Appreciate feedback on what size and type apartment you can get in London (1 to 2 yr lease) for roughly 2500 pounds a month plus 276 pounds utility allowance?

Work location would be in the Kennsington area. Where would you look to live given the above allowances? Are we talking Dover?

2500 per month will get you a very large one bed aparment in Kensington (if that's where you want to live) or an average two bedroom apartment. Both with porterage/concierge services.

As for size - we're talking 1000-1200 square feet, which is large for London.

You could get apartments in Mayfair/Knightsbridge for similar prices.

Are you looking for a studio, one bedroom, etc.. One person or more? Furnished or unfurnished? YOu could find a small place for that allowance. Rents are usually calculated weekly (lessens the pain?) and some include utilities.
I'd search some of the larger agencies in London for a better idea. Winkworth, Foxtons (not so great reputation, but loads on the books), Knight frank, etc. Google London property lettings for a list.

" YOu could find a small place for that allowance."

600+ pounds per week is a relatively large amount, and will rent a place valued at around 595-750k depending on state of furnishing/decor. You could rent somewhere for 500 per week.

Try the two websites for ideas- foxtons.co.uk and winkworth.co.uk. Asking rent IS negotiable so I'd widen your search from 550-750 pw. Many landlords do come down in price- and will also make improvements to the property (part of the negotiations).
You're best bet would be to negotiate some sort of temp housing or a trip over to sort out housing. Don't go rent off a listing sheet or a map. You really need to see the palces to understand what a single bedroom is ( a closet to me) or how busy a street really is. Good luck.

Thanks so much for the inputs so far.

It would be for an unfinished apartment for two adults and periodic stays by one or two college-aged kids.

Would that allowance get you a garage or outdoor parking space or is that pushing things a bit? Still, it might be nice to forgo a car and just take public transport.

Highledge, you seem to be out of touch for price of rentals. Don't confuse holiday rentals, with long term lets.

Whilst 500GBP is very little for an holiday let, it's actually quite a lot for a small apartment on a long term let. You can get a sensible place for 400GBP per week, but if you're not going to be given the rest of the allowance, don't worry too much about cost.

Many modern developments include a parking space available by separate negotiation, however, you're probably best off getting a temporary residents parking permit for around 125GBP per year, but this is for a local area only, and can't be used all over London.

A few suggestions based on my year in London (with a smaller housing allowance) a few years ago. 1) I wish I'd tried out a very short-term arrangement (e.g. a sub-let) before I committed to a neighbourhood. I ended up living in a rather dodgy and isolated neighbourhood, and ended up moving. (The Brixton edge of Clapham). If you can't arrange to havea flat-hunting trip paid for, try to see if you can arrange a short-term let (e.g. 1-3 months), and use that as your base for flat-hunting. It would even be feasible to stay in a B&B for 2-3 weeks while you look around. 2) Your comfort/discomfort level in a large foreign city like London might be quite different from how you feel at home. (I would have been quite comfortable in my hometown (large city) equivalent of the "Brixton edge of Clapham", but not in a strange place. 2) On the other hand, if you do make a mistake, you have the right to break a lease after 6 months (even if it's a one or two year lease), although you might have to pay 6 months' worth of your estate agent's fee. So you're only stuck for 6 months. 3) Find out exactly where you'll be working in relation to the tube, buses and walking. If you can't walk to work, you might find that two neighbourhoods that are equally far away from work (as the crow flies) have dramatically different travel times on public transportation. 4) When you do check out flats, walk around the neighbourhood at different times of day and night, to check out your comfort level. (My scary flat in Clapham seemed fine in daytime, but was creepy in the late afternoon/early evening.) 5) Be forewarned, the furniture in many furnished flats is hideous, and most flats are let on a furnished basis. Less is better.

With all due respect, with a budget of 2500GBP per month, and a choice of areas such as Kensington and Mayfair, there's no risk of dodgey locations!

As for the individual properties, you're best to go for a rather bland, but comfortable apartment in a modern, portered block. You can't go wrong, it will fulfill all your requirements.

The rentals market is more stable than the sales, but you can still negotiate a good price on the properties.

m-k2 let's stay on the subject of helping others and not pick a fight. As you well know larg/small expensive/inexpensive is relative. London rental market that I know best is for house rentals catering to the expat community. If you live alone a flat might be large- live my my family of six and yikes, it's small.

