Considering moving to London - would LOVE input from charming Brits

1000GBP is 250GBP per week, for that amount you would be lucky to get a well located studio flat, or perhaps a two bed in a very poor location and state of repair.

Cost of living will be much much higher than Toronto. Council taxes are high, and on the up. Water rates, electricity and phone bills I'm sure are more expensive than in Toronto.

As for the job situation, unless you are currently with an international firm who will offer you employment in their London offices. If you have good university education, or are in the medical profession it may be hard to find well paid employment.

Perhaps, if possible you could organise employment before the transition then maybe a mortgage, although I think you will be best suited to stay in Toronto, realistically speaking. If you had some capital behind you, say in excess of a quarter of a million GBP you would be able to make a large deposit on an apartment, rather than have to pay an huge mortgage.

Good luck, and I hope some other people can offer you more advice.

Ben Haines apart, most of us Brits don't do charm. Understanding that is the real key to living here.

If you can get citizenship of an EU country, the next bit doesn't apply
Otherwise. you need to start at the UK highly skilled migrant programme (www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/default.asp?PageId=2757).

With a degree and a few years' professional experience, you can get a visa that allows to to work here (though the system is struggling to process applications right now).

Otherwise, you need to find an employer who'll swear you have skills that can't be found among the 400 and odd million people of the 30 or so countries in the EEA (25-member EU plus a few).Few will. Illegal employment is just not an option.

Unemployment in the UK is just about the lowest in the rich world, and declining. Depending on your skills, getting a job shouldn't be your problem.

Realistic cost-of-living expectations will be. For £1000 a month you can get a 1 or 2 bedroom flat. Safety is rarely a meaningful issue in London. You're highly unlikely to find a flat anywhere with a high risk of mugging or physical attack, but burglary is a near-certainty wherever you live (burglars generally hate robbing a house with people in at the time. We've only once been burgled while we were in the house. London burglars are almost always reluctant to engage in physical assault of any sort). There is absolutely nowhere in London that is not prone to burglary.

The problem at £1000 a month is that the (at that price dismal, though these days generally clean-ish) flat is likely to be a 10-15 minute from the tube in a part of London that would depress most of us, and a further 30 mins from central London.

You really have, IMHO, to expect to pay a considerable amount more, or look to living somewhere else

Perhaps I can provide a little perspective. An acquaintance of mine married her British boyfriend and moved to London about a year ago. She came back recenlty for a visit and I got the lowdown from her (I always thought it would be fun to live in London.) She did not have a problem getting a job once she got there (she has very specific sklls) but she said salaries/finances are a real issue. Compared to New York (which I know is much more expensive than Toronto - but at least some persepective) salaries are quite low (at leasat 1/3 less for the same job - although she said a lot less work is required) but the cost of almost everything is very high. She said any appliance/ household goods (linens etc) are almost double what they are in the US. Also, food (from the supermarket) is VERY expensive - in the absolute - not just comparatively. As for the real estate market she said the prices are comparable to New York - which means a 1-bedroom apartment is a middle class area not TOO far from the center would start at about US$2500 per month (unfurnished). (Oh, and she said kitchens are tiny and usually don't have full-size appliances - but tiny versions of everything - like boat refrigerators.) If you want more info perhaps you can search for London rental properties on-line - I'm sure someone here on the board can suggest some likely neighborhoods.

Hope this helps provide some perspective.

There's a new UK work visa program for well-educated Americans making more than $50k a year--not sure if it applies to Canadians as well.

I don't have details, but you'll be able to get some info on it at www.americanexpats.co.uk.

Ann41:

There's no programme for well-educated Americans. To have one, absent a reciprocal programme by the US, is clearly impossible.

There is, however, a programme for any Highly Skilled Migrants, of any nationality. Canadians, just like Americans, Indians or Chinese, may apply.

See my reference above.

