Starting work at DEGW in London in Mid March until Mid/Late September. Looking for a furnished place to live. The firm is located here. If anyone has any suggestions or other good shout outs! Graci!
Hmm, I lived not far from there. I lived on City Road, between the Angel and Old Street stops. Sort of in the crack between Islington and Hoxton. My neighborhood was fine, it was close to all the shops/conveniences at Angel, and the galleries/artscene in Hoxton. A bus went down Pentonville Road, straight past the Kings Cross station. My rent (in 2003) was 90 pounds per week I think, so around $820USD/month for my room, which is not bad for London. I found my place through the Loot ads in the paper. The system was good in that I rented my individual room directly from the landlord, so if my flatmates had been irresponsible with bills, it would not have affected me. Thankfully my flatmates were all generally polite, clean, and quiet. (1 single male graduate student, 1 male/female couple who shared a room, and me - single female student).
It's far from your location, but some of my friends lived at Oval. The area was pretty dead (some nice African restaurants and one "trendy" restaurant but that's it). Their rent was VERY cheap. Like maybe $500USD/month for a very large 1 bedroom with a living room and big kitchen and big bathroom. Still, the location was out of the way.
I lived over in Shoreditch last summer...which is between the old street and liverpool street stops. Tons of cool hangouts: bars, pubs, restaurants, and weekend markets. Some decent little shops too here and there.
Rent was 500 pounds/mo. own room, double bed, in a recently remodeled apt. shared with 2 flatmates.
I suggest gumtree and craigslist for searches...esp if you are still abroad.
i´m having similar "problems", got a job offer with Atkins/London and starting around beginning of march, but will be only the first 2 weeks in london and than staying in dubai for the first 8 weeks and than start working fulltime in london....
If you can find something for less than £100 per week you're probably on the right track. Quality varies horrendously, so my advise would be to shack up in a backpackers till you can find something decent. Most places will come with furniture.
Given where your office is, I'd recommend anywhere in Camden, Islington, Shoreditch, Hackney, Haggerston, Dalston, Angel, Bethnal Green. You can bike/walk from most of these or catch the bus. The tube is quite expensive (as is everything in London).
can someone explain this postal code system, such as what numbers/letter system should I be looking for in my area. Is this considered central london, north west, or north.
No idea, I have actual UK ancestors. But even then most Commonwealth Countries have work Visa exchange programs.
Bet you guys wish you were a colony now eh?! :)
But seriously, that place only gives youa 6 month work visa. That's crap! I would try applying for a proper work visa. Aren't you gonna work for a US company here anyway? There are special allowances for that I believe.
I'm still impressed you have a job before even entering the country...
i was just vsiting a friend in islington about a month ago. loved it. seemed like the whole angel metro area was pretty lively, but sedate enough for living.
antipod: How on earth can you say that E, W, N, S, SW, SE and NW are inner London??? I'd never consider Wimbledon(SW19), Tooting(SW17) or Ealing(W4) or Lewisham(SE16) inner London at all!
Like already mentioned I'd recommend going for Angel or Camden, or perhaps Paddington/Bayswater(W2). I used to live in Bayswater, not much for going out, but a beautiful, quiet area where Hyde Park was literally four minutes walk from my room at Cleveland Square. I paid 455 pcm, which is pretty cheap. I could get you the details of the landlord if interest is there. Bathroom was shared, had own kitchenette and woke up to birds singing from the park below my flat...
Well, flat is an overstatement, it was about 2 by 4 metres.... High ceilings though!
Anyway, it's a 10-15 min bikeride/15 min busride along Marylebone Rd to your office.
If you're taking the train from Victoria(assuming you're going SW) I'd consider Battersea. Cheap rents and of some odd reason many like the feel of the area(me included). Battersea Park is quite nice as well. Connections from Clapham Junction are fantastic. Closer to Victoria would be Vauxhall, but it seems a bit dull(a few gay clubs there though, if this tickles your fancy).
