London: Nice area to live for families
I'm considering to move to London. Initially without family. If after one year everything is working fine they'll join me. I'm looking to rent a one bedroom, one bathroom. Around 50-60m. Safe neighborhood. Preferably residential, for families. Not too far from the airport because I plan to travel back and forth a lot the first year. And of course well connected to the center. 40 minutes commute door to door would be nice. Budget 1200£ per month max. Is that doable?#housing #london Any advice is highly appreciated. TC: 130£-20%-400k$
So you can't be close to the airport and the center cause all (okay, most) airports are outside of London. If you're gonna fly from Heathrow pick something on the picadilly line. That will make access to the airport easier. If you want central pick one of the stations that is in zone 1, all depends on your budget
Thanks a lot. I don't want to stay in the center. I care about being 40minutes top from work. Oxford circus area. Maybe optimizing for Airport is not ideal after all.
Oxford Circus is really well connected so 40 minutes means you have a very wide area as your option. You can see this info on Google maps but it's got Victoria, central and bakerloo lines so you can pick any stop on those. Though would suggest avoiding central if you can because it's super busy
How much am I looking for spending between council tax (whatever that is) and internet connection?
~£30 for fiber per month. Council tax varies a lot based on council but anything between £1000-1600 per year. You also get 25% reduction if you live alone.
OK. That doesn't sound too bad. I'm trying to figure out how much I will be able to save in one year to see if it is worth it.
If I’m reading your TC right - it’s about 220k GBP/year? That’s stellar for London. Who are you joining?
My guess is Facebook
That sounds like E6 numbers
Your budget of £1200 seems quite low for your income level. You'll get something Ok I guess. I also work in Oxford St (you sound like you'll be joining fb as an E6 :)) and live in a nice West London area. I pay a premium but am close to both Oxford St and Heathrow. I'm on the picadilly line but I just take an uber to and from the airport.
Can you share which area? Yes I want to maximize my saving on the first year. Then when family joins I'll look for something better. Thanks for your answer.
I'm not maximising savings so I'm in the south Kensington area.
1 bedroom 50-60m2 in zone 1-2 would probably cost you more around 1400-1500 pounds per months. In zone 3 you could find for your budget. There are three airports in London which one do you want to be close to? Gatwick or Heathrow presumably. If you want to be close to Gatwick you want to have easy access to the Gatwick express which leaves from the Victoria Line. So you could either go north (Finsbury Park, Walthamstow) or south (Brixton) which are on the Victoria Line. These neighbourhoods have all more or less recently become really gentrified and safe for families. There are also trains that go straight to Victoria from south-east neighbourhoods such as Brockley that are very family friendly (zone 2). Keep in mind though that everywhere in London is pretty far from the airports... The Heathrow Express leaves from Paddington so again you might want to look at places that are on the District line: Richmond and Putney are very nice areas in the South-West although may be above your budget. Finally, if you want to be close to your office I would recommend finding a place has a direct underground line there. Highgate and Hampstead are beautiful areas in the north west and extremely family friendly, and on the northern line - again may be above budget but worth a look.
Thanks a lot! That's a lot of info.
Finally, my personal favourite area is Stoke Newington, particularly near Clissold park... nice village feel, zone 2, very family friendly. And if you decide to splash out and go Zone 1, I would choose Angel, close to a beautiful canal, or Highbury & Islington which is at the border of Zone 1-2, on the Victoria Line, and has a beautiful park.
Actually disregard my comments on the direct lines to airport if you’ll be travelling for work! You can take a cab!
Summary: if you work in the Oxford Circus office I would probably go Highbury / Hampstead / Stoke Newington... (you can even cycle from there) but you may want to up your budget slightly. Or Walthamstow (near the « Village ») if you’re unwilling to flex your budget.
Yes. I'll join FB. Thanks a lot for the info. Really appreciated. I will look up all these area you mentioned. I love the idea of a village feeling. As for the airport, the one better connected to Munich. :-(
That would be Heathrow (unless you fly easyJet which I imagine you won’t if it’s for work)
Look around in Colindale ( areas around Beaufort park / redrow apartments). Try Rightmove and look for Colindale and choose something that says Colindale gardens (redrow). Serene with lots of greenery inside , accessible to lot of shops and 7 min walk to tube station. Colindale station to Kings cross (Central) - 20 min on northern line. Rent in redrow Colindale gardens for 1 bhk around 1200-1350 !
I stay in London. 2 bed room flats start at 1400£ and goes upto 5k£. If you’re looking for a 1 bed and 1 bath, you can get that for 1200£ at the least. Also price increases when you consider council tax, electric bill and other stuff. So, I would say stay away from Central Lon as it can cost you double.
I want to leave London just because of the high cost of living. I wish someday I can go to US :(
Is zone 2 still considered central? How far do I need get from the center?