Another possibility is the UK Right of Abode, for which Canadians may be eligible. Canadians can get this if one or both parents are British (being born in Canada to a British parent does NOT necessarily give you the right to a British passport). With the UK Right of Abode stamp in your Canadian passport you have the same rights as a UK citizen to apply for any job in the UK. (My husband has this, which is why we are moving to the UK; even though his mother is British, he would NOT have been eligible for the Right of Abode if he'd been born in the US; the country of birth has to be Commonwealth). A Canadian with the Right of Abode who resides in the UK for a certain amount of time can then apply for a British passport, which opens up all of the EU. If only one of you has the Right of Abode the other can get permanent residence through other methods (spousal visa), but the right to work bit then is trickier.
All that said, London has a lot of drawbacks--salaries are surprisingly low, housing costs high and often of somewhat questionable quality...have you considered starting your UK life in another city? Newcastle? Birmingham? York? None of those offer all that London does, of course, but you may find other aspects of them appealing.
We STRONGLY suggest you contact a legal professional who specializes in immigration because it's very easy to make a mistake that could thwart your plans. While getting his Right of Abode stamp, my husband saw how some other applicants (in different circumstances) were asked seemingly innocent questions that ended up with being denied the right to long term residency in the UK. Once you've been rejected, it's much harder to get the decision changed. Better to have a professional help you get things right the first time around.
Keep your fingers crossed. Despite all the dire predictions about getting a work permit, in the last three years, companies in Belgium and Switzerland were able to get me work permits, even though I'm American.
Anyway, here is one possible source of help:
http://www.webbimmigration.com/uk_residence_and_citizenship_overview.htm

Hi there - congrats on your recent marriage for a start! (I'm due to be wed in July this year, following my future husbands mumbled proposal in Milan this year!)

This may seem a bit obvious, but have you considered a holiday to London and the rest of England just to get a feel of the place? You may not like the reality once you have been there, or you may feel the opposite! Good luck whatever you choose.

All this "romance", and sweet sentiment, how nauseating. Please pass me a bucket, much obliged.

I think m_kingdom didn't read the title of the post. It said "would LOVE input from charming Brits". I'm not sure why he bothered to post, since he certainly doesn't fit into the "charming" category.

Patrick, I was thinking the same thing myself, however, I am charming when asked sensible questions, such as this one which is so utterly relevant to this forum. I dislike ones asking "what should I wear?". People with such insecurites as clothing should never be allowed to travel. These people wishing to relocate to another place are willing to toss their whole security and way of life aside, slightly more important and far more interesting than "should i pack a wool or down coat?" Let's prioritise here, perhaps Fodors would like to start a separate fashion forum to be inhabited by always out of vogue wannabe fashionistas?

To be honest, m_kingdom I read your first reply to this question and found it amazingly civil, (how unlike you) but wondered why you had to return to your "nasty" old self for your second post. I didn't find anything that called for the "bucket" as you put it. I missed the part where it turned into a debate on what to wear, I guess, so I didn't get your "nauseating" comments.

m_kingdom, you can always opt NOT to answer.

Brim -- that was some of the best advice given to anyone lately. LOL

I apologise on behalf of all otherwise charming Brits

I assume the 'pass the bucket' comment was directed at me for giving my congrats to a newly wed couple. What a sad and lonely person, one who cannot be happy for someone else.

I think he doesnt like me (ahhh, how awful) because I picked up on his spelling when he posted an obnoxious reply a few days ago. (By the way, Kingdom, what exactly is 'insecurites'? go back to school or grow up

EnglishOne, don't take it personally. From m_kingdom's posts on this board, I don't think he likes anyone.

And we've diverted the message from the original topic so let's get back to it. clarbas, I wish you well and hope you can figure out how to accomplish it. Sounds like a dream come true to me and something I'd like to try someday if I could take care of family responsibilities.

Carol, he's a sad case isn't he? He (or is it she?) is what we would call over here, a w*nker!!

