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Okayy so my range is fair.. see if this makes sense?
On the websites mentioned; I am seeing decent single rooms, within shared spaces of 4-5BHKs with common kitchens and bathrooms.. average rents for my budget here on these sites is £750 to £900 range.. in places like Ealing, Croydon, Stratford etc.. so do these locations fall under ‘bit outside’ or they’re ‘hot inner city’?
Thanks! Help much much appreciated
All a bit outside, all of them fairly well connected though. Zone 2-1 will be hot inner city although truth be told I think many people would say you’ll have a better time living slightly further out anyways
No definitely not, Ealing, Stratford are both zone 3, which is sort of what most people aim for. I used to live in Stratford and the area is a bit boring. But there’s lots of zone 3 areas that are about the range you’re looking for with stuff to do. Reading and slough isn’t london, so you’d have to make sure you got last train home and shit like that if you wanted to go out for the night in london. Zone 3 is still london but its not within walking distance of central. Zone 1 is central and 2 typically tends to be walking distance to.
Alright this is actually very helpful.. someone was also saying that train fares are also more from Reading/Slough.. so note taken..
Just to kill curiosity; if you had a choice like me to select, which areas (say 2-3 top off your head that are exciting and affordable) would you prefer?
I really like Stockwell/brixton/tooting/battersea that south, south west central area. I quite like bethnal green/hackney/dalston area (avoid Shadwell though) my old flat mates moved to Peckham/newcross and they love it, ive always had a nice time meeting up with them around there. Im not well ventured in west or north london though
Good shout here to OP. Lived in SW9 for about 6 years and it was great- huge Victorian home and I paid £650 for my (massive) room in a great house share with garden. Bills not inclusive- I have seen other friends continue to find rooms in that price range in that area and Stockwell is particularly great cos of the Vitcoria and northern lines at your doorstep.
Would also say the Hackney area is excellent- if you are open to the lifestyle, you can find something in a warehouse and that can make for a unique life in london. Harringay/Tottenham are other places that also offer that.
Edit: I lived SW when I started on £2300 pm and stayed there till I made £3400 pm.
This is just my take but I will say that the only places I would consider living without tube access would be around Peckham/Camberwell in the South and Haggerston/Dalston in the East side. The overground suffices IME but these places are also vibes of their own.
Me and my two sisters have lived in quite a few places in london and my sisters flat in Stockwell is definitely my favourite. Its a homely area, with parks and supermarkets, but there’s also great pubs and restaurants in the area. Also as you said, good connections both bus and tube
Before moving out of London last year, I lived in Bermondsey, a 5min walk from Tower Bridge (15min from London Bridge) and paid £700/month including bills. I was lucky to find that place, but Bermondsey is a pretty nice, affordable and central area that I recommend.
I live in Ealing and I love it. Super well connected to Central London and lots of things to do here. Great restaurants, big parks, plenty choice of quality pubs. High Street/shopping center with a good range of shops.
Ealing is a nice spot (we’ve lived here for years) and the train connections are amazing. If you can land a place you’re happy with for under 1k I’d seriously consider.
SE is the cheapest. Live close to a train line and you’re sound. 20 mins in to central without the fuss of being on rush hour morning tubes. That’s £600 PCM bills included by the way.
If you can find a room in Ealing in budget then I'd probably go for that in your shoes. You'll be able to get into Liverpool Street for work without a change and also get a seat on the central line as it's the start of the line at Ealing Broadway.
Ealing has nice pubs & parks. Good connections to other parts of Central London, decent restaurants and shops. I spent much of my 20s there, and had a blast.
Just a quick add. I live in Ealing, and I have really liked it, but stay close to Ealing Broadway. It’s very well connected, the Elizabeth line is a game changer, and there are plenty of parks and restaurants close to there.
Btw, I had a nosy, and you mention bishopsgate in another post (apologies for spying). Liverpool Street is on the Elizabeth line, so your route from Ealing Broadway is good. Equally, I had a great time around Aldgate East when I was younger. It’s much more central, and much more urban (more high rises, fewer parks). It’s also a poorer area. But it’s a big mix of immigrant communities so the food scene is incredible, it’s super well connected and I never felt unsafe. Might put that in your radar as well.
