A Job Oportunity In London??

[jd_1984]

So, I may be offered a 6 month contract to help grow our business in the capital. I would be mostly used for in-house training and some auditing work, stuff that I am used to. I will be staying on my current salary with a 15% bonus paid each month. My working hour would be a Mon-Fri 9-5, something I havent done for a very long time.

I know rather little about the capital. It looks like I would have to find my own digs, commute impossible on a daily basis, will need to be based in London and able to get to and from work with a reasonable commute time.

The company will offer some assistance witn rent and travel expenses (figures to be confirmed) but I think my relatively generous bonus will have to go towards this.

So, where is a good place to start looking. I only need a 1 bedroom place, preferably on a good transport network to the city. I realise I will have to be a considerable distance from the city to keep rental costs down but want to be less than an hour train or bus ride if possible.

As I dont know the boroughs of London well, I dont have my heart set on a location yet.

I will be looking to come home most weekends, 2hours on Virgin and 40min local train to get home on a Friday evening.

Even if I am offered the role, I am uncertain if to accept. But best to have a loose plan just incase.

Thanks

[237SJ]

It depends whereabouts you are going to work as overland trains come into different stations around London and you don`t want to be traipsing across the city when you get there.

[rockyracoon]

237 is right. London is huge and it will make a big difference, also bear in mind council tax will have to be paid for the 6 months, in London it will be expensive whereas just out side of the M25 will probably be cheaper. Also try to stay in the travel zones, once you go out train fares can get expensive. That being said cheaper fares/dear rent may cancel out dear fares/cheaper rent.

Be prepared for a shock with the price of a pint :)

[EDDIE51]

Look around for rental prices first a one bed flat in London even out of the centre can be over £1,000 a WEEK. You will be lucky to find anything under £400 a week.

[EDDIE51]

Look here for an idea of prices
http://www.londonpropertywatch.co.uk/average_rental_prices.html
The cheaper ones go very fast and are likely to be very small.
Remember travel costs need to be added, the 'tube' is not cheap now.

[jd_1984]

I realise the cost implications, price of living etc... I am weighing it up against the opportunity currently. But I may not be offered it! I may not want to be away from home as we are marrying next year and I am very happy at home.
I would be based near Lambeth I beleive, close to the A202 (means nothing to me other than I have lookded on google maps)

[rockyracoon]

Ouch, just seen prices for flats in Lambeth.

[bednobs]

if you were coming home every weekend, a monday to friday let might work out better (basically a room in someone's house)
http://www.spareroom.co.uk/monday-to-friday/

[jd_1984]

:( !!!!

[237SJ]

Ideally, you want to be SW then. Look on Zoopla for rents but if it was me, I would consider taking a room in a houseshare. If you have your own place, you are paying for 7 days a week but will only be there for 4 or 5. The Twickenham/Richmond area is good. Lots of bars/restaurants/green spaces and the river. They are also on faster train lines so you could be home from Waterloo/Vauxhall in 20 minutes (and they are inside the London travel zones)

[rockyracoon]

Looks like you might be close to Oval tube station which is on the Northern Line (tube).

[FredPuli43]

What sort of place are you used to? If you were brought up in Manchester, coming to London to live won't be quite so much of a shock as if you are accustomed to a village.

Travel in London is deceptive. Some places look close to the centre and are but getting to and from them takes ages; it took me longer to get from Westminster to a place in Wood Green, in North London, near Tottenham, than it did to get to Luton. Ideally, you'll be close to a tube station which is on the same line as your place of work, or on an overground one which takes you directly to close to it. The tfl.gov.uk site is a great help in routes and timings, as is the trainline.com for train routes and times.

And get an A to Z of London.

Otherwise it's a bit hard to advise more, without knowing where you'll be required to work

[woofgang]

hmmm unless the offer is going to advance your career or its one you "can't refuse", I'd be careful about accepting that deal. I think you may end up being out of pocket and working more hours.

[rockyracoon]

I agree with the houseshare, you don't want your 15% bump to be used up by living down here, it she be a treat for the sacrifice of living away from your family.

[rockyracoon]

Should not she!

[jenny3]

You could also consider www.airbnb.co.uk (stands for Airbed "n" breakfast. These are private rooms in someone's house/flat, and sometimes just an airbed (as the name suggests) on the living room floor! I've used them a few times, although not in London.

[FredPuli43]

Close to Lambeth ( I missed that when typing). Lambeth itself is quite a big borough. We need to know what street or at least where you'll be near, to give you accurate help. Dependent on that, is what train or tube station you'll be going to and so what lines we need to be looking at.

[jd_1984]

I live in a seaside town and work in Liverpool currently.
I also had a short stint in Paris, found their metro ver easy to navigate after a day or two. I could fit into city living fairly easily but would miss home
I will look at the web pages kindly provided, thanks.

[ladybirder]

Look at Surbiton jd. Bit cheaper than Richmond but very nice and fast train 20 mins to London, or slow train stops near to where you will be working.

http://www.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/surrey/surbiton

[EcclesCake]

The nearest mainline station for Lambeth is Waterloo, there are many lines going out from there that will give you an easy weekday commute and cheaper accomodation than staying more centrally.

The tip about looking for Mon-Fri lodgings is a good one. Many people are happy to have mid week lodgers but prefer having the house to themselves at the weekend when friends and family visit.

[tamborine]

try here:

http://www.gumtree.com/search?q=1+bed+flat%2C+lambeth&category=flats-and-houses-for-rent&search_location=london&current-distance=10.0&seller_type=&property_type=&min_beds=&max_beds=&min_price=&max_price=