In Victoria you'll find some houses converted into lettable rooms, the area has some cheap, quite shitty places, but the moment you step into Belgravia or Pimlico you can pretty much forget about anything below 1000 pcm, probably much much more, I wouldn't even bother looking.
I'd also consider the ENC(Elephant and Castle), full of council housing, sure, but also cheap and central! A friend of mine found a stunning house on a great street in Camberwell(nearby) for a low price, the trick is to look for the hidden, charming streets, there are a lot of them in London!
thanks Olez, will have a look on my map. I´m going SW working in Epsom, but i dont wanna live there, but rather nearer to London Centre....
i looked for Pimlico and really couldnt find something below 800 pcm....
How do you go from battersea to Victoria or Clapham Junction ? Tube or bus ?
Olez. If 'London' is anything inside the M25 then I would say anywhere you can catch a tube to is 'Inner' London.
Personally I try not to stray outside zone 2 because basically there are dragons out there and the people are like the characters from 'Shameless'. But then I'm a snob so don't listen to me!
You made some good suggestions for sure. They are quite expensive places to live tho. Just trying to give the guy some options.
anybody know of any places around university college? I got an internship with Fosters, but i'll also be taking classes in the fall...i know it'll probably be mad expensive because of the location in central london...any suggestions would be great
did read through it all, but SupaBeatle....have you thought of Camden? (at bit seedy) but I lived there a few years back, and I loved it. Alot of crazies but I suppose that's what made it interesting (if you can deal with the bs on the buses and at times on the tube) but then again, you will see enough of that.
Of course what's considered inner London is truly relative! But the postcode system in London is in any case a mess to figure out, lower numbers(as in SW4/SW5) don't necessarily mean closer to Trafalgar Square. Also, if a postcode doesn't include a EC or WC, you are more likely to afford it and it is not in the "real" central London/Congestion Charging zone. I second the Zone 2 limit, you will feel awfully remote further out.
Actually, another place where there are a few fantastic houses with great views is around Finchley Road/West Hampstead. I saw some of the most delicious reasonably-priced housing there, with rooftop terraces/great views etc. for 80 a week! It seemed that everyone living there were fashion designers or similar, so a pretty nice vibe as well. A long way from the places the two searchers are looking, but for others it might be of interest. Stoke Newington is wicked as well.
tempo01 -Clapham Junction is in fact in Battersea(not Clapham, but close), and most buses roaming around the area stop there. For Epsom you'll save ten minutes on the train ride to Epsom(saving A LOT on your travelcard), have a larger, cheaper room as well as a laid-back feel to the area as well as feel less poor than you will more central. For central London there are buses, trains(for Waterloo/Victoria/Camden) leave C Junct more or less every other minute. I'd load up my sim card and get the first copy of Loot, within a few days you'll be rolling!
Stoke newington is great but it's a major baby-zone because it has crap travel options. Nice bars and restaurants tho. Highest baby population in central London apprently...
no, i caught on antipod, its just funny if it WAS taken out of context.
I'm thinking Angel, Camden, Islington. I read a couple things that King's Cross is kind of hit or miss as far as quality. Can someone make some comparisons or greater descriptions of these areas to U.S. cities or sections? Also, I keep seeing the phrease shared house in a lot of these adds for those areas. House? What kind of house are we talking about?
Ok, I don't know how they found out, but in the last 2 days I've gotten 6 British related spam emails and they aren't being redirected to junk mail! I'm not even there yet!
SBD Kings cross can be quite dodgy. They are currently gentrifying the whole area (which is an interesting little process in itself). I remember looking at one of the most disgusting flats ever in KC. Can't say that I know anyone who actually lives there.
FYI a share house is just a house shared by a number of people. The contract type can vary depending on who starts the flat and the agreement with the landlord.