You do realize that m_kingdom gets a kick out of causing the rest of us to react to his demeaning barbs. The best we could do is not to rise to his bait. He would soon get fed up with being ignored.

clgarbas:

To return to your subject, which might interest you more than who's morally superior to mkingdom:

- we've established getting a job in Britain isn't really the problem: living on the salary might be. Property prices, and their relation to average earnings, are a serious problem in London (where in most other respects the cost of living isn't seriously different from the rest of the UK, though there are localised pockets of exceptionally expensive local taxes, or exceptionally cheap petrol). It's a problem that seems to hit people in your position most - youngish people moving in from areas where property's cheaper.
- for identical jobs, London salaries aren't proportionately higher (though there are more high-salary jobs in London, which is one of the reasons property's so costly). So living elsewhere makes a lot of sense. Ny note above might sound as if I meant "like Toronto". I didn't. Apart from the bigger towns some distance away, ROSEland (=Rest Of the South East) may work for you.
I live in a 4-bedroom house in a tiny town 80 mins by reliable, hourly train from London. The house is 10 mins' walk through a medieval churchyard from the station. We rent it, while superintending the nearby reconstruction of our own house, for about £1000 a month - the going rate round here. This small town is 15 mins by train or car from a city that (reasonably, though smugly) regards itself as one of the world's intellectual capitals, with a cultural life that, while not matching the city's judgement of itself (nothing could) is about as good as you'd expect. Unemployment within a 25 radius is effectively zero.
Take a map of Britain's rail network from www.nationalrail.co.uk and look for the many similarly idyllic out-of-London locations. For local property prices, www.primrelocation.com is useful.

- cost of living. There's a very odd paradox here. Americans frequently complain about UK prices: Brits rarely get excited about how cheap it is to live in apartments in New York or LA. I've long suspected this is partly because Americans are bizarrely tolerant of US retailers' deceitful habit of hiding sales tax, but also because living abroad can always be pricey, if you're comparing what you normally do with the cost of doing that in a country where they do different things. As a Torontonian, for example, you probably share the UK habit of regarding manufacturers' grocery brands as things bought only by the most feckless, when supermarkets' own brands are generally better. So relative prices of, say, Crisco are irrelevant when what you want to compare is President's Choice at Loblaws with Tesco Finest.
The most accurate source of real, as opposed to anecdotal, cost of living data is the EIU Index. It costs serious money to access it on the Web, but if the Canadian or Ontarian Government has an Exporters' Information Centre in Toronto, they will probably have a copy or free web access. Its London equivalent does (see www.tradepartners.gov.uk) and it's worth using it on your reconnaissance trips here.
Incidentally, the web sites of the major UK supermarkets, especially Tesco and Sainsbury, give line-by-line prices for the whole of their range, so you can construct a real analysis of your weekly shopping bill.

- about mkingdom. Living for any period of time in a new country can be stressful. Look carefully at mkindom, because this thread is a valuable lesson. He (I assume) first gave a characteristic British reply: civil, erring on the side of negativity, but not excessively so.
Then Englishone interjects good wishes. That part of the message was quite irrelevant to your question. In an ordinary conversation in Britain, many would see that as gratuitous niceness. Glances would be exchanged, eyebrows raised, side grins could be visible. And mkingdom performed the cyber equivalent of those gestures. Often in Britain, unnecessary niceness can be almost as great a social gaffe as unnecessary unpleasantness.
Doubtless life should be different - and may well be different in better-ordered societies. And even in our yobbish society, mkingdom overstepped the bounds of etiquette. But in Britain, many of us have a very low toleration threshold indeed for saccharin: mkingdom was expressing what many would think (and gossip, privately, over later). In a straight conversation Britishone could well have the piss taken out of her in public.
It may not be nice, but such behaviour isn't personal. Brits have a way of perpetual deflation and mutual ribbing. Browsing through the UK and Australia sections of the Lonely Planet/Thorn Tree site provides a very good introduction to what can dismay many North Americans (British and Australian cultures are very close in this area, though not in many others).
- do browse heavily through the American Expatriates site, to see more about the culture shock stuff - aiming off for the fact that a large proportion of contributors are trailing spouses, rather than working migrants.

Good luck. 60 million of us manage to live perfectly happily here, and more people move here every year. Jobs are generally easy to find, and the property price problem causes relatively few of us to live in tents. You might just have to workl at it a bit

60 million Brits live perfectly happily/60 million Brits make the best of their lot.

