Accommodation in London (not hotels)

[sofaofthedamned]

Hi all

Apologies if this has been done before, but here goes:

I live in Cheltenham and have a (perm) offer for a job in Birmingham. Seeing them tomorrow to finalise it and the skills are perfect for my CV but it's a small company and I think the sticking point will be me wanting to have a day working from home - I find the larger companies tend to be happier with this than the smaller ones.

I'm not spending 3 1/2 hours 5 days a week in a car for a perm job, so if they insist i'll turn it down. As i've been off for 4 months i'll just wait til after NY and go for contracts in London. Don't mind being away from home as long as i'm earning a decent amount and I can cry myself to sleep at night whilst doing certifications / watching youporn.

So, my questions:

1. Are there any accommodation option in/near London apart from hotels? I don't care about a caravan on a park with a shower as it's the means to an end and probably only a few months. Narrowboat, anything - does anybody have any experience of this sort of thing? Or are there decent hotels for 4 nights a week with reasonable rates?

2. I'll probably need to set up a ltd co or umbrella quickly - any links on here or elsewhere or advice? I'm not bothered about squeezing the last bit of tax out, just want it straightforward.

Thanks for any help - last time I was contracting was before Y2K, so i'm a bit rusty...

[northernladuk]

1. Are there any accommodation option in/near London apart from hotels? I don't care about a caravan on a park with a shower as it's the means to an end and probably only a few months. Narrowboat, anything - does anybody have any experience of this sort of thing? Or are there decent hotels for 4 nights a week with reasonable rates?

No

2. I'll probably need to set up a ltd co or umbrella quickly - any links on here or elsewhere or advice? I'm not bothered about squeezing the last bit of tax out, just want it straightforward.

No.

HTH BIDI

[vwdan]

AirBnB all the way - but it's not as cheap as you'd expect if you a) Want somewhere reasonably nice, b) Reasonably convenient and if you're VAT registered and can claim the VAT back on normal hotels.

[AtW]

Tulip, wrong login

[Elliegirl]

There are also sites where you can rent four or five nights a week, I think one is actually called fivenights or something. Also I think Spareroom.com gives you the option to search for five nights a week then you can negotiate.

I know someone who lives in Bournemouth and rents a room in London during the week. He has been doing this for 20 years. Which I think is going a bit far but if it works for him.....

[SlipTheJab]

I used to rent a room in a B&B off TCR for 60 notes a night, clean, functional, brekkie included and 5 minutes from the office, bargain.

[Whorty]

If you can be bothered to learn a bit of Romanian then you could kip down on a bench at Marble Arch. Convenient for central London, and very reasonable rates

[DaveB]

spareroom.com Week day lets specifically for this kind of thing.

I've used it for every gig I've done in London and not had a problem. You need to check the listings to weed out the commercial landlords and student houses but otherwise it's good. Downside is that you usually end up sharing with someone else, although I've had one where I was in the house in the week and the owner only turned up at weekends. Most people seem happy to accept you dont actually want to be part of the family and dont hassle you if you just want to keep to yourself.

It's also usually a lot cheaper than a hotel, even if you factor in the cost of breakfast that a hotel might include in the cost. £50 a night has usually got me a decent comfortable room ina reasonable area in Zone 2.

[MrMarkyMark]

Hi all Don't mind being away from home as long as i'm earning a decent amount and I can cry myself to sleep at night whilst doing certifications / watching youporn.

You are very aspirational, I'll give you that

[Martin Scroatman]

I don't care about a caravan on a park with a shower as it's the means to an end and probably only a few months. Narrowboat, anything - does anybody have any experience of this sort of thing?

Yes, anyone done this? Worked in London & lived in a caravan/boat?