Oh, things to check if I haven't already mentioned it. Make sure the place has a lounge/living room becasue these are often turned into another room to reduce the individual rents. Also since most properties still run on low pressure hot water I'd check that it has a decent shower. Some of them are so bad you might as well go outside and splash in a puddle.
Central London is more easily defined by looking at 'zone 1' on the tube map.
I used to live just along from the old Gainsborough Studios in the Islington/Hoxton 'crack' as someone so beautifully put it. It's a sort of grubby area, but paradoxically very chic and happening too. The rent wasn't bad either... but there's one heck of a lot of luck involved in finding somewhere good.
King's Cross is supposed to be changing. Chances are, if you ditch the architecture and fancy a night's street prostitution, you'll probably be nailed by the police. I remember seeing a bunch of people firing up their crack pipes / foil in the bus shelter right outside the station.
It still feels dodgy and dangerous at night if you ask me. I kinda liked it ;-)
SBD - antipod's right...i've checked the water pressure in every place i've ever rented. there's nothing more frustrating than getting all geared up for a nice hot shower only to feel like someone's urinating down your back! plus rinsing is a nightmare. imagine doing that every morning. been a deal-breaker for me in the past...
I lived in london for a year while I went to UCL...I lived over in Marylebone, near the Edgeware road tube station, but hung out a lot in Angel/Islington, which is a really great place, IMHO. Lots to do, nights and weekends, without being insanely noisy, etc. And since you could walk/take the bus to work, it would be really convenient, since practically every bus goes from Angel towards kings cross.
If you want to compare Angel/islington to some area in the US, I'd say it is alot like the East Village in NYC. In terms of houses, alot of it is Row-House/Brownstone-type living. Walk-ups with usually two to three flats per house. Unless you live in a MansionBlock, were there are maybe five or six flats per entrance....
Heh. There are indeed some infrastructural blank spots as yet in that general area.
I used to love recognising little corners here and there amongst the blocks between Eagle Wharf and Old Street that featured in old Sherlock Holmes movies and the like.
Don't think I've seen the completed studios development yet, since I left for Glasgow in 2000.
Definetely a place to be an urban style warrior though... either that or Gilbert'n'George tweeds.
I didn't realise until I came to the interview that there is a 4m high bust of Alfred Hitchcock's head in the middle of the courtyard. In corten no less.
I'm also glad you consider sandwich shops 'infrastructure' I couldn't agree more.
my sincere apologies to those who favor the tube to other modes of transportation, I personally think it is the worst way to get around london 95% of the time for any able bodied person.
Moving to London
Starting work at DEGW in London in Mid March until Mid/Late September. Looking for a furnished place to live. The firm is located here. If anyone has any suggestions or other good shout outs! Graci!
No advice, unfortunately, but I envy you... London is an incredible city. Best of luck.
thanks LiG, you're always encouraged to visit!
Hey if i'm passing through during the summer, I'll holler
Hmm, I lived not far from there. I lived on City Road, between the Angel and Old Street stops. Sort of in the crack between Islington and Hoxton. My neighborhood was fine, it was close to all the shops/conveniences at Angel, and the galleries/artscene in Hoxton. A bus went down Pentonville Road, straight past the Kings Cross station. My rent (in 2003) was 90 pounds per week I think, so around $820USD/month for my room, which is not bad for London. I found my place through the Loot ads in the paper. The system was good in that I rented my individual room directly from the landlord, so if my flatmates had been irresponsible with bills, it would not have affected me. Thankfully my flatmates were all generally polite, clean, and quiet. (1 single male graduate student, 1 male/female couple who shared a room, and me - single female student).
It's far from your location, but some of my friends lived at Oval. The area was pretty dead (some nice African restaurants and one "trendy" restaurant but that's it). Their rent was VERY cheap. Like maybe $500USD/month for a very large 1 bedroom with a living room and big kitchen and big bathroom. Still, the location was out of the way.
I lived over in Shoreditch last summer...which is between the old street and liverpool street stops. Tons of cool hangouts: bars, pubs, restaurants, and weekend markets. Some decent little shops too here and there.