There are race wars, there are high taxes, there is widespread poverty and as a consequence poor standards of living. About 600 000 (0.1%) live at a relatively high standard. As I always say, one can live in a warm country, say southern Italy or Spain, have nothing, yet have the sun. However naff that may sound, I feel it is very true. If you don't have money, London life simply isn't fun, and even if you do it's much more pleasureable to be able to wake up to sun, sea, blue skys and any other clichés.

I admire you for taking such an huge leap of faith into the relative unknown, once again I offer you my best wishes.

Add to that the department of trade and industry recognises our workforce as low-paid, easy to hire and fire and you see why us insecure Brits work the longest hours in Europe, have dysfunctional families with both parents *having* to work 60 hrs a week (unless your a fat cat or politician who can grease the wheels enough to get child help). Normally then the children are left to scavenge for high fat food and turn feral. In fact three young boys were discovered walking on all fours with fish-heads in their mouths only last week in central London.

After reading this post, I have started to have second thoughts about doing a 3 month stay in London(my dream). The financial aspect does not concern us as much as the culture shock. We are retired and income is not a problem. Flanneruk talked about "gratuitous niceness" (a very big aspect of the American character IMO) considered to be not the thing over there! We probably make up our mind after our 2 trips to UK this year. Of course, it may just be "the grass is always greener" effect! I think it is amazing that I could consider living in London, but never NYC....very curious! Judy

I think FlannerUK has overstated the 'gratuitous' niceness. He talks of me 'getting the piss taken' over offering congratulations to a newly wed couple. Flanner, my perception of this greeting was different from yours, evidently. I myself, see this as a normal social habit, but what I think you are missing here is that I am talking from a woman's viewpoint. Hard as it may seem to a man (and that may sound Un-PC (which, in my point of view, has become ridiculous and the social scurge of this society) women enjoy congratulating each other on occasions such as birthdays, engagements etc. etc. which men would probably see as being 'cissy'. Do you understand now??
Please don't be put off by FlannerUK's appraisal of this conversation. Many of us Brits have been raised correctly and have the necessary social skills to interact with others. As demonstrated here, some do not.

Hi

If I was wanting to live in the UK, well I wouldn't choose London.... how about somewhere like Southampton ... 1 hour south of London ... good rail links to central London, but also near the international airports of Heathrow/Gatwick, so friends/family from Canada don't have too far to travel.

Good nightlife, excellent resturants, good shops, near the countryside & the sea ... good beaches half-hour drive away.

Also if you wanting to travel Southampton now has FlyBe a low cost airline ... fly to many destinations in Europe.

I live in Eastleigh (about 6 miles north of there) ... you can buy a 3-bed semi house for under 200000 pounds or rent 750-800 monthly.
http://property.msn.co.uk/msn/lettings/index.jsp

The above website has a number of properties to rent for 750-800 in area SO50 (postcode of where I live). You could check that for London as well.

Hope that helps.

Mark

Englishone, I still want to come! I won't be put off by this thread either. I read enough Brit chic lit and other female UK writers, to know we women have more in common than not ! I think, clgarbas you will have some serious issues to ponder . Judy

Hi clgarbas,
I agree with isplumm.
The UK does consist of places other than London.
Firstly nothing is ever going to be more expensive than London and many many places will be equally as interesting and a darne sight safer, less stressful and subsequently healthier places to live.

Salaries are higher for many people in London, but Teachers, nurses and many similar people have no possibility of buying a house as they are far too expensive. This is a major problem.
Therefore most places within your price range to buy or rent in London won't be very nice in comparrison to Toronto IMO.

But you can rent or buy reasonably comfortably with that amount in Cities like Southampton or Cardiff in Wales. There is a good chance you can find work there too.

There really is more to UK than London.

Check it out

Muck

Anyone who is considering this sort of move and relies mainly on information from a bunch ofv anyonymous posters, including myself, "charming" or not, is a fool!

Good on you, Judy

Thank you all for the lively conversation while I was logged off. (My apologies if that's gratuitous.)

I appreciate all the information. To clarify, 1000GBP isn't my budget for letting--just what I had seen some online apartments going for. I suspected it was a little low (although, of course, the pictures on the Web sites all look great) so I wanted my suspicions confirmed. Which I've certainly had.