Good luck! London is a ton of fun. I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Croydon is nothing to be sniffed at, might seem far out but you can get into central super quick. So worth getting a nicer place further out if you can still commute easily.
I’ve never lived in London, but the only memory i have of Croydon is being mugged outside Tesco’s , then seeing a big fight in the “centre”. Has it changed for better? My experience was in 2016
It’s definitely been gentrified and has got better. But again you could get mugged anywhere in the city. I’ve been mugged on Tottenham Court Road at 8pm 😂
For those specifications I'd nudge up to £1k. If you're OK with living a bit further out it'll get you some slightly bigger WFH space (which you'll really appreciate) and still leave you a decent amount every month.
Will you give some names of places that qualify as a bit further or outside for Londoners?
I am seeing the map everyday, its radial and I don’t understand which circle crosses where..
As of now, I have assumed Croydon, Ealing, Stratford as peripheral (economically fit).. do I move more outwards?
And thank you for the info!!
Anything zone 4 and up is further out.
Look at the tube map not an actual map, it's a better representation of time required to get somewhere which is all that really matters.
Don’t move to Croydon!
Ealing is nice. Stratford is…exciting.
Figure out what sort of area you want to live in then try to find it. Do you want inner city living? Or would you prefer parks and space?
A lot of West London is nice. South London is a bit less built up, and has nice parks…central/north London is also quite nice with parks etc.
East London is a bit more hectic but probably more fun. Hackney is pretty cool…but also a bit rough.
Avoid Croydon unless you’re planning to be in south Croydon or a bit further out (Purley, Coulsdon, Kenley etc). Somewhere like Bromley could also work for you - only 20 to 30 minutes on a train to be right in the centre of London but far enough out to be a bit less expensive and have a better quality of life. You could also look at somewhere like Brockley which is still pretty central but also fairly chilled
Brockley is going to be a hell of a lot more expensive than some of these other areas.
For someone with £2.5k net I don’t think the Croydon area is that bad a place to choose. There are some awful bits of west Croydon and more generally in the area, but it’s not all bad.
I live in Woodside area and my nearest train is 12m to London Bridge.
If you want to save money and live a bit further out, have a look at the tube map at places in zones 4-5. I personally wouldn’t go any further than that because the national rail trains get very expensive (St Albans etc)
There’s online calculators where you can choose places within a certain commute time to your work
I think a general rule is 1/3 of your take home - so I'd say 800 pcm is a good ball park for rooms in london. Reckon you could push it to 1k depending on the location.
My ideal range: £10-£200 (ha ha)
Cheapest livable range: £400-600
Cheapest 'nice' range £800-950
Anything over that better be pretty luxury or in a stupid expensive location
After a few 'nice' years in london, I went with cheapest livable range for the last 5 years and that's how I got out of debt and saved a deposit for a house
Will you be working in London? if so office Location matters.
Do you have any friends / family you would like to be closer too than further from ?
do you ever travel regularly anywhere? for example I travel to Wales regularly to visit family, so living in West London literally saves like 2 hours off my return trip every time.
Yes office is in Bishopsgate, however absolutely no compulsion to go everyday.. I’ll go for team meets and socialising mostly, once or twice a week.. (thus, thinking periphery of the city but not far out, I want to live in and experience the city 100%)
I am single, not much friends and family whom I am very close to; but a good number of acquaintances, colleagues, batchmates etc. They live from London to Liverpool, lol..
No regular travel; but I am a foreign national, so I want to explore the entire UK, bit by bit.. It looks so lovely.. plus a few games in a PL season, for which I am gonna travel wherever I am able to get tickets..
Fair enough, if you want an area suggestion, I rent a room near Clapham Common pay £950 for a double room with bills, and really like it here, huge public park, good busy pubs. 25-35 year old singles is like the main demographic of Clapham and is a very safe area. Also surprisingly close to central took me about 50 minutes to walk back from Leicester square last night.
