Moved to London? How did you choose which area?

[Helen Back]

Mr Back and I are planning to move to London at some point in future, maybe a year or so down the line, but we haven't the faintest idea which part we'd like to move to. He's looking for work in central London so that's not a factor. It's a far-off thing at the moment (he'll be staying with mum and dad during the week and coming back home at weekends) but we want to have an idea of an area sooner rather than later.

So to help us decide how to decide, we were wondering what helped other people decide on an area.

 

[Shechemite]

I moved out of london. Dunno if that helps.

 

[Shechemite]

But it’s commutable distance into london (and much cheaper to live in)

 

[19sixtysix]

I moved to London and settled five minutes from where I was working in Crystal Palace. I did not commute till I changed jobs. For ease of central London commuting I think being near the Victoria Line is where I'd aim for if I came back to London.

 

[hash tag]

How close to centre do you wish to be, do you want easy access to south-east, south-west, the north, lots of bars, pubs or culture. What budget are you looking at, what sort of property.....there are many considerations. I would only ever consider South of the Thames.

 

[Nivag]

Personally I'd want to live within an hour of wherever I worked, ideally 40mins max for me these days.
Though I've been fortunate to live mostly in zone 2 south London and have only recently moved to zone 3. Which feels miles out of the West end/City lol

 

[planetgeli]

I would only ever consider South of the Thames.

You're a taxi driver aren't you.

Coming back to London yesterday was to see new build studio flats on Lea Bridge Rd going from £295000.

And consequently not to see Euston rd and Marylebone rd turning into homeless shelters.

 

[hash tag]

 

[hash tag]

.

 

[marty21]

My choice was made by a mate who said I could sleep on his floor in his flat in Buckhurst Hill (which isn't really London) then The Evening Standard ad for a room in Acton (1st ad I saw) . Then a mate had a room in Southfields so I went there. Finally chose a place with mates in Temple Fortune . Then love and a HA flat led me to Hackney which I've never left.

 

[what]

This is a useful tool for average rent prices.
London Rents Map

 

[girasol]

I've lived in a few places in London since 1989, north, south, east, west. My favourite is where I'm at now, been here for 12 years. I really do think, personally, the most important thing is to be near a park or common - not too impossible in London, it will make a difference. It did for me. I currently live in Tooting by the way (South London). Lived in Islington for many years too. I lived in Euston for a bit, Bounds Green, Seven Sisters, Turnpike Lane, Ealing. We ended up in Tooting because my husband suggested it as affordable (at the time) and easy to get to central London. As well as being full of South Indian restaurants and quieter than central Brixton - which is where he was living at the time. It was also around the area where his family had grown up before moving out of London.

It really depends if you are coming to settle, maybe have kids or if you want a place with nightlife and adventure... There's something for everyone here, if you got money that is If you don't then where you can live is very restricted.

edit: Streatham and Mitcham are alright actually, looking at the London rent map... Not too long to get to Central London either.

 

[Helen Back]

Mmm, food for thought. We're really just doing the preliminaries of working out where to look. We haven't even secured employment there (although himself is awaiting the results of a promising interview...). With us being older and a mini-Back in tow we're looking at a two-bedroom place and our budget is yet to be determined. But we really do appreciate the suggestions of deciding factors.

 

[Gromit]

You haven't given us much to go on...

Do you prefer Coke, Meth, Weed, Pills, other?

 

[marty21]

I've lived in a few places in London since 1989, north, south, east, west. My favourite is where I'm at now, been here for 12 years. I really do think, personally, the most important thing is to be near a park or common - not too impossible in London, it will make a difference. It did for me. I currently live in Tooting by the way (South London). Lived in Islington for many years too. I lived in Euston for a bit, Bounds Green, Seven Sisters, Turnpike Lane, Ealing. We ended up in Tooting because my husband suggested it as affordable (at the time) and easy to get to central London. As well as being full of South Indian restaurants and quieter than central Brixton - which is where he was living at the time. It was also around the area where his family had grown up before moving out of London.

It really depends if you are coming to settle, maybe have kids or if you want a place with nightlife and adventure... There's something for everyone here, if you got money that is If you don't then where you can live is very restricted.

edit: Streatham and Mitcham are alright actually, looking at the London rent map... Not too long to get to Central London either.

I moved to London in 1989 as well

 

[Puddy_Tat]

anywhere on the underground network is broadly more expensive than anywhere that isn't because people from outside London think it's the only way to get around.

