Reply to: First time renter in London

[Scruff]

Or Aldershot/Farnborough/North Camp for Waterloo, all lovely idyillic places especially Aldershot, with it's thatched roof cottages around the village green and the lovely pubs all serving real ale and excellent lunches.

I think that all the Swill and Ale you were consuming on HAL's ticket have addled your Lancashire brain ?

[Soho]

I would say Birmingham would be a better option for you. But, still it depends you know...so first see if it saves you money while staying in London if not, then make the move.

[tarbera]

should do

Talked with the owner and everything.. the house is 25 miles north of Birmingham... so even more far out than London.

At this point is better if I can rent in London... the only problem is how? Got no references. Would paying 3 months in advance work?

Not sure what to do.

I had to pay 6 months deposit and double deposit to get mine in london

[MrButton]

Spareroom.co.uk

Pick up a temp arrangement from. Stay for 3 months, get reference.
Work contract, check if you like London then look for place.
Ask landlord and agency to supply references.

Job jobbed.

This. And as someone else said - don’t bring the family over till you’ve got a good footing.

[Manic]

Spareroom.co.uk

Pick up a temp arrangement from. Stay for 3 months, get reference.
Work contract, check if you like London then look for place.
Ask landlord and agency to supply references.

Job jobbed.

[mineralwasser]

Talked with the owner and everything.. the house is 25 miles north of Birmingham... so even more far out than London.

At this point is better if I can rent in London... the only problem is how? Got no references. Would paying 3 months in advance work?

Not sure what to do.

[Gibbon]

Or Aldershot/Farnborough/North Camp for Waterloo, all lovely idyillic places especially Aldershot, with it's thatched roof cottages around the village green and the lovely pubs all serving real ale and excellent lunches.

This isn't general you swine!

[MyUserName]

Five minutes walk from Waterloo.

Live in Basingstoke. You can easily get there within an hour and the rent is much lower.

[Lockhouse]

Basingstoke. Cheap as chips and 45 mins to Waterloo.

[stek]

Have you considered renting a bit further our in Kent and commuting in ? Good (well better) train links and rental is half as much as London.

Or Aldershot/Farnborough/North Camp for Waterloo, all lovely idyillic places especially Aldershot, with it's thatched roof cottages around the village green and the lovely pubs all serving real ale and excellent lunches.

[kaiser78]

Have you considered renting a bit further our in Kent and commuting in ? Good (well better) train links and rental is half as much as London.

[oilboil]

There are people here who commute from Stafford which is an hour and 15 each way. I expect rentals there will be much cheaper.

If you want to work on the train go first class. Free wifi and a much nicer seat, plus a meal/snack and coffee provided.

I did this for the last two years - and while you are doing it seems ok - now I've got a lovely work from home 5 days a week gig - now wonder how I ever did it.

If you do it you either need a house within a mile of the station - it's going to be at least £500 p/m for a two-bed that you'd consider living in. Any further out and you'll need a car and a £400 p/m car park pass as the buses don't run early enough to guarantee getting you onto the 6:20AM train to London (which is the last one you can get that will get you to your office in central London by 8:30AM)

A first class season ticket is £1,895 p/m standard is £1,144 p/m

So if you can find somewhere for £1,500 in London you'd be better off just going with that

[SeanT]

I know quite a few IT contractors who commute daily from Coventry to London - and there journey is less than an hour.....don't know about local rents/areas , etc. but might be worth an area considering...

The fast train part of the journey is an hour and 3 minutes or so. It's usually a tiny bit late too. However, leave the house at 7:20, drop the kids off at school, get to e.g. Holborn at c. 9:30. Don't like doing it over the winter though, and some WFH is essential if you're going to meetups and getting the 23:30 home.

The 4 bed detached house for the price of a small flat makes it all worth it too.

[ShandyDrinker]

Paddington is a **** to come into though. I remember doing that commute (well North Swindon) some years back to Canary Wharf, almost killed me after a year.

Yeah, I did the same from North Swindon to Canary Wharf for a while, not fun after a while.

I am really hoping that once the electrification of GWR is complete (at least to Swindon) and Crossrail (or should I say the Elizabeth line) commences from Paddington at the end of 2018 it should mean that, in theory at least, I should be able to get from door to door in approx 1hr 20mins which would be fantastic.

[Manic]

It may be an hour from Coventry to London, as it is from where from Swindon station to Paddington. However, once I factor in getting from South Swindon to the station and from Paddington to the City it's more like 1hr 45mins each way (if I'm lucky 1hr 30 if I get all connections timed perfectly).

While long commutes are doable, it's a grind after months on end. See other threads on this forum for similar comments.

Paddington is a **** to come into though. I remember doing that commute (well North Swindon) some years back to Canary Wharf, almost killed me after a year.