Rent was 500 pounds/mo. own room, double bed, in a recently remodeled apt. shared with 2 flatmates.
I suggest gumtree and craigslist for searches...esp if you are still abroad.
Good luck!
i´m having similar "problems", got a job offer with Atkins/London and starting around beginning of march, but will be only the first 2 weeks in london and than staying in dubai for the first 8 weeks and than start working fulltime in london....
tempo, u need a roomie?
could be possible, but i will be fulltime in london from May on, before that working sent to projects in dubai
Right.
check out:
www.gumtree.com
www.moveflat.com
www.findaproperty.com
If you can find something for less than £100 per week you're probably on the right track. Quality varies horrendously, so my advise would be to shack up in a backpackers till you can find something decent. Most places will come with furniture.
Given where your office is, I'd recommend anywhere in Camden, Islington, Shoreditch, Hackney, Haggerston, Dalston, Angel, Bethnal Green. You can bike/walk from most of these or catch the bus. The tube is quite expensive (as is everything in London).
Email me if you have any specific questions.
i just moved to london a few months ago ... the flatsearch was sort of brutal! sounds like angel / islington might work for you?
heres some sites that were helpful:
http://moveflat.com/
http://gumtree.com/
http://www.nabs.org.uk/ (has a flatshare email list)
good luck!
can someone explain this postal code system, such as what numbers/letter system should I be looking for in my area. Is this considered central london, north west, or north.
Anything wih the following is considered inner London essentially.
N, S, E, W, NE, SE, NW, SW
Anything else usually refers to the city or county ie. Harrow post codes start 'HA' Thats where Wembley Stadium is for any of you soccer fans.
Be aware that inner London can still involve very long tube journeys Often up to an hour so don't be fooled!
Try using the TFL website if you want to calculate average journey times.
I was told this place was the best way to get a work permit for London...thoughts?
No idea, I have actual UK ancestors. But even then most Commonwealth Countries have work Visa exchange programs.
Bet you guys wish you were a colony now eh?! :)
But seriously, that place only gives youa 6 month work visa. That's crap! I would try applying for a proper work visa. Aren't you gonna work for a US company here anyway? There are special allowances for that I believe.
I'm still impressed you have a job before even entering the country...
i'm only working for 6 months, so that would work I think. And they expedite it for you, so it only takes a week or so to get.
I live in Islington, it's a nice area very close to where you'll be working
i was just vsiting a friend in islington about a month ago. loved it. seemed like the whole angel metro area was pretty lively, but sedate enough for living.
i'd love to go back for another visit.
ahhh...london.
i know it's not helpful to the discussion, but here's another...
antipod: How on earth can you say that E, W, N, S, SW, SE and NW are inner London??? I'd never consider Wimbledon(SW19), Tooting(SW17) or Ealing(W4) or Lewisham(SE16) inner London at all!
Like already mentioned I'd recommend going for Angel or Camden, or perhaps Paddington/Bayswater(W2). I used to live in Bayswater, not much for going out, but a beautiful, quiet area where Hyde Park was literally four minutes walk from my room at Cleveland Square. I paid 455 pcm, which is pretty cheap. I could get you the details of the landlord if interest is there. Bathroom was shared, had own kitchenette and woke up to birds singing from the park below my flat...
Well, flat is an overstatement, it was about 2 by 4 metres.... High ceilings though!
Anyway, it's a 10-15 min bikeride/15 min busride along Marylebone Rd to your office.
hmmm...i would need something near London Victoria, as i´m taking the train each morning for 25 minutes...
If you're taking the train from Victoria(assuming you're going SW) I'd consider Battersea. Cheap rents and of some odd reason many like the feel of the area(me included). Battersea Park is quite nice as well. Connections from Clapham Junction are fantastic. Closer to Victoria would be Vauxhall, but it seems a bit dull(a few gay clubs there though, if this tickles your fancy).