Relocating to London (or elsewhere in the UK) is about experiencing another culture--it's not about making the most profitable financial decision. Toronto is one of the most affordable world-class cities in which to live. We know we won't find better, in that regard. And that isn't the point.

I'm definitely interested in cities other than London. Southampton and Cardiff are now on the list. Any other recommendations?

BTilke--thank you for your advice. My husband does qualify for UK Rite of Abode. We hadn't considered a lawyer until reading your post--great idea.

JonJon, fear not. My fate is not in your hands.

And, EnglishOne, I do appreciate the congratulations. My husband proposed in Paris. m_kingom, I hope that's okay with you.

Again, great thanks to all.

Congratulations and good luck (frivolous and off-topic maybe, but I would say just good manners).

I would add Bristol to the list of possible extra-London options.
Interesting city with good restaurants and transport links.

Britain isn't as bad as some of my compatriates make out.

"There are race wars, there are high taxes, there is widespread poverty and as a consequence poor standards of living."

Britain's approach to a multi-racial society may not be perfect but it is being used by other countries as a model for how to develop their own approach.

Britain's taxes expressed as a proportion of GDP are below those of Sweden, France, Germany, and Italy + many others. Yes taxes are higher than in the US, but more public services are provided. Personally I would rather pay lower taxes and make my own choices regarding healthcare and education - but I am happy to abide by the will of the majority as is traditional in a democracy.

Poverty is not as widespread as even the official statistics would imply. The governments stated aim of eliminating child poverty applies to "relative poverty". This strange statistic includes all those living in households where the income is less than 60% of the national average. This makes no allowance for whether this results in absolute poverty. For instance, it may be possible to feed, house, and clothe yourselves and your family perfectly well, and take a foreign vacation each year - is this poverty ? It seems very difficult to reach a moving target for poverty - to me it would make more sense to set a level which allows living with dignity, and the purchase of all necessities and aim for that.

Anyway, enough of the politics/economics - off-topic again.

Good luck with the move, and may you meet many charming Brits on your travels.

What I do not think people realise is that you can get a Brisith Passport if you are Canadian...Is this correct clgarbas? My work colleague here in Dublin is Canadian with a UK Passport. So everyone try not to gang up too much before you know the story.

Have you considered sharing a flat initially with others. My friend in her late 30's did initially when moving to London and there it was in a huge older apt and 1-2 rooms had ensuite so its a priate room for you. This would be good for a few months to get your feet wet and possibly socialise a bit with the others. You will get a tiny place for 1,000 but remember Flats are much smaller in europe than U.S. Standards. As for jobs forget trying to have one before you go...I tried as well and it is really better to be there and look as people do not feel confident about a candidate that is still 3,000 miles away. What if you accept the job and dont show up. Go through employment agencies and try Monster.co.uk and similar sites.

As for easy or not easy to get a job...I ALWAYS get a job, but you have to realise that you will not necessairly get the one you want.. I did admin work, secretarial, Bar work, restaurant/catering work everything to make ends meet. I never had trouble finding jobs just one that I liked and wanted. (and paid well!)

I moved to Ireland with no job no flat etc. I was on a stopover to London awaiting the result of an Interview which never happened. I stayed and built a life. Its fun and better when you have someone with you to share and support eachother.

Take the plunge you have little to lose. You can always go home if you don't like it


Let me know what you do, I would like to see what you are planning!

Hey there -

Have you considered upping sticks to Paris? The greater Paris metro area has hundreds of thousands of anglophones (& anglophone jobs), I know several Yanks who have survived years without properly learning French (but I suspect that as good Canadians you can already get by) . . .

The Canadian govn. is actively targeting young French to emigrate to Quebec - I bet it'd be doable to get residency in la belle France, if you're professional people.

Me? After 14 years in Blighty, it's soon to be bye bye West London. I've made my professional mark here, but cost of living is simply astronomical (no, really - you simply cannot imagine) . . . we're probably back Stateside soon.

Property is driving this upward spiral. I bought a 1-bed flat near Ealing for £64k a few years ago, and it's now on the market for £212.5k. No joke. This same apartment I've been renting out for pushing £1000/mo. You'll get more bang for your Canadian buck in France; transport links are excellent to the rest of Europe and the World; you'll master an important world language; and, you'll pick up some killer culinary skills
; )
HTH and let us know about your decision-making process. This might also be useful:
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_content_subchannel.asp?subchannel_id=25
Bye for now!

