Hello.

I'm looking at moving to London by the end of 2004 or early 2005. I used to live in London before Uni and since then have been living in the States for almost 15 years. Now, I would like to move back. Visa, etc is not an issue for me. But I do have some other questions regarding cost of living, where to live, etc.

Here goes.....
Is there any neighbourhood in London that is safe for a single female to live and that has the cheapest flat rentals?

I'm hoping to survive on about $1000 to $1200 USD for rent per month, is that possible at all?

Also, any sites where I can find descriptions and information on cost of living, finances, etc on different neighbourhoods within London and slightly on the outskirts?

I'm not sure what to expect on how much taxes would be taken out of my salary or how this works at all. Any ideas of where to get tips on this matter?

And do most flat rental rates include utilities or is this extra? How much extra am I looking at per month for all the extra utilities?

Any other finances I ought to consider?

Oh, big thing for me is that I must be near the tube as I won't be having a car.

Thanks a lot.
Cheers,

gtrekker

For rentals: www.primelocation.com, www.foxtons.co.uk, www.findaproperty.com

How large a flat do you require? If you can take a studio, and a small one at that, you could probably hit W1 which is central so would save on transportation costs, which are high in London.

If you want suburbs, you need to be more specific about where you will work, transport links required etc. etc.

Rentals will include all service charges, however, you will be liable for electricity/telephone bills - water, if not metered will usually be included, but of course find out from the agent at time of enquiry.

If you can come back with even more specific requirements, more useful help can be provided, in addition there have been similar posts which can be found by searching.

Log onto www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk for comprehensive information on the UK income tax system for employees, employers and the self-employed.

The website at www.upmystreet.com will give you information on amenities within a given locality.

You pay income tax (and National Insurance, which is income tax under a different name) out of your earnings:take Andremac's advice on this

You are also responsible, whether renting or buying, for paying Council Tax, which is the only local tax operating in Britain See http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/...ouncil_tax.htm about this. This is assessed on the value of where you live, and typically is £500-£1200 per adult per year in most of London.

It's almost universal that you pay gas, electricity, phone and water rates if you're renting, though some landlords take rsponsibility for water. "Common parts" costs are typically assumed by your landlord if you're renting a flat in a block of flats.

When looking for places, you can pretty much dismiss safety, which is almost a given everywhere you're likely to live (or, to be totally honest, you've the same high chance of burglary, and low chance of anything nasier, practically anywhere)

The crucial thing is to be clear about where you're working, then work house location back from that. If you're working at Canary Wharf, you don't want to be far from stations on lines that go to Canary Wharf, for example.

Hiya!

I'm working for a locum agency which has jobs available all over London. So, it's up to me to choose where I want to live and then I'll be given cases in that area. So, I'm having trouble deciding where?

I'm in the process of looking for descriptions and information on the different areas or localities within London. Are there any good websites with such information? The key for me is also that I'd prefer a cheaper area as long as it's not a dangerous part of town. Although I also realize anything can happen anywhere too......

Anyhow, any tips?

Thanks for the responses so far.

Cheers,

gtrekker

Log onto www.thisislondon.co.uk for a wealth of information on jobs, properties and leisure in London.

You're not really asking the right question.
London is too densely packed, and socially mixed, for it to be possible to give advice about 'safe' and 'unsafe' areas. There will be known dangerous areas - an unlit street, a "sink" housing estate - within 100 yards of houses costing a couple of million. Even near houses costing real money. It will almost always be obvious when you get to a location that a flat in the next street would be better.

Look at it another way (and you'll understand this better if you download the tube map from the TFL site)

One choice is tube zone 1. Difficult, because expensive. MK2's advice might be workable: there may be the odd flat around. But rent is a free market, and there are very few - if any - places within your budget.

Most people like you live in Zone 2 (actually in the area clockwise on the tube map from Brixton to Highbury) if they want access to the centre. Virtualy anywhere in this belt is OK, but on your budget you'll be struggling

A good site is UpMyStreet
http://www.upmystreet.com/
It gives average house prices, crime statistics etc, etc.

You should find this guide useful - it lists the different areas and postcodes with a short paragraph on what the area is like. Londoners will know how accurate it is. Go to
www.thegumtree.com
click on London Life - bottom right of homepage.
then click on Where to Live

There is loads of useful info on here for someone thinking of moving to London.
Best of luck, Kay

Good tip to look at locations in terms of 'zones'. That didn't dawn upon me. Thanks.

I wouldn't mind either zone 2 or 3. Earlier somebody mentioned that zone 2 is going to be tough on my budget, how about zone 3, is that more possible, or even zone 4? As I could most likely find work in those areas, and I don't mind a half hour to 45 minute commute to work.

Thanks again for the tips.

gtrekker

Even in Zone 3 r 4, you will have to find somewhere that is near to the best transport you can afford. You could live in Forest Hill, say, in Zone 3, but if you don't work near to the place where the train gets in, or at least on a bus or Tube line from where teh train gets in, you will end up travelling for ages. I think 1hr is the maximum commute for any Londoner who wants to feel that s/he is in the city. I think you could share a flat with at least one other for £600 a month. But be prepared for some stinkers! My advice - try to buy if you are staying. Property is mad over here. Prices are high and climb higher every day.

For what it's worth, I discovered last night that one of my neighbours is paying £660 a month to share a two-bedroom flat (but the rooms are quite small) with one other person in our relatively upmarket development in zone 2 (Docklands) - that includes the estate service charge and (I think) the major utilities.

You can look at rental ads online by price level at www.loot.com.

I'm sure I've seen a book about the general social characteristics and atmosphere of the different London postal districts, but for the life of me can't remember much more about it.
You can access the raw data that upmystreet draws on, through an interactive map (but you might not want the slog) at neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk.

I'm sure there have been threads advising on useful websites for people moving to the UK from abroad - try searching for 'expat'.

My husband is in London at the moment sorting everything out for our move to the *region* (not London itself) in August. We've rented, through a colleague, a nice, partially-furnished newly renovated 2-bedroom, 2 bath townhome in Maidenhead for £800 a month, with garage, garden, fireplace, ADSL, fully equippped kitchen with DW, W/D, etc. We're planning to stay there a year or two before buying our own home and moving to either the Tunbridge Wells or Canterbury areas (we need to be within reasonable striking distance of Ashford's Eurostar station). I'm ambivalent about leaving continental Europe, but for various reasons, we have to move to the UK.
If anyone has the dish on Maidenhead, would love to hear!

Patrick

Are you thinking of the Evening Standard book called "Where to live in London" by Sara McConnell? This covers all 32 boroughs and gives you a description of each area within the boroughs details for each borough of the council's positives and negatives, council tax, schools etc.

I know there's a much thicker book which covers fewer areas concentrating I think just on London postcode areas. I can't remember the name of this one though.

The attached link has lots of information about the different areas in London. It helps if you know what sort of areas you want information about as it can be a bot overwhelming otherwise.

http://www.property-go.co.uk/area_guides/default.asp