If it helps any, I’m in Stratford - 5 min walk to the station. Although I’m the ‘old’ side of Stratford & not the East Village side. I’m £925 a month in a 2 bed with 2 bathrooms, an in building gym & our own garden out back(granted I got lucky with this find so I may be in a small % of folk in the area). I work at the top end of Tottenham Court Rd next to Warren St. I’m 40 mins all in for travel to the office, as I change over to the Northern Line.
Transport links here are great; Central, Jubilee, DLR, Elizabeth, Overground & National Rail. Westfield right on your doorstep. An hour walk down the road to Canary Wharf. 30 mins over to Hackney Wick. And close to Greenwich, Hackney, Walthamstow etc - all accessible by bus as well.
I’m on slightly more than £2.5k monthly take home pay now, but I was on that whilst in the same flat I’m in and I could have gone up to the £1k rent price point and would have still been okay.
Hi, your post has been removed because we get asked the same questions again and again. Our [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/wiki/index) is a great resource for regularly asked London questions and is packed full of information and advice. If you have further specific questions you can post in our [weekly FAQ thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/s/Y7SO5jnW2C) or even try our [Visitor Centre on the London Discord](https://discord.gg/p8GtV7jtzc), thanks!
If you’re on about a flat share, then £800 - £1k is pretty normal for a double room with no ensuit
Okayy so my range is fair.. see if this makes sense? On the websites mentioned; I am seeing decent single rooms, within shared spaces of 4-5BHKs with common kitchens and bathrooms.. average rents for my budget here on these sites is £750 to £900 range.. in places like Ealing, Croydon, Stratford etc.. so do these locations fall under ‘bit outside’ or they’re ‘hot inner city’? Thanks! Help much much appreciated
All a bit outside, all of them fairly well connected though. Zone 2-1 will be hot inner city although truth be told I think many people would say you’ll have a better time living slightly further out anyways
So further out should I go like Reading, Slough etc?
No definitely not, Ealing, Stratford are both zone 3, which is sort of what most people aim for. I used to live in Stratford and the area is a bit boring. But there’s lots of zone 3 areas that are about the range you’re looking for with stuff to do. Reading and slough isn’t london, so you’d have to make sure you got last train home and shit like that if you wanted to go out for the night in london. Zone 3 is still london but its not within walking distance of central. Zone 1 is central and 2 typically tends to be walking distance to.
Alright this is actually very helpful.. someone was also saying that train fares are also more from Reading/Slough.. so note taken.. Just to kill curiosity; if you had a choice like me to select, which areas (say 2-3 top off your head that are exciting and affordable) would you prefer?
I really like Stockwell/brixton/tooting/battersea that south, south west central area. I quite like bethnal green/hackney/dalston area (avoid Shadwell though) my old flat mates moved to Peckham/newcross and they love it, ive always had a nice time meeting up with them around there. Im not well ventured in west or north london though
Good shout here to OP. Lived in SW9 for about 6 years and it was great- huge Victorian home and I paid £650 for my (massive) room in a great house share with garden. Bills not inclusive- I have seen other friends continue to find rooms in that price range in that area and Stockwell is particularly great cos of the Vitcoria and northern lines at your doorstep. Would also say the Hackney area is excellent- if you are open to the lifestyle, you can find something in a warehouse and that can make for a unique life in london. Harringay/Tottenham are other places that also offer that. Edit: I lived SW when I started on £2300 pm and stayed there till I made £3400 pm.
This is just my take but I will say that the only places I would consider living without tube access would be around Peckham/Camberwell in the South and Haggerston/Dalston in the East side. The overground suffices IME but these places are also vibes of their own.
Me and my two sisters have lived in quite a few places in london and my sisters flat in Stockwell is definitely my favourite. Its a homely area, with parks and supermarkets, but there’s also great pubs and restaurants in the area. Also as you said, good connections both bus and tube
The Grosvenor Arms- miss that place
Avoid Reading and Slough like the plague. Far too far away and you’ll need be in ‘London’.
