence £12.12pcm
Gas & Electric £120pcm
Water £23.20pcm (At the moment, rateable values will change this closer to £30pcm)
Insurances (£30 - £50pcm for contents and liability insurance)
Council Tax (Based on Band C in Watford) £74/month with SOD.
So thats £375pcm on fixed bills, food & general expenses is something ITR of £150pcm if I eat like a king, so thats £525, £75contingency. £600, wage expected leaves what I asked for, no more than £750 rent & travel combined. So how may I ask is this a stupid budget?
PS: That also incorporates a £1200 annual contingency and allows for the most pecimistic taxing regime I can think of.
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Not everyone did pass that advice though. Also its worth noting the title was moving to london.
Last time I looked Gravesend Watford and St Albans are not London so I couldnt possibly give any advice on those areas apart from roughly guessing that Gravesend would be pricey due to HS1.
And now its changed down to £750 per month for rent AND travel combined. Which is less than the original 'I want to spend £800 on a 1 bed flat' question.
Sometimes its worthwhile people pointing out realities of life when someone new wants to move to a new city and thats all I was doing.
St Albans has some of the most expensive property in the country, so besides the problems with TL at the moment, I doubt it would be affordable.
It's a lovely place, but I'd suggest wasn't worth considering anyway. In fact, you'd have to be looking at some rather grotty parts of London to have any sort of disposable income left over for unplanned expenses - which there will always be. If you don't plan for that, you'll either end up getting some expensive loan, or start maxing out credit cards and get yourself into debt very quickly.
It's a lovely place, but I'd suggest wasn't worth considering anyway. In fact, you'd have to be looking at some rather grotty parts of London to have any sort of disposable income left over for unplanned expenses - which there will always be. If you don't plan for that, you'll either end up getting some expensive loan, or start maxing out credit cards and get yourself into debt very quickly.
NSE
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Purely from a fun point of view, Camden Town it's amazing and you can shop at my work and drink in so many bars and it's just unreal. I love it there xD I do know of some flats around there, two bedrooms + kitchen + lounge for about £500 a month, might be per person though, so maybe not much help.
Presume you'll be working for TfL so just a quick clarification that the 75% 'discount,' except on FCC and East Coast is taxable - so the actual rebate will be somewhat less.
Secondly, TfL Staff Passes have very limited availability on NR services, so parts of London served only by NR will be unattractive for you.
Also the 75% 'discount' does not apply to the +HS1 supplement; you'll only get it on the normal rate (but you can pay for HS1 from your own pocket).
Have you looked at Canada Water? It's a fair price and reasonably connected for somewhere on the wrong side of the river.
Secondly, TfL Staff Passes have very limited availability on NR services, so parts of London served only by NR will be unattractive for you.
Also the 75% 'discount' does not apply to the +HS1 supplement; you'll only get it on the normal rate (but you can pay for HS1 from your own pocket).
Have you looked at Canada Water? It's a fair price and reasonably connected for somewhere on the wrong side of the river.
£5 a day? I'm assuming that you must have budgeted coffee , croissants and cupcakes under your 'fixed expenses' - very sensible IMO
I am guessing that as HS1 is fairly expensive and infrequent, it hasn't massively effected property pricing.
How about looking at the line out of kings cross. Stevanage/Hitchin/letchworth are just about 30mins from the Euston road, changing at fins bury park and high bury gets you to Stratford, probably about 45mins. You get far more for your money up there, I know loads of rail staff (and lots of tube staff) who live that way. Or if you would put up with a slightly longer commute then every stop north of Hitchin up to peterbourgh knocks a fair bit off property prices (about 10k per station to buy a place).
Nym
Established Member
I asked HR to fax me the T&Cs of the staff pass, and am planning around these, hence, Watford.
I havn't looked at Canada Water, but will do at some point.
£5 a day? I'm assuming that you must have budgeted coffee , croissants and cupcakes under your 'fixed expenses' - very sensible IMO
I have indeed, usually comes in at £2.50/day shopping and £2.50 G/E... (My coffees are only £1.50)
Oh and the HS1 info is quite helpful as is the FCC info. I have the exact details of the TfL Staff Pass restrictions, like I said, working round them and Mojo will know why I am looking where I am...
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