Degas- skip the car. Not worth the trouble in my opinion! You'd have so many more things to worry about and you could always rent one if needed. I go days without driving my car- and love being able to walk.

Degas requires an apartment for two adults, not a family. A "blue chip" executive let is what he wants, not some family house.

Houses won't be available for much less than 4000GBP per month. It's not necessary for two adults. A two-bed flat will be perfect. I wouldn't bother with a car unless you will be going outside of London often - take taxis and charge them to your expense account.

M-K2 - my dodgy flat in Clapham was a large and rather beautiful flat that cost 400 pounds a week in 2001(below Degas' price range, but not exactly a slum either). My point was that it seemed like a nice, trendy, lively neighbourhood and generally it was. However, "dodginess" can change drastically from block to block in certain parts of London. For example, Degas might opt for a somewhat larger flat in nearby Pimlico in order to accommodate occasional visitors). I've felt uncomfortable walking from parts of Pimlico through relatively deserted streets past some of housing projects to Chelsea/Kensington. I found that London, like New York City, can change from block to block (rather than neighbourhood to neighbourhood), so Degas will want to walk through the neighbourhood, along the common routes (to transit, shops, nightlife, etc) at all hours to get a sense of what it feels like.

i agree with m2k on this one.

the housing allowance is plenty. my first company paid 2 bedroom let was 675/week but that included all utilities, was furnished to a high standard, was short term, and was overpriced as compared to the market (IMO).

there is no risk of dodgy furniture or dodgy areas (as long as you are not getting ripped off) as m2k stated, the typical thing to do is to go into a modern building where everything is new and you have good security. i agree it would be about 1000 sq feet, have marble countertops, well soundproofed, etc. there seems to be a formula corporate flat which i'm sure you will discover when you start looking.

you aren't very clear about your expectations so i can't tell if this type of flat is what you want. if you are there all the time and it is your main home, you might get sick of the typical corporate style flat and want something a little more homey. many ex-pats (especially those not fresh out of uni) might like a leafier location like hampstead where it is easier to get a garden and it feels more like a home rather than an apart-hotel.

Sorry about being a bit vague. This all came up suddenly and we were forced to jump from the daydream stage at wharp speed. I'm learning a bunch from all the inputs.

1000 sq is a shock as its about a third of what we have now. But the LW always says she wants to downsize and its not like we have not put most of our stuff in storage and went globe-trotting before. Lord, we have so much junk!

I was hoping to get two bedrooms and two baths with perhaps a large living room and a small study that was close to a few nice pubs and has easy access to the tube system. Okay, stop laughing at the novice here!

Something on a quiet side street near a park so we could walk and ride bikes would be nice. My gardening hobby has gotten out of control and I need a break from it. I also don't know if its worth the extra commute time to live too far outside the city.

I'm researching cost of living figures and trying to factor in unique expenses, like a fee for your TV!

I need another beer!

Am I feeling and sounding mean tonight or what? I don't mean to.

I do not actually know any of these regular posters but I read them all the time.

And I cannot get over the paradox of degas sounding a tad flummoxed and M-K2 giving level-headed, thoughtful advice over something not produced by Miu-Miu (if that is indeed the name)
LOL!!!!!!!

a few more tips...

- you mention a study...generally, there is no such thing in england real estate. anything that would be labeled as a study in the states (small/tiny room) would be considered a "single" bedroom. a double bedroom is a room that literally fits a double bed (often with just enough room to walk around the bed. a "single bedroom" fits only a single (twin in US terms) bed. If you want a 2 bed plus "study", then you should look at places billed as "2 double bedrooms + 1 single". This of course will increase the price quite a bit from the original assumption of just a 2 bedroom.

-keep in mind that as compared to the US, storage space is generally extremely limited in UK flats/houses. i looked at brand new luxury 2 bed flats a few weeks ago and they had one small closet for the whole place. bicycle storage is sometimes not available.

As others may have indicated, i strongly recommend that you request a temporary furnished accomodation while you get your feet on the ground (if this is an option). i think at least 2 months in this sort of flat will help you sort things out with less stress. If it's only for a couple of months, size should not matter as much, to you so you will be able to get a short term, furnished let within your budget.