Relatively few Canadians are eligible for British citizenship and hence British passports. Only those with some connection to Britain through birth or parentage can obtain one. This has been true since 1947 when Canadians ceased to be "British subjects" and became Canadian citizens. Of course, Canada ceased to be a British colony long before that vestige was removed.

I should have added, of course, that any Canadian, like anyone else, can apply for residence, and eventually British citizenship, through the normal channels. The illustrious Lord Black of Crossharbour is one example, although I doubt that Conrad would ever have gone through "normal" channels.

laverendrye,

I did not realise you needed UK parentage/ralations for a passport. My colleague does have a British mother.

Something that people also need to be aware of coming over is that the E.U is enlarged from the beginning of May and many eastern European countries will be able to come to western Europe and work (with some constraints in different countries) so realise there may initially be some competition.

I would move to France in a heart beat. My French is not too shabby, but my husband doesn't speak a word. I'm fairly certain I couldn't talk him into that move (in either language). Although, for fun, I will look into the anglophone job market. Thanks for that tip.

Right now, we're in the "pie in the sky" phase of our research. Any ideas and suggestions are welcome.

Getting a job as a Canadian maybe hard and it maybe easy. You need to say more about your experience, age, qualifacations, aspirations etc.

For instance, if you have four years experience in corporate finance with RBC it should not be too difficult to get a job in the City of London. But if you work in McDonalds in Toronto employment prospects will be less rosy.

£1,000 a month will get you a one bedroomed flat quite easily in an OKish part of town. In some parts you will get a three or four bedroomed house at that price. But you won't get much in a trendy part like M_K says. But he is talking about Chelsea and Mayfair where few British people live (it is mainly wealthy foreigners and celebrities round these parts). These places are like the upper east side. If you come from Canada you aren't going to be able to afford a place on the upper east side, unless youi are that guy, Ross? the CEO, from RJR Nabisco.

You should budget £100 a month council tax, £50 a month phone, £25 a month broad band internet access, £25 a week cleaner, £30 a month gas, £30 a momth elctricity, £30 a month water.

Wealthy Backpacker...thanks very much for the budgeting advice. That's extremely helpful.

About me..I'm 27, a relatively young pup, with 4 years experience in corporate communications and marketing--primarily in the financial services industry (although I'd love to be in any other industry). My husband is 34, with 4 or so years in Web development and programming. I guess you'd call us young professionals.

What would you consider to be an "OKish" part of London? We don't need to live with the wealthy...we just don't want to have rain coming through the roof. Somewhere in between would be perfect.

Out of town, Southampton looks like a great choice. My only concern is with the two hours on train every day.

My husband and I moved to London a couple years ago and now we're back in the States. We loved our experience there, once we got used to the exorbitant prices and unreliable Tube. We lived in a decent one bedroom in Pimlico for 950GBP/month. Pimlico was a fantastic area, only 5 minutes walk to the Tube (Victoria) and lots of Parliamentary types living in the neighborhood. We could walk to Battersea Park or to Hyde Park in the other direction. A really great location. But do keep in mind the high council taxes, especially in Westminster. We found our flat through a letting agent called Jenny Jones right near Bond Street station. They are free and are walk-in only but they make all your appointments for you. Good luck!

As we all know things get more expensive, the London property market has experienced enormous growth with prices rocketing. 1000GBP a "couple of years ago" is quite possibly, depending on the property itself the equivalent of maybe 3000GBP now. 1000GBP will not get you much at all. There is no way you can find a couple of hundred thousand to buy somewhere or at least make a large deposit? I always feel rentals are a complete waste of money - what do you have to show at the end of it? Obviously you need to rent in your position, but after you have a job and are sure you want London you must get a mortgage or find some way to buy a property.

Sorry I should have been more specific when I said a couple years ago, I meant in late 2002, so it wasn't actually that long ago. And I do know of several places in that same area that are still rented for that price.

