Moving to London - Advice needed
 

Hi All,

I am going to move to London for work and I am looking for some recommendations and advice on where to live.

I am a young, single professional and my work will be based in Canary Wharf. My salary is likely to be about £55,000. I prefer to live alone, as I have had enough with flat/house share. I am happy with a small studio or one bedder.

Ideally, I'd like to live in a relatively safe area on the Jubilee line or the DLR line that links to Canary Wharf. I would also love for the the maximum time for a one way commute to work to take a maximum of 30 minutes.

My budget for rent is maximum £320 per week for rent. I understand that bills and council tax is likely to add £100 - £120 per week to that.

I would be really grateful for any suggestions or advice, including whether assuming that I can pay up to £320 in rent per week on a £55K salary is realistic with the expense of living in London and is likely to get me a place with the type of features I am looking for.

Also, if you have any suggestions about the best sites to search for rentals, that would be great. I know rightmove.co.uk is one of them. Thanks.

zoopla is another source
http://www.zoopla.co.uk

It's difficult to know what you can afford without knowing you tax situation. Is this an international relo? When I did this, granted 23 years ago, my employer paid for tax equalization--I was paid in dollars, continued to pay US social security and US income tax and my employer paid all UK taxes and charges. I also received a housing/cost of living allowance in pounds. It was a sweet deal as I was only a mid-level employee.

If your salary package does not include those allowances, you need to know, at a minimum, what income taxes and social charges will come off the top of your salary. Once you know the net you will receive, you will better understand what you can afford. Another fairly large expense is commuting, depending on how far out you live.

Based only on our son's experience (he lives in Camden) you should be able to find a studio in the price range you mention. Two-bedroom flat shares can run about the same or a bit less but I can understand wanting your own place. What you can afford and where depends on your net income, whether or not your employer provides any compensation toward transportation, etc. and how much income you want for food, entertainment, clothing, etc.

There are so many letting agents in London, again perhaps your employer knows of some. Rightmove is used by local agencies to expand their reach. Agencies will collect at a minimum first and last months' rent--most flats seem to go through agencies.

Good luck, what fun to work in London!

This is really a travel forum. If you are an expat looking to move to London then maybe try and find a forum linked to your home country and moving to the UK. You are bound to find answers to things like tax and living costs on them.
Good luck with your move.

look at tax and medical insurance (included in package?)

Your budget means you can comfortably afford a good one or possibly two bed flat in Stratford. With great connections into central London and DLR connections into Canary Wharf it's ideally located for you. The Westfield development means you wont lack for shopping options either. Try www.rightmove.co.uk for your property searches.

Is Stratford less than 30 minutes to Canary Wharf - that's the commute the OP is looking for.

Also agree that you need to get details on your tax situation as well as healthcare costs. Many US companies (assuming that's where you are coming from) provide private healthcare (as they would in the US) - but you need to understand if you will be paying 2 sets of taxes (US income tax, SS, etc and UK tax) and where that will leave your net pay. And if you aren;t paying those in the US - how that will affect your long-term SS and Medicare benefits.

If the company is transferrring there I would expect them to provide support to you on all of these issues as well as finding housing (when my company transfers people abroad they do provide all of these servces through the US and local offices.

nyt: >>Is Stratford less than 30 minutes to Canary Wharf - that's the commute the OP is looking for.<<

My goodness Yes . . . only like 10 minutes.

(Maybe you were thinking of Stratford-upon-Avon)

My guess is the OP is from Britain since he mentions council tax etc and uses 'flat' instead of 'apartment'.

>Is Stratford less than 30 minutes to Canary Wharf - that's the commute the OP is looking for.<

>With great connections into central London and DLR connections into Canary Wharf it's ideally located for you.<

There's a clue in there.

This my interest
http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/...-London/Salary

"My guess is the OP is from Britain since he mentions council tax etc and uses 'flat' instead of 'apartment'."

He may have just been following that old Dobby the Turtle thread.

yes probably British or from the colonies !!!

Thanks to everyone who has tried to give me useful information! I really appreciate you taking the time to do that :)

I am indeed moving from one of the colonies so I will probably not be facing the double tax situation of the USA.

@uruabam - I initially liked the idea of living in Stratford but I am female and I've read that it's really not safe once you're outside the family friendly Westfield. I don't know if you or anyone else happens to have any more insight on that?

Ideally, I would love to live in a place like Greenwich but I know it will not be cheap there. Camden is a nice suggestion too Cathinjoetown, but I know it is also not cheap there.

Stratford is a good idea. I haven't heard about it being unsafe, but don't live there so can't say for sure.
Stratford is close to Canary Wharf and easy access to Central London, on the District line. Shoreditch, Spitalfields, Bethnal Green are good too. Hip areas with galleries, trendy bars and restaurants.

Camden is too far away. Maybe look at Southwark, on the Jubilee Line, though that has become expensive too.

My daughter lives in Bethnal Green and used to commute to Canary Wharf. On nice days, she would even walk.
It's a very mixed area with quite a contrast between rich and poor and different cultures . If you walk down Bethnal Green Road, you might see a scantily clad white student followed by a lady in a burqa.

There are trendy restaurants etc. and some traditional pubs.
She bought her flat about 15 years ago and to put it mildly, she now has positive equity.
You can't generalise about safety, but in that time, she's had one unsuccessful attempt at a bag snatch.

>@uruabam - I initially liked the idea of living in Stratford but I am female and I've read that it's really not safe once you're outside the family friendly Westfield. I don't know if you or anyone else happens to have any more insight on that?<

http://maps.met.police.uk/

Looks to be a perfectly average district in London as far as crime goes in what is already a low crime city.

Apologies, drilling down the area around the station looks a bit higher than average but away from station is very average.