In Victoria you'll find some houses converted into lettable rooms, the area has some cheap, quite shitty places, but the moment you step into Belgravia or Pimlico you can pretty much forget about anything below 1000 pcm, probably much much more, I wouldn't even bother looking.
I'd also consider the ENC(Elephant and Castle), full of council housing, sure, but also cheap and central! A friend of mine found a stunning house on a great street in Camberwell(nearby) for a low price, the trick is to look for the hidden, charming streets, there are a lot of them in London!
thanks Olez, will have a look on my map. I´m going SW working in Epsom, but i dont wanna live there, but rather nearer to London Centre....
i looked for Pimlico and really couldnt find something below 800 pcm....
How do you go from battersea to Victoria or Clapham Junction ? Tube or bus ?
Olez. If 'London' is anything inside the M25 then I would say anywhere you can catch a tube to is 'Inner' London.
Personally I try not to stray outside zone 2 because basically there are dragons out there and the people are like the characters from 'Shameless'. But then I'm a snob so don't listen to me!
You made some good suggestions for sure. They are quite expensive places to live tho. Just trying to give the guy some options.
to piggy back on thepost...
anybody know of any places around university college? I got an internship with Fosters, but i'll also be taking classes in the fall...i know it'll probably be mad expensive because of the location in central london...any suggestions would be great
Fosters? you poor bastard...
did read through it all, but SupaBeatle....have you thought of Camden? (at bit seedy) but I lived there a few years back, and I loved it. Alot of crazies but I suppose that's what made it interesting (if you can deal with the bs on the buses and at times on the tube) but then again, you will see enough of that.
have fun mate!
antipod - if you get a internship at foster, trust me, you really are a poor bastard by any standard. starting thinking zone 5 matey!
'I invented it in Camberwell and it looks like a carrot.'
SE5 has heart
I'm not working at Fosters. Half the architects in London have done a 6 month stint there. Great if you like photocopying and door schedules...
Of course what's considered inner London is truly relative! But the postcode system in London is in any case a mess to figure out, lower numbers(as in SW4/SW5) don't necessarily mean closer to Trafalgar Square. Also, if a postcode doesn't include a EC or WC, you are more likely to afford it and it is not in the "real" central London/Congestion Charging zone. I second the Zone 2 limit, you will feel awfully remote further out.
Actually, another place where there are a few fantastic houses with great views is around Finchley Road/West Hampstead. I saw some of the most delicious reasonably-priced housing there, with rooftop terraces/great views etc. for 80 a week! It seemed that everyone living there were fashion designers or similar, so a pretty nice vibe as well. A long way from the places the two searchers are looking, but for others it might be of interest. Stoke Newington is wicked as well.
tempo01 -Clapham Junction is in fact in Battersea(not Clapham, but close), and most buses roaming around the area stop there. For Epsom you'll save ten minutes on the train ride to Epsom(saving A LOT on your travelcard), have a larger, cheaper room as well as a laid-back feel to the area as well as feel less poor than you will more central. For central London there are buses, trains(for Waterloo/Victoria/Camden) leave C Junct more or less every other minute. I'd load up my sim card and get the first copy of Loot, within a few days you'll be rolling!
thanks Olez. will check that out :-)
also trying for Balham and Vauxhall, but dont know if thats nice :-)
Stoke newington is great but it's a major baby-zone because it has crap travel options. Nice bars and restaurants tho. Highest baby population in central London apprently...
antipod - 'Bet you guys wish you were a colony now eh?! :)'
if this was out of context it would be quite contensious....
I would recomend anwhere in SW3. I've heard that the local lads are not bad football outfit.
Context is everything after all...
Relax BOTS, I was merely pointing out the irony of SuperBeatledud's situation.
no, i caught on antipod, its just funny if it WAS taken out of context.