M_K, I know what you're saying about renting vs. buying. We'd much prefer to own, but I don't think it makes sense for us if we're only staying for a couple years in London. We don't want to have to sell our home in Toronto, and unless we do that, buying something else really isn't in the financial picture at this point.

I'll definitely look into Pimlico. Any other recommendations?

A great resource if you're looking for someone to buy or rent:

http://www.findaproperty.com/

wrld_trvlr - I agree with most of the things you say as far as costs go. However, you mention the council tax being high, especially in Westminster. It just so happens that the borough of Westminster has the cheapest council tax in the entire country at roughly one third the level of some areas. If you didn't think you were getting value for money, pity some poor souls being taxed to death elsewhere.

Laverendry: Lord Black of Crossharbour never had much of choice. A Canadian citizen is not allowed to hold "titles of Lordship". He had a choice, either drop the LORD or lose his Canadian citizenship.

He chose the LORD. He is no longer a Canadian citizen.

What is a council tax? Would short term renter have to pay? Judy

A council tax is a tax paid by homeowners to their local council for council services such as education, rubbish collection, and street cleaning (on very rare occasions). Its level varies depending upon the rateable value of your property, with there being bands A up to H. However, these are outdated with the highest band being properties of over 320000GBP in value, this is far too low and makes no distinction between properties worth 320kGBP and 32mGBP. The lowest band is from 40-80kGBP, I'd like to know what property is now worth such a low amount, a revision is far too long overdue. I say bring back the poll tax where everyone pays the same - much fairer!

ooh let's not start all that up again (though the point is that the valuation bands are relative to each other, not to actual market values). To answer Judyrem's point, people on really short-term (holiday) lets wouldn't have to pay directly - the owner does. But if, say, your name is on the electricity bill you probably would. The original enquirer, being a Canadian citizen, would be entitled to vote (and, if memory serves, required to register to vote if resident at the due date in October each year) - so would also be spotted that way.

Oh, and you'd have to pay the TV licence as well....

For £280 per week you can have a one bedroom garden flat in West Hampstead. This area is relatively pleasant, and close to central London. I have been perusing the London Property Guide, and thought that I would would bring this to your attention.

Try www.primelocation.com or www.foxtons.co.uk. These two websites conatin virtually every property currently for sale in London.


Council tax bands while being relative to each other are out of date with virtually every London property worth inhabiting falling into the two top bands G and H

clgarbas, you'll no doubt find that the choice of areas to live in London is mindboggling. First there's the north of the river verses south thing, then do you go east or west - everyone has their (striong) opinions on which they like best, and if you're a south of the river type, you'll view "northerners" as an alien species!

Rather than getting one off recommendtions from this forum (given that there's about 500 different areas you could choose to live in), I recommend buying a good guide. "Where to live in London" published by the Evening Standard will give you a good basic introduction to choosing an area. Use it in conjunction ith "The London Property Guide". Both are available on amazon.co.uk

Happy hunting

Patrickoflondon, I assume license means "bill". Since we are flying over there today. I will be picking up some rental guides and brochures. Thanks mkingdom for the info on Hampstead. So we would be responsible for electricity, water? cable? or Satellite TV hook up, and of course phone. No temporary income or intangible tax? Just curious, trying to get my ducks in a row. Hope it helps clgarbas too. Judy

Judy, by the time you see this, I would hope you've already checked with prospective landlords to make sure you're clear what's covered in the rent and what you will have to set up for separately. Every property that has a TV in it has to pay for a TV licence (just over £100 a year, for an unlimited number of TV sets per household). The money goes to the BBC (up to you whether you think of it as a poll tax, compulsory subscription or small price to pay). If you want satellite or cable TV you'll have to pay that on top. I would guess for most short-term lets, these would be covered in the rent, but you should make sure. Not paying the TV licence to the BBC leads at least to a knock on the door...

