I know these forums are mostly for holiday travel, but I have an upcoming opportunity to live and work in London for about two years. My company does not currently have an office or employees in London so I don't have any colleagues to give good advice on the city. I would like to find a safe and walkable location with easy access to public transportation. My daughter is considering going with me and she would be just starting university. We love green spaces and comfortable walks to shopping and dining. I do not know yet what compensation my company would be providing for rent, so I would be looking for an area that's not crazy expensive. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Posted by
Bristol, UK
1451 posts
London is crazy expensive for rent so really the first thing you need to do is get a budget. Almost every part of London is well connected with public transport. Will you need to commute into an office because the location of the office will also be a big factor in where you should choose to live.
Every nice part of London is basically very expensive but budget is absolutely key. There’s really no point suggesting areas in Zone 5 if you’re getting a Zone 1 budget, and vice versa.
If you want to start browsing available properties Rightmove.com is the primary property site in the UK.
Posted by
Lake District, England
8131 posts
Yes, the Company expense budget is key to this.
I'm not suggesting that you do this, but I worked for almost 12 years in Central London but never lived within Greater London due to the rents being charged. My Chief Accountant preferred (more or less insisted) for me to live for 10 years just outside Southend in Essex, and to pay for my rail season ticket in to town- almost a 1 hour commute each way. That was well cheaper for the Company than renting in Zone 1 or 2. I'd found that place in Southend when on a short term contract at an Oil Refinery in Essex in combination with an office near Fenchurch Street station, and liked it so it suited everyone. Initially I had lived at Horley (beside Gatwick Airport) and commuted in to Victoria. That was when I had an office at Gatwick and an office beside The Guildhall in the City of London. Once Gatwick finished Horley no longer made sense.
Quite a few of my Lads when in central London lived on a caravan site in Essex, the others had a variety of places in Zones 2 to 4, but their budget meant that few of them ever found anywhere decent.
Posted by
Los Angeles
4871 posts
You need a site for expats, and watch some Youtube videos. Driving in the city is a sure sign of insanity (and you'll be dinged for emissions).