I'm thinking Angel, Camden, Islington. I read a couple things that King's Cross is kind of hit or miss as far as quality. Can someone make some comparisons or greater descriptions of these areas to U.S. cities or sections? Also, I keep seeing the phrease shared house in a lot of these adds for those areas. House? What kind of house are we talking about?
Ok, I don't know how they found out, but in the last 2 days I've gotten 6 British related spam emails and they aren't being redirected to junk mail! I'm not even there yet!
SBD Kings cross can be quite dodgy. They are currently gentrifying the whole area (which is an interesting little process in itself). I remember looking at one of the most disgusting flats ever in KC. Can't say that I know anyone who actually lives there.
FYI a share house is just a house shared by a number of people. The contract type can vary depending on who starts the flat and the agreement with the landlord.
Oh, things to check if I haven't already mentioned it. Make sure the place has a lounge/living room becasue these are often turned into another room to reduce the individual rents. Also since most properties still run on low pressure hot water I'd check that it has a decent shower. Some of them are so bad you might as well go outside and splash in a puddle.
excuse me a second, I'm gonna go check the quality of the shower pressure....ha, I don't know if I've ever done that
it sounds stupid, I know. But trust me on this.
Central London is more easily defined by looking at 'zone 1' on the tube map.
I used to live just along from the old Gainsborough Studios in the Islington/Hoxton 'crack' as someone so beautifully put it. It's a sort of grubby area, but paradoxically very chic and happening too. The rent wasn't bad either... but there's one heck of a lot of luck involved in finding somewhere good.
King's Cross is supposed to be changing. Chances are, if you ditch the architecture and fancy a night's street prostitution, you'll probably be nailed by the police. I remember seeing a bunch of people firing up their crack pipes / foil in the bus shelter right outside the station.
It still feels dodgy and dangerous at night if you ask me. I kinda liked it ;-)
SBD - antipod's right...i've checked the water pressure in every place i've ever rented. there's nothing more frustrating than getting all geared up for a nice hot shower only to feel like someone's urinating down your back! plus rinsing is a nightmare. imagine doing that every morning. been a deal-breaker for me in the past...
I lived in london for a year while I went to UCL...I lived over in Marylebone, near the Edgeware road tube station, but hung out a lot in Angel/Islington, which is a really great place, IMHO. Lots to do, nights and weekends, without being insanely noisy, etc. And since you could walk/take the bus to work, it would be really convenient, since practically every bus goes from Angel towards kings cross.
If you want to compare Angel/islington to some area in the US, I'd say it is alot like the East Village in NYC. In terms of houses, alot of it is Row-House/Brownstone-type living. Walk-ups with usually two to three flats per house. Unless you live in a MansionBlock, were there are maybe five or six flats per entrance....
Solired, I work int he Gainsborough Studios now. The firm I've just started with designed it actually.
It's pretty cool here but there is a sad lack of decent places to get a sandwich!
Heh. There are indeed some infrastructural blank spots as yet in that general area.
I used to love recognising little corners here and there amongst the blocks between Eagle Wharf and Old Street that featured in old Sherlock Holmes movies and the like.
Don't think I've seen the completed studios development yet, since I left for Glasgow in 2000.
Definetely a place to be an urban style warrior though... either that or Gilbert'n'George tweeds.
I didn't realise until I came to the interview that there is a 4m high bust of Alfred Hitchcock's head in the middle of the courtyard. In corten no less.
I'm also glad you consider sandwich shops 'infrastructure' I couldn't agree more.
E9 FOR EVA!!!!
Hackney, just north of Victoria Park (where Tower Hamlets ends), Lauriston Road Area, fucking brilliant.
That's a nice little spot actually. It's miles from a tube stop tho no?
come one, tube is for losers! get a bike!!! The tube is a quick 3 min ride on a bus if you need to take it (277 to mile end)
my sincere apologies to those who favor the tube to other modes of transportation, I personally think it is the worst way to get around london 95% of the time for any able bodied person.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.