Fiver

Hello,<BR><BR> My husband and I are flying there for the first week of October. We are thinking of moving to London by the beginning of next year. We are going to do some sight-seeing, but we also would like to check out apartments while on our visit. We are not sure which parts of London would be the best places for a small middle-class family. We are looking for affordible living. We need advice on a good hotel to stay at that we could easily check out potential areas to live. We will not have a car and will count on the tube as transportation. We are flying into Gatwick airport. Any advice on hotels or good areas to live would be greatly appreciated!<BR><BR> Thanks!<BR> Mel

bettyk

Mel, I think you will find housing in the city of London very expensive. My husband worked in London in the early 80's and we lived outside the city in a town called Beaconsfield. My husband took the train into London every day (except when they were on strike). We had a house with a yard which was quite nice. Fortunately, his company paid for most of our expenses, but even at that time the rent on the house was about 800 pounds monthly, not including utilities. Yet, it was much cheaper than living in the city. Also, Beaconsfield was near the American school in Hillingdon so there were other American families living there and in surrounding villages.

janis

Unfortunately, if you are coming from the USA, &quot;a small middle-class family&quot; will suffer extreme sticker shock when it comes to housing costs in or anywhere near London. Real Estate prices are much higher than Manhattan or the priciest parts of the SF Bay area. Unless you are getting a substantial housing allowance from your employer or have a lot of independent income you won't find anything similar to what you are used to back home.<BR><BR>Middle class flats in nice areas will cost upwards from &pound;250,000 to as high as you want to spend. And &pound;250,000 to &pound;350,000 will get you a small place than you'd be used to - 1 or 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, one reception (living room), small kitchen, few closets, no parking, maybe an elevator. <BR><BR>If you are looking to rent - the rates are also very high - because of the high property values.<BR><BR>Anywhere in the SE within a reasonable commute of London will be only a little less expensive. <BR>

linda_j

Fiver, First of all you're going to love London. I was there for a week this past October and had a wonderful time. I researched hotels on the internet for several months and chose Harrington Hall Hotel. It's located in South Kensington just off Gloucester Rd. I would describe the area as high-end residental with plenty of restaurants and shopping and in walking distance of a lot of the main sightseeing attractions. Knightsbridge (Harrods, Harvey Nichols, etc.)close by as well. The hotel was perfect for me. Privately owned, very nice traditional English decor, very clean, spacious room and bathroom. Friendly staff and nice restaurant - cozy parlor area to sit, have tea or coffee and plan your day. Best part was an internet price of 79 British Pounds per night. Gloucester Rd. tube station 1 block away. Bought my underground pass via internet before I left (about $60.00 for the week, unlimited use) and had no problem getting all over town. I did a lot of walking around the neighborhoods close to the hotel and it looked to be a wonderful place to live but I would imagine it would be quite expensive -but ideal. I flew into Gatwick as well and took the Gatwick Express train into Victoria Station. It was easy to arrange (right from the airport)and much cheaper than taking a cab. Try searching &quot;hotels+London&quot;. You'll get lots of hotel websites and it seemed as though October was a good time of year to travel there price-wise. Good luck - I'm envious.

GSteed

Find the British Tourist office at Victoria Station. Buy a guide showing attractions and the bus or underground to use to get there. Do try the bus system. Conductors will advise.

mclaurie

Fiver,<BR><BR>For the vacation part fo your question, there is lots of information on reasonable hotels right here by doing a search. Try typing London AND cheap hotels in the text search. Londontown.com is a website people recommend for finding good deals BUT for your purposes you should probably consider renting an apartment. It's often cheaper than a hotel &amp; you'd get a taste of London living. Again search London AND apartments for websites.<BR><BR>As to the question of moving there, I think you need to tell us more. Are you planning on renting or buying. How many are in your &quot;small middle-class family&quot;? Are schools an issue? Do you have a budget? As everyone has said, London is very expensive and most families would live outside of London. Most of the less expensive areas have been gentrified &amp; have become just as expensive.

Fiver

Hello Y'all,<BR><BR> Thank you so much for all the help! Our family consists of my spouse and I and a 14mth old son. School is not an issue right now. We were planning on renting and living outside of London. We would need to be in an area where my husband could take some type of public transport into the city to get to work. We will not have a car. <BR><BR> Thanks again!<BR> Mel

Cicerone

I have lived overseas for the last 15 years, and am currently living in Switzerland. You might find more relevant information on housing, etc in the UK at one of the following expat websites: <BR><BR>www.expatexchange.com<BR>www.expat-essentials.com<BR>www.expatforum.com<BR>www.expatnetwork.com <BR>www.escapeartist.com/expatriate1/expatriate1.htm<BR>www.outpostexpat.nl<BR><BR>The website for US embassy in London would also be a place to look, go to http://www.usembassy.org.uk<BR><BR>Also, try the American Women's Club of London at www.awclondon.org. I have belonged to various AWCs and AWA's around the world and found them an excellent source of advice on housing, schools, etc.<BR><BR>As you may already know, you or your husband will need to have a job and a work permit to stay in the UK, unless one of you is already a UK or EU citizen. Check the various UK immigration rules at the website for the UK Home Office at www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk<BR><BR>I am assuming your husband has a job already. His company should be able to give you lots of assistance with housing, etc. If he does not have a job, I don't think London is the best place to be looking right now, as unemployment is on the rise. Virtually all the finance, banking and law firms in the City have laid off people in the last few months. I don�t think that even IT has much going. <BR>

janis

Fiver: If you are going to live outside of London you will probably have to re-think not having a car. Especially w/ a toddler. Any place with good rail connections to central London will be almost as expensive as being in London itself. Your husband can esaily get into the city by rail - but unless you are prepared to do all your shopping, doctor appointments, etc. by bus you will definitely want a car. In the UK kitchens, storage, and especially refridgerators are generally much smaller than you are used to - particularly in rental properties. So you end up having to do grocery shopping every day or two and doing that on public transport with a stroller can be a real drag.<BR><BR>But you don't need all these details now - when you get to London there are many excellent estate agents that have branches all over the SE. Go into any of them and talk about your expectations - they will tell you what is reasonable and then you can decide what's doable. Most have really good websites as well so you can do some &quot;presearch&quot; before your trip.<BR><BR>Plug &quot;Estate agent London&quot; {or Berkshire, Surrey, Essex, Kent, etc, etc}, &quot;long term rental London&quot; {or Berkshire, Surrey, Essex, Kent, etc, etc}, into any good search engine and you will find hundreds of sites.<BR>