Contracts in London

[DodgyAgent]

Similar issues in the past. I don't put my address on my CV at all now, and it works.

As a contractor I live no where yet I live everywhere, as a business my services are not bound to one location and I do my best to make sure my clients understand that.

Don't tell me you are the new breed of "Ninja Contractor"

[rawly]

I'm attracted to contracts which are based in London simply because of the rates available.
But I live in the NorthWest of England so you can see the obivous problem.

Just wondered if others have taken contracts in London & have had to source accomodation during the working week.

Apart from sleeping in a bus shelters are there any cheap alternatives ?

I'm a little fortunate in that I often work 12 hour days when contracting in London. So it means only staying 1 weekday / 2 Weekend nights in week 1 and then 1 weekday night in Week 2. I often use Travelodge £26-£50) or Holiday Inn Express (£50-£80). Cheapest are locations in North Acton (On Central Line) and Wembley.

I often wondered if I needed to do 9-5 M-F how it would work. I investigated it once, and you can get short term 3-6 month rentals in private one bedroom flats in central locations for around £1000 a month. Even in a travelodge at £50 a night it still comes to £800 a month, plus the benefit of using the flat weekends and not having to live out of a suitcase? Plus you'll save money as it will be an expense, So really a £1000 rental is only costing £800 in real terms a month.

As to travel from the NW to London. You really need to understand the system here when doing Monday-Friday. You need to get yourself a Virgin Trains 'Traveller Club' card. You qualify by getting 16 Single or 8 Return 1st Class Tickets within a 3 month period. Once you qualify you'll then get FREE Weekend travel. But Virgin define the 'weekend' as All Day Friday/Saturday/Sunday and till Noon on Monday. Once you have this card you effectively get FREE travel for 1 Year plus other benefits such as FREE drinks in the Euston Lounge and priority parking spaces.

You'll spend around £1200 to get the Card, but you then get 12 months of FREE travel Monday mornings and Friday Evenings. The £1200 you spent getting the card then works out as £25 per week for a return 1st class journey at Peak times for a whole year!

P.S. The quickest way to get the qualifying tickets is to get multiple return tickets for one journey by using stopping stations. You'll qualify twice as fast for the same money.... You can get the 8 return tickets to qualify in just 4 weeks if you buy your tickets in a clever way....

[Moscow Mule]

Rents are pretty crazy. For example the tiny (studio) flat I stay over at costs £1300 a month and thats the low end.

Christo en bici! Where are you living? Knightsbridge?

If you're willing to move a few zones out you can have a 3 bed house for that money (admittedly in zone 6).

Just looking on Globrix you can have a 1-2 bed flat in Canary Wharf area for £200 a week.

[gadgetman]

Canary Wharf. The point is its 5 minutes from work. Most flats here are £1300 upwards, £2000 is quite common. And these are per 4 weeks, not per calendar month.

Sure I could stay cheaper in zone 6 but that would defeat the object! You did read the whole post, right?

Hotels or flats described as "Canary Wharf" are often up to 45 minutes and two DLR rides away.

Christo en bici! Where are you living? Knightsbridge?

If you're willing to move a few zones out you can have a 3 bed house for that money (admittedly in zone 6).

Just looking on Globrix you can have a 1-2 bed flat in Canary Wharf area for £200 a week.

[scooterscot]

Don't tell me you are the new breed of "Ninja Contractor"

Client: I need an answer to all questions possible.

Me: There on your desk...

[rawly]

Canary Wharf. The point is its 5 minutes from work. Most flats here are £1300 upwards, £2000 is quite common. And these are per 4 weeks, not per calendar month.

Sure I could stay cheaper in zone 6 but that would defeat the object! You did read the whole post, right?

Hotels or flats described as "Canary Wharf" are often up to 45 minutes and two DLR rides away.

Completely agree. I get this sometimes. People I work with offer to rent a room out to me, but they live 40 Miles out in Buckinghamshire! I mean, why would I travel to London and do a day's work and then want to commute 80 miles a day to sleep at night! A typical London commute costs what £30 a day at that distance? So why pay nearly £500 a month on commuting to somewhere that appears cheaper, but is probably not when you add up the time and cost of getting there and back!

I often have to laugh sometimes. It often takes me around 2 hours 10 minutes from Runcorn(The NW) to London. The stories you hear of daily commutes for 'local' people taking 3 hours per day twice a day! Scary! London people are crazy! I come 210 miles and get there faster than most of them.... (and cheaper )

[DiscoStu]

Client: I need an answer to all questions possible.

Me: There on your desk...

[gadgetman]

I once stayed at a cheapish hotel described as "Canary Wharf". It was the Custom House hotel which is miles away and it took nearly an hour to get to work.

The pictures of it look good but beware; the hotel was truly one of the worst I've ever stayed in and the area was extremely dodgy.

The best budget placed I stayed was the new(ish) Travelodge on City Road.

[gadgetman]

The problem for me is that the leg to London takes between 45 minutes to an hour depending on the train but its the same again to get across London.

For me this involves the awful sauna-like sardine tin that is the tube and the equally overcrowded DLR. And they're closing Tower Gateway in June so the Bank branch will have twice as many commuters to cope with.

If you work near Euston you're lucky.

I often have to laugh sometimes. It often takes me around 2 hours 10 minutes from Runcorn(The NW) to London.

[MrMark]

I've mentioned on here before that I use Youth Hostels when working on short contracts in London. Usually less than 20 quid a night, usually including breakfast. Laundry facilities on site, internet connections, clean, friendly, amazing locations, big showers, big rooms (shared, obviously, but still spacious).

I'm not sure I'd even want to stay in a Youth Hostel for a holiday, never mind when I'm working the next day. Once worked with a Canadian who was staying in a Youth Hostel and he hated it. Basically everyone was partying most of the night, so he was constantly woken up by people coming back at 1,2,3,4 o'clock in the morning. The Canadian soon moved to settled accommodation.