Hello,

Another one moving to London within the next month or so. Got offered a decent job (though probably not by the London standard, but certainly the UK standard) with great perks/career progression/etc.

Any advice for moving into London? Is a man with a van the way forward?

The job is in Clerkenwell, pretty central. I’d like to live central, too – I’m only 26 so reckon I can handle the city lifestyle for a year or so yet. Islington, Stoke Newington/Hackney are on my list right now – but not sure if there are other places I could consider.

What other tips do you guys have? Is it worth trying to find somewhere to live that’s possible to go for a MTB ride?

Anything you wished you knew before you moved?

Thanks!

I did the move about 2 and a half years ago (was 26 at the time). I live out East near Wanstead and can ride nearly entirely off road to Epping forest so can easily do 30 mile rides without barely touching a road.
I chose to move a bit further out as I spend Mon-Fri in the city as it is, so didn’t want to move too central (tube in is about 25mins ish).
You may have a different opinion mind, as I moved with my gf.

Clerkenwell is lovely and a great place to work. It’s where I started my career back in 1995.

I lived in Stoke Newington for six years, not far from Church Street and then I moved slightly further north to the border with Stamford Hill. The area around Church St is very desirable and I am sure very pricey these days even to rent. The key issue though with that area is that you’re not on a tube line. As long as you’re only commuting to Clerkenwell you should be fine. The 73 bus (gosh so many memories!) runs very regularly and will take maybe 40 minutes from Stokey. Alternatively it’s about 20 minutes by bike. I used to ride regularly from home in Stokey down to the Elephant and Castle twice a week for training – it used to be an easy ride!

The area around Angel Islington is also well worth investigating. It will be more expensive but it should still be a viable option. I lived there from 1995 to 1997 and used to walk to work in Clerkenwell. It takes maybe 10-15 minutes from there. You can’t underestimate how much value being able to walk to work represents so when doing your budgets, factor that in and off-set it against your rent.

Tube line is important overground is good too

But

Cycle everywhere, always,
get a s/h commuter/ old hardtail, with discs and schwalbe marathon tyres and a chunky lock to leave at work plus a smaller lock to carry around with you
Just assume that every other vehicle is going to drive into you at all times

Do you have showers at work etc
Get some army surplus goretex trousers for the winter

Life is too short to be spend it on the tube
Also night buses (now tube) are a revelation, just get to know the routes and you can stumble out of a club at 4 and be in bed by 5, having met some very random people on the way

North/ northeast London has some great places to hang out and live and easily reachable from clerkenwell

The job is in Clerkenwell, pretty central.

Great part of town. The Eagle is (or certainly was) a great place for grub. Avoid Smiths of Smithfield. Ex-Farringdon worker here.

I’d like to live central, too – I’m only 26 so reckon I can handle the city lifestyle for a year or so yet. Islington, Stoke Newington/Hackney are on my list right now – but not sure if there are other places I could consider.

If I had my time again I’d probably look around Angel, Islington or Camden, possibly venturing further east to be nearer Epping wood and save a little on rent. Loads to do, good travel links and great music venues, should you be interested in that. As it was I lived in Snaresbrook/South Woodford, but in a year only went to Epping a few times; I had friends up the M11 that rode in Thetford most weekends, so that’s where I headed.

However, it ain’t cheap and London seems to be the only place in the UK, other than Oxford, Cambs and Brighton, where property has continued to become more expensive during the recession. Obviously the nearer to the centre you get (or nearer to tube stations) the more you pay for less.

FWIW I used a late ’80s MTB with vees and touring slicks as a hack which was chained during the day on Farringdon Road near the station. I never had an issue, and actually found bike commuting safer inside Zones 1 and 2; outside these the speeds increased and – it seemed – concentration levels dropped.

Also night buses (now tube) are a revelation, just get to know the routes and you can stumble out of a club at 4 and be in bed by 5, having met some very random people on the way

😆

+1

I’d still love to know my route home from Walthamstow dog track, back in 2001.

If you’re prepared to drop your standards substantially then there’s a form of mountain biking to be found in Epping forest in the NE of London, and the Surrey Hills a short train ride to the South. We’re all very adaptable, though, so that will prob feel like real riding after a while.

OTOH, I know a few people who have moved down and maintained standards by switching to road cycling. You might think that the SE is full of tedious shandy-drinking penis measurers, and you would be right, but they do still have roads. And you can ride on them.

