Living in London.
Feb. 28th, 2003 02:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reddragdivaSo I need to find a love nest for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
redcountess and myself toot bloody
sweet. marnameow has pointed out that just south of the river is
vastly underappreciated, and also we should be able to find a decent flat for
£700-800 a month. She's been suggesting stuff along the Southwark/Bermondsey/Rotherhite axis. Liz has been sniffing online around New Cross and
environs.
Actual requirements are that it have two bedrooms and be really close to public transport (Tube preferred, train maybe). Nice things would be ground floor and all on one level. Location is the least of our worries - north, south, east or west - unless it's a shithole or truly light-years out of town. Must not be a pain in the arse to get to Knightsbridge (Piccadilly line), where I work.
So. Tell me about where you live, and where you've looked in the past. Please go into as much detail as possible.
(You can tell it's Friday, can't you.)
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 06:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 06:36 am (UTC)i was spending a long ime moving last time I moved and looked at lots of parts of London so if you want any firmer opinions...
AS for Southwark and Rotherhithe, they had nice bits, but Ic oudl afford them and they tended to go down hill as you got away from teh river (but it is also possible I have different crtiteria to you).
If it is any help these web sites give ideas of what an area is like and other local info:
http://www.upmystreet.com/
http://localtil.thisislondon.co.uk/pages/local_london/start.html
though the second one does tend to look at everything thorugh slightly rose tinted specs (probably because they also have rental/sales listings attached), but not to extremes and is still fairly useful.
HTH
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 06:47 am (UTC)Area's real quite, plenty of parks nearby but a slight lack of facilities other than an Asda superstore that is about five or ten minutes walk. There's a fairly large retail park that's twenty minutes walk and East Ham, including just about everything, is about forty-five minutes walk away. Nightbuses to the Asda superstone run every hour from Trafalgar Square.
Not many flats available locally, but plenty of two- and three- bedroom houses. Shout if you want further details or if you want to wander over..
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 06:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 07:19 am (UTC)No tube, but there is a train to either London Bridge or Victoria and, of course, we have the trams!
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 07:26 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2003-02-28 08:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 08:09 am (UTC)The flat itself is in Winchmore Hill, a 15-minute walk to either Southgate (Piccadilly Line, 40-minute run to Knightsbridge) or to Winchmore Hill station (WAGN, runs to Kings Cross and Moorgate via Finsbury Park). Nice quiet area; 24-hour ASDA in Southgate, or a Sainsburys just 10 minutes' walk round the corner. Also a nice friendly local cab office; fare from our flat to Southgate is £3, or £3.50 to ASDA. Two parks within walking distance, several pubs that do reasonable food (and one that stocks over a hundred different single malt whiskeys...!). An excellent vet just 5 minutes down the road from Winchmore Hill station that I can heartily endorse.
Local hospital is Chase Farm, reassuringly close nearby but not so close that you'd be bothered by the sounds of ambulances. A lot of local doctor's surgeries have had to close their lists to new patients recently, but Gillam House Surgery in nearby Palmer's Green (25 minute walk, or 10 minute cab ride - fare is usually £4) still has space on the books. Dr A. R. Dick is an excellent doctor; friendly and open-minded.
Anything else?
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 08:20 am (UTC)De Bohun Avenue, Southgate, N14 (http://www.selectagencies.co.uk/result.asp?SearchIndex=527) - A second (Top) floor flat, within easy walking distance to Southgate Tube Station, large lounge, 2 double bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (one en-suite), large appliance fitted kitchen/diner, furnished/unfurnished. Available now. £207 PW. (£897 PM)
Belmont Close, Cockfosters, EN4 (http://www.selectagencies.co.uk/result.asp?SearchIndex=528) - A lovely three bedroom first floor flat located in this prestigious location, lounge leading into dinning room with polished wooden floor,(leather sofas in lounge and dining table and chairs in dining room) fitted kitchen, bathroom, sep w.c., 1 double bedroom and 2 singles, furnished. Available 31st March 2003. £209 PW. (£902.66 PM)
That second one is perhaps more expensive than you were looking for; on the other hand, it is a house, and you could perhaps get another person to share? Available from the end of March, so you'd have time to find another person.
Hope it all helps....
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 08:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 09:14 am (UTC)Croydon. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 09:38 am (UTC)I've lived in:
Hounslow - really shabby and overpowered by the noise of planes coming in to land at Heathrow. Allegedly about to be gentrified but don't hold your breath. It is, however, on the Piccadilly Line.
Rayner's Lane - rather nice in a suburban way, in the heart of Metroland. It does have an fast tube link into Baker Street, when I lived there I had the quickest journey to Regent's Park ever, even though it was the furthest in terms of distance.
Wood Green - what a dump. It gets better northwards towards Bounds Green, worse southwards towards Manor House. Fantastic kebab shops, worrying street crime and sky high Council Tax. It is however relatively cheap considering it is in Zone 3.
Tooting Bec - I'd happily stay here if I could afford the property prices. The area immediately around the station is fine, there are loads of good, cheap curry houses and it's on the Northern Line. There is a nightbus and you're one stop from Balham with rail links to Victoria, Croydon or Brighton if you fancy a day out. I'm not sure what the rental prices are like since I've only ever been a homeowner round here.
Ladbroke Grove - *lmao* I grew up there but I can't imagine being able to afford a private let there! Lots of transport, handy for the Portobello Market etc but really expensive these days :(
I've been told the area round Stockwell is really rough - now that Brixton is being gentrified, the scum have oozed along a bit.
Do remember to check the Council Tax rates and the Travelcard Zone - there's no point saving 5 UKP a week by moving outwards if your fares to work increase by 10!
thetube.com has journey planners. You could use that to calculate how long your journey to work would take - similarly the Railtrack site for overland journeys. Using them you could create a rough circle with Knightsbridge at the epicentre, and househunt within the circle.
There are sites (you'd need to Google) that will quote you for home insurance for any postcode. That could serve as a rough guide to the quality of the area.
You can tell I take a scientific approach to househunting, right up to the moment where I spot the stained glass/honeysuckle/turret and lose all my common sense!
Good luck.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 10:29 am (UTC)maida vale
Date: 2003-02-28 11:06 am (UTC)I *liked* Maida Vale because it was serene and had green spaces, and wide tree-lined boulevards. It didn't even feel like London, half the time.
Getting to Slimelight was a pain, though.
I looked at a bunch of places before settling there; one of them was basically someone's backyard shed with a tree growing through it (Golders Green, i think?) and one was a dreary little place in Wimbledon. The one I *should* have taken was a ginormous place in, I think, Hempstead. Which I passed on because it was more than two blocks from the train.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 11:28 am (UTC)One of my ex-co-workers just moved to Battersea. It's not too expensive and he likes it, but the attraction may be that he works just over the bridge in Chelsea.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 01:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 04:10 pm (UTC)other expenses
Date: 2003-02-28 07:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-28 07:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-03-01 03:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-03-01 11:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-03-03 03:01 am (UTC)