If you really want cable or satellite TV, you'll have to pay on top of the licence. For a one-off payment of under £100 you can get a digital box for viewing Freeview from a standard aerial. It includes, BBC 4, BBC 3, Uk History, BBC 24 hour news as well as INT news, Sky news and one or two other stations. It also gives you all the digital radio stations.
Personally that's all I want but I don't want to watch sport or old films.
I personally think that Radios 3 4 and 7 are well worth the fee on their own, but that's just me

Lets not forget the South London. Rents are much cheaper in Charlton 1mile from Blackheath with 20 minute commute to Central London you can get a Victoria conversion Flat for £750-£800 pcm or cheaper. In Greenwich or Blackheath its much the same.

Pedantic point about Council Tax.

As I understand it your banding is based on the value of the property when the banding points were set (Around here that is sometime back in early 90s). So just because your property may be worth 500k now does not necessarily mean you are in the 350k+ band - depends on the value when the bands were set.

PS. You can still buy places for less than 40k in some parts of the country. Whether you would want to live there is another question.

Could someone please share with me the stereotypes for the quadrants--east, west, above the river and below? I'll pick up "Where to live" but in the meantime, I'd be interested in hearing where the aliens live and such.

Hi ...

Thought I'd come back on Southampton. If you live north of Southampton, you can catch a fast train to central London in just over 1 hour .... of course this is a communter train, so gets busy in the morning & isn't cheap !!

How about Winchester ?? Guildford ... these places are south of London, but shouldn't take too long to get into London ... maybe you could at somewhere like Kingston or Suribton ... lots of flats there & fastb trains to London.

Mark

Let's make things easy for you:

* London't a brilliant place to live (plus a great springboard for visiting Europe)
* Can you get a job? Of course. The question is what you can do and what you can earn. Between you, you'll have to earn at least 50K a year to have a reasonable life (not a big hurdle - the average salary in London is about 25K a year and that's the average). If you can't earn above this, you'll struggle, especially as you won't be eligible for social security initially.
* your biggest cost, as you recognise, will be accommodation. First, (given your budget), don't think conversion buildings - might be cool for some but there aren't many here and they're over-priced. Similarly, don't expect to be a near tube. Nor do you need to be: some of the cheapest and most central property is south of the river and it doesn't have a good tube network (due to historic problems of tunnelling through clay). And don't do furnished properties for two reasons: a) it's cheaper to furnish it yourself (relative to the extra cost you'll pay for a furnished property) and b) your tenancy rights will be severely restricted by a furnished let (ie they can kick you out much more easily). Aim for a student area (which also tends to be more arts-oriented/liberal).
* All the other basic costs are comparable to other big cities, relative to the towns' earning power.
* Just do it - you won't necessarily live Hugh Grant's life in Notting Hill initially but you might get there - although it wouldn't be my choice of area!
* And, yes, London is very safe. And, no, it's rubbish that everyone gets burgled all the time. And under no account live in bleedin' Southampton or other provincial cul-de-sacs mentioned above (sorry guys!). You either live in London or you stay in Toronto. Mind you, wouldn't mind moving to Amsterdam. Now there's a fab city....

Sorry clgarbas,
Based on Musheds very narrow minded opinion that there is no where else in UK worth living or working but London, I suggest you stay where you are.
I would however like to add that next time you visit london, when you get back to the hotel at the end of the day, blow your nose into a white handkerchief and see how much black crap you inhaled in the last few hours, then ask yourself if this is the best place you enhance your health.
And hope to god that your nasel system filtered it all out and let nothing into your lungs.

Muck

Amsterdam, what a dump.

Interesting post, seeing that the first comment was written in 2004. Unfortunately the prices in the rental market have shot up in the last two years because more people are wanting to rent now rather than buy. For a 1 bedroom apartment in a central area you are probably looking at 1800GBP. However moving to the east end, will still give you the arts infrastructure but with much lower rents (say 1400GBP).

As per jobs- it depends if you qualify as highly skilled economic migrants.

Visit the home-office website for more info on VISA requirements.

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk

For real estate agents. We went through London Executive. Excellent website and very good service for international clients.

http://www.london-executive.com

Can't find any mention of it, but as a citizen of a Commonwealth country you may be entitled to an Ancestry visa if any of your grandparents were British. I'd also look into the rules for Irish citizenship as they are more lax than the UK variety

See www.ukvisas.gov.uk for details of the hoops you have to jump thorugh