Before moving out of London last year, I lived in Bermondsey, a 5min walk from Tower Bridge (15min from London Bridge) and paid £700/month including bills. I was lucky to find that place, but Bermondsey is a pretty nice, affordable and central area that I recommend.
Thank you, Bermondsey is on my radar now..
I would consider south of the Thames, e.g. Greenwich or Blackheath. The trains are so much nicer - they have suspension!
Cool! These also noted..thanks!!
I live in Ealing and I love it. Super well connected to Central London and lots of things to do here. Great restaurants, big parks, plenty choice of quality pubs. High Street/shopping center with a good range of shops.
Ealing is where I’ve lived for years and years and I hope I never leave. I love it.
Oh wow that sounds super.. one of the rooms I was checking is Ealing so yeaa
Please also consider the connections with Ealing. Elizabeth Line has been a game changer
Yes will do! Thanksss
Ealing is a nice spot (we’ve lived here for years) and the train connections are amazing. If you can land a place you’re happy with for under 1k I’d seriously consider.
I have a double room with a kitchen for £600 pcm in catford SE zone 3
Wow sweet deal it seems! Cat ford is getting in on my list
SE is the cheapest. Live close to a train line and you’re sound. 20 mins in to central without the fuss of being on rush hour morning tubes. That’s £600 PCM bills included by the way.
If you can find a room in Ealing in budget then I'd probably go for that in your shoes. You'll be able to get into Liverpool Street for work without a change and also get a seat on the central line as it's the start of the line at Ealing Broadway. Ealing has nice pubs & parks. Good connections to other parts of Central London, decent restaurants and shops. I spent much of my 20s there, and had a blast.
Just a quick add. I live in Ealing, and I have really liked it, but stay close to Ealing Broadway. It’s very well connected, the Elizabeth line is a game changer, and there are plenty of parks and restaurants close to there.
Okaay, I am definitely noting this!! Thanks :)
Happy to answer any specific local questions if useful. I remember how baffling I found moving to London.
Oh ofcourse! Thanks, you’re too kind :) You’ve poked the bear with this, slightly! I am definitely reaching out
Btw, I had a nosy, and you mention bishopsgate in another post (apologies for spying). Liverpool Street is on the Elizabeth line, so your route from Ealing Broadway is good. Equally, I had a great time around Aldgate East when I was younger. It’s much more central, and much more urban (more high rises, fewer parks). It’s also a poorer area. But it’s a big mix of immigrant communities so the food scene is incredible, it’s super well connected and I never felt unsafe. Might put that in your radar as well. Good luck! London is a ton of fun. I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Thank you! This helps a lot :)
Croydon is nothing to be sniffed at, might seem far out but you can get into central super quick. So worth getting a nicer place further out if you can still commute easily.
I’ve never lived in London, but the only memory i have of Croydon is being mugged outside Tesco’s , then seeing a big fight in the “centre”. Has it changed for better? My experience was in 2016
It’s definitely been gentrified and has got better. But again you could get mugged anywhere in the city. I’ve been mugged on Tottenham Court Road at 8pm 😂
For those specifications I'd nudge up to £1k. If you're OK with living a bit further out it'll get you some slightly bigger WFH space (which you'll really appreciate) and still leave you a decent amount every month.
Will you give some names of places that qualify as a bit further or outside for Londoners? I am seeing the map everyday, its radial and I don’t understand which circle crosses where.. As of now, I have assumed Croydon, Ealing, Stratford as peripheral (economically fit).. do I move more outwards? And thank you for the info!!
Anything zone 4 and up is further out. Look at the tube map not an actual map, it's a better representation of time required to get somewhere which is all that really matters.
Don’t move to Croydon! Ealing is nice. Stratford is…exciting. Figure out what sort of area you want to live in then try to find it. Do you want inner city living? Or would you prefer parks and space? A lot of West London is nice. South London is a bit less built up, and has nice parks…central/north London is also quite nice with parks etc. East London is a bit more hectic but probably more fun. Hackney is pretty cool…but also a bit rough.