-furnished flats/houses are very common in england. from my own observations, it seems 1/2 or more of all lets are furnished. keep this in mind. you typically don't pay more for a furnished place.

-hampstead and kensington both house a lot of american ex-pats.

i almost forgot...

one big difference between US and UK rentals is that the tenant pays the "property tax" in the UK (called "council tax" here). As you know, the owner pays this in the US. this can vary greatly depending on the area and the value of the property (as in the US). You should budget between £150 and £300 per month for this expense.

-for TV, you can buy a "free view" digital set-top box for about £75. this will allow you to receive a couple dozen digital channels for free (assuming your building has an antenna. with this you only need to worry about the TV licence tax. In the end you will probably pay less than cable in the US. Keep in mind that there are no US channels (cnn,etc) available on freeview - may or may not be a problem for you.

keep the questions and concerns coming...we're here to help.

Your question was about WHERE to live.

Given your shock at downsizing, you probably want to be looking at how to get the most space for your pound. Which means, crudely, being as far from the centre as possible. I'd suggest that having a small garden will reduce the claustrophobia of severe downsizing.

OTOH, you - like many Britons - probably want to be as close as possible to where you work.

And, just as I'd have no interest in being near fellow-Britons if I were living in Milan or New York, let's assume you're not terribly concerned about your neighbours' nationality.

The usual compromise we all make is the swathe of ex-villages within a 3-5 mile radius of Traf Sq that were suburbanised in the 19th century, have decent train or tube connections, and were mostly regentrified in the 1970s. For you this probably means places out on the District Line, like Fulham and Parsons Green. Or, if your office is near Olympia, there's a useful train connection south of the river to Clapham. Expat villages, like Hampstead or Kensington, will almost certainly have rents preposterously inflated by the most self-indulgent of foreign banks and refugee kleptocrats from whatever tinpot dictatorship they're all fleeing this month.

It's a few years since we last looked at rental prices. But you should get a three-bed house, with a standard London garden and often a surprising amount of odd storage space, within your budget outside the Russian oilman belt. The houses will be pre-WW1, which usually means more space than houses built after 1920, and often quite idiosyncratic use of that space.

Although there's a large corporate market, in which semi-professional landlords rent out to companies through pan-London or international companies like Foxtons, there's also a huge reservoir of houses and flats whose owners simply need to rent them for a year or three, mainly because of assignments abroad or messy domestic lives. These properties will be let through local (ie local to the village concerned) estate agents, and will mostly be tarted up to the owner's own standards, rather than to an agent's definition of what expats want. That owner might be more tolerant of noise than you, or have higher demands for squeezing bookshelf space out of every square foot. They aren't necessarily higher or lower standards: but they're almost certainly different from yours. The 3-bed house/flat you're looking for is very likely not to have two baths, for example. And what are house hallways for, if not to store bikes?

The only reliable way to find what's on offer is, we found, to tramp laboriously through every estate agent in every High Street in every candidate village, giving a brief for a 3-bed house within 10 mins' walk of the tube/train . Generally, the agents will be absolutely hopeless in keeping you up to date subsequently on properties that are right for you, and the best you can hope for is that they'll snow you under with details of suitable and hopelessly unsuitable places once you're on their list.

As others have said, there really aren't dodgy areas: just dodgy locations. One side of a street is often seriously worse than the other, and being next door to a pub is a pain at chucking-out time, whereas being 50 ft away can be perfect.

Strongly recommend you check a candidate house late at night and during going to, and returning from, school time: a queue of mummies with Chelsea Tractors can bring down a neighbourhood just as effectively as a little light E-dealing at the school gates.

Good luck.

PS. Maybe it's just me. But I've never seen anything from Degas about trips he's actually taken. Is this a real plan, or research for a screenplay?

I've worked for a relocation company in London, and think MK is about right about what you can expect for that amount. Some more expensive areas can have slightly lower prices for either top floor appartments (without lift) or lower ground floor, since many people don't want that. It's been a few years since I worked in that area, but it was always very funny showing Americans around, who all wanted a period property with lots of charm, and were then horrified that there was no power shower and no room for a US-size fridge in the kitchen.

The only thing to do, is go over there and look around.