I lived in Stoke Newington and cycled everywhere. Used a cheapo 90s MTB, setup singlespeed. Never got nicked. I’d consider a Brompton too, very useful.

However, Stoke Newington is not very convvenient for Surrey Hills / North Downs MTB’ing.

Later lived in Raynes park, and it was a doddle to drive or train to the Surrey Hills, or cycle there across bridleways NCN routes etc. I still cycled to work every day as well. I preferred that.

I never used the Tube. Slow and cramped IMO. Once it stopped inside the tunnel when it was horrendously packed and I nearly had a panic attack. OMG.

You might think that the SE is full of tedious shandy-drinking penis measurers, and you would be right, but they do still have roads. And you can ride on them.

You’ve been to Box Hill then?

As above, great area hugely regenerated from where it was in the 1980’s. Noew that means good bars, restaurants and cafes but rental prices have risen accordingly. Again look at transport options, bike, bus, train, walk and pick acordingly. Remember a rush hour commute can be much slower (and horribly corwded) than the timetable or a Saturday dry run.

Biking – as a long time Surrey Hills resident I miss that, train from London Bridge to Dorking (?) or drive. From Central/South West London it used to take me 45 mns to Newlands Corner or 55 to Peaslake on a Sunday. You could aim for Westcott say. I am sure there are options North of London too of course.

Have fun. London is a great city

I live in the suburban west (Ealing) – I had a MTB but I only ever found the Thames path and Richmond park over this side.

I bought a road bike and never looked back. Once you’re out of the central 4/5 miles you can find some really nice quiet(ish) roads – or even laps around Richmond/Regents Park.

Welcome to the smoke. 😆

P.s. if you decide to commute on a bike – mask up – your lungs will probably thank you and get some liability insurance.

“probably not by the London standard…

… I’d like to live central, too… Islington, Stoke Newington/Hackney are on my list right now “

Unless you want to spend 90% of your income on rent, then forget those places. Everyone and their mates want to live in that part of London. You could be looking at £900 a month for a room only in a shared place. If you want your own flat, then I doubt you’ll find anything remotely decent under £1200 a month, and over £1500 a month for anything ‘nice’.. Plenty of dodgy short-term sublet type places around though, but word of mouth only really. Storage for bike will probably be an issue for you as well. You’ll get much more for your money, the further out you go. If you plan to commute by bike, then check out the main cycle ‘super highway’ routes, and look for places along those. As mentioned, a Brompton is just brilliant for London.

As for actually riding your bike; if you’re 26 and moving to London for the first time, and having a taste for what’s on offer, you’ll soon forget about riding bikes. 😉

For MTB oprtions:
from the north you can get the train to wendover and cycle aston, bit harder to get to chicksands but woburn can go by train as well
epping is OK
swinley by train too
Surrey Hills probably best bet

but i spent most of my time there partying and sunday morning rides took a back seat for a few years

Wow robowns, that sounds amazing. Going to have to rethink where we’d like to live, as I would like to be able to keep up MTB riding.

Angel Islington is think Is topping it right now due to walking to work factors. Seems like there is so much to sort out, quite daunting.

Can’t wait to get some beaten up commuter bike. Thanks all

If you want your own flat, then I doubt you’ll find anything remotely decent under £1200 a month, and over £1500 a month for anything ‘nice’..

Aye yeh well, I’m moving with my Mrs, and potentially even a mate + his Mrs might move with us (long story but time tables coincidentally match) – so a 1 or two bed flat might be possible between 2 or 4 people. £500 each / 2kmo might be able to get us something nice. Rough pub maths brings me in at £600/mo tops to spend on rent and that’s just over a quarter of my take-home (again, pub maths) – I need to do it properly later tonight. I’d like to be able to keep saving whilst in London, and obviously enjoy the place, so i’m wary of extending too far over the 1/4 take home boundary.

If its just me and my mrs we would look at a house share – should be possible with £500/600 each a month (1k total)

if it works with my mate and his mrs we will try and find a flat to get together. So a 2 bed with decent living space I guess.

Plyphon; I think you’ll want to revise your thinking on where to rent. Angel is hideously expensive for anything decent. Moving further out will get you something much nicer for the same money.

This map is a useful guide:

http://www.timeout.com/london/blog/this-tube-map-shows-the-average-rent-costs-near-every-underground-station-092915

It’s nearly a year old, so already a bit out of date. Prices have gone up even more in the meantime. 😯

Thanks clod, decent map, certainly interesting.

I’ve seen listing on Zoopla/Spareroom that fall within our budgets, so not all hope is