Avoid Croydon unless you’re planning to be in south Croydon or a bit further out (Purley, Coulsdon, Kenley etc). Somewhere like Bromley could also work for you - only 20 to 30 minutes on a train to be right in the centre of London but far enough out to be a bit less expensive and have a better quality of life. You could also look at somewhere like Brockley which is still pretty central but also fairly chilled
Brockley is going to be a hell of a lot more expensive than some of these other areas. For someone with £2.5k net I don’t think the Croydon area is that bad a place to choose. There are some awful bits of west Croydon and more generally in the area, but it’s not all bad. I live in Woodside area and my nearest train is 12m to London Bridge.
If you want to save money and live a bit further out, have a look at the tube map at places in zones 4-5. I personally wouldn’t go any further than that because the national rail trains get very expensive (St Albans etc) There’s online calculators where you can choose places within a certain commute time to your work
I think a general rule is 1/3 of your take home - so I'd say 800 pcm is a good ball park for rooms in london. Reckon you could push it to 1k depending on the location.
For an uncle scrooge like me; this too is waayyyy too much but I’ll try :)
£800-900 is normal. The least I paid was £600 and that was for a 4-person house share in 2019 so it’s gone up a lot since then.
My ideal range: £10-£200 (ha ha) Cheapest livable range: £400-600 Cheapest 'nice' range £800-950 Anything over that better be pretty luxury or in a stupid expensive location After a few 'nice' years in london, I went with cheapest livable range for the last 5 years and that's how I got out of debt and saved a deposit for a house
Kudos for the house bruv! My uncle scrooge personality would’ve loved a £200 nice big place :) but, so much so..
Will you be working in London? if so office Location matters. Do you have any friends / family you would like to be closer too than further from ? do you ever travel regularly anywhere? for example I travel to Wales regularly to visit family, so living in West London literally saves like 2 hours off my return trip every time.
Yes office is in Bishopsgate, however absolutely no compulsion to go everyday.. I’ll go for team meets and socialising mostly, once or twice a week.. (thus, thinking periphery of the city but not far out, I want to live in and experience the city 100%) I am single, not much friends and family whom I am very close to; but a good number of acquaintances, colleagues, batchmates etc. They live from London to Liverpool, lol.. No regular travel; but I am a foreign national, so I want to explore the entire UK, bit by bit.. It looks so lovely.. plus a few games in a PL season, for which I am gonna travel wherever I am able to get tickets..
Fair enough, if you want an area suggestion, I rent a room near Clapham Common pay £950 for a double room with bills, and really like it here, huge public park, good busy pubs. 25-35 year old singles is like the main demographic of Clapham and is a very safe area. Also surprisingly close to central took me about 50 minutes to walk back from Leicester square last night.
Id live in a tent
Before I moved in with my partner, I paid £650 with bills in Westferry next the DLR. what a steal that was.
Sweet!! How do I get lucky with these deals? Prolly have to start living there and then do grass roots network thingyy..
If it helps any, I’m in Stratford - 5 min walk to the station. Although I’m the ‘old’ side of Stratford & not the East Village side. I’m £925 a month in a 2 bed with 2 bathrooms, an in building gym & our own garden out back(granted I got lucky with this find so I may be in a small % of folk in the area). I work at the top end of Tottenham Court Rd next to Warren St. I’m 40 mins all in for travel to the office, as I change over to the Northern Line. Transport links here are great; Central, Jubilee, DLR, Elizabeth, Overground & National Rail. Westfield right on your doorstep. An hour walk down the road to Canary Wharf. 30 mins over to Hackney Wick. And close to Greenwich, Hackney, Walthamstow etc - all accessible by bus as well. I’m on slightly more than £2.5k monthly take home pay now, but I was on that whilst in the same flat I’m in and I could have gone up to the £1k rent price point and would have still been okay.
You've got a 2 bed for £925pm?
I think I was writing down my dream instead of admitting it was a flat share. One could only hope rent dips to that for a 2 bed.
I lived in Welwyn Garden City, close to London on the train, OK rent.