Many (although not all) of the 'national rail' lines have 10 minute frequencies in the peaks / mid day, and because stations are further apart, a journey from (say) a zone 4 station on south eastern will usually get to central london a bit quicker than an underground journey from a similar sort of distance out. and most have last train out of london somewhere around midnight (there is a fairly comprehensive night bus network though)

Crossrail is on its way to some parts, although bloody slowly.

The price of railway season tickets / Travelcards jumps a heck of a lot when you get outside Greater London / zone 6 but (in many cases) housing is a bit cheaper. The national rail enquiries website has a season ticket price calculator thingy.

 

[Helen Back]

You haven't given us much to go on...

Do you prefer Coke, Meth, Weed, Pills, other?

Like I said, we're not looking for suggestions of where but just wondering how other people chose where. Big difference.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Rent is going to be a major factor. I was living in a small flat in SE 1 until I realised a family was on the way. Money forced me to Croydon, but it turned out great. Good connections and where I am in addiscombe there are plenty of big parks and a wood. . . The prices have rocketed lately though.

 

[what]

Mmm, food for thought. We're really just doing the preliminaries of working out where to look. We haven't even secured employment there (although himself is awaiting the results of a promising interview...). With us being older and a mini-Back in tow we're looking at a two-bedroom place and our budget is yet to be determined. But we really do appreciate the suggestions of deciding factors.

If the mini back is of school age then I would put that as a major part of your search

 

[kalidarkone]

Then love and a HA flat led me to Hackney which I've never left.

Awwwww!❤

 

[Manter]

I moved somewhere on a direct line to where I would be working, then lived there for a couple of years and thought ‘I wish I wasn’t here’ and left the country for a bit. When I came back I went to the place I’d wished I lived, realised I couldn’t afford it, then followed bus and tube routes south till I found the place closer to where I wanted to be, that I could afford to be.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I chose Croydon because I could afford a house with a garden and the commute into London was very convenient. I am freelance and generally work in Soho, Clapham, Camden or Waterloo. The trains are pretty good for all these places. I tend to avoid the tube if I can. If I am in Camden or islington I go to kings cross which is only a short walk. We are also near some big parks and woods.

 

[Sue]

Like many people, a combination of where friends lived/where my work was and where I could afford. As things get more and more expensive though, more of my friends are being priced out. Unless you've got lots of cash, that's likely going to be the main thing that determines where you can/can't live.

 

[Guineveretoo]

Okay, you asked.... clearly, you will have to think about your personal circumstances, but here is what I did.

I was working near Victoria station when I moved to London and had similar problems trying to decide where to look. Initially, I thought of north London, because I was living in Cambridge and North London is in that direction, but couldn't afford to live anywhere near where I worked and had already realised how horrendous the london underground is in rush hour, as I was commuting via Kings Cross, so I started looking south where there is no underground.

I wanted a house similar to the one I was selling, because it was a huge decision to ell it and move, and that limited my options, too. So, I started looking at houses in my price range, and then went and checked out the train stations and ruled out those which are not well lit or staffed late at night, because I wanted to feel safe to travel home late at night and had a teenage daughter who would do the same. So, the area was getting narrower and narrower and, in the end, I decided that I wanted to be a bus ride or cab ride near East Croydon station because it is lit, staffed, open all night and has a cab rank.

Then it was about the house itself, and that is a different story

 

[spanglechick]

I grew up in the SE London burbs, and knew I didn’t want to live in the outer boroughs as an adult. North of the river is another country to me. Too grey.

I lived in Balham for a bit, then when I needed somewhere cheaper I moved to South Norwood, then Herne Hill and finally Upper Norwood. All of these have been based on a compromise between cost of housing and wanting to be somewhere that felt like London.

 

[moomoo]

When I lived in London it was always with a W postcode. Except when I slummed it in Chelsea.

 

[RubyToogood]

There are various tools that take your work location and desired length of commute and calculate suggestions for where you could live: search for property by distance from work - Google Search

Personally I washed up in a friend's house share in Crystal Palace and stayed for 25 years because I liked it. I still like it.

 

[Miss-Shelf]

You don't choose London , it chooses you

Eta: what they said ^

 

[hash tag]

I ended up in battersea because it's convenient for work and everything else. It's expensive and has no tube.we have the Thames,an easy walk to most things In town; galleries, museums etc. We have clapham junction, the commons, the park, restaurants, caffs, bars.

 

[Cold Harbour]

Personally I washed up in a friend's house share in Crystal Palace and stayed for 25 years because I liked it. I still like it.

Same here, 3 weeks in a kindly pal's attic room in Brixton and haven't migrated further than a mile away 25 years later. Housing has got progressively smaller as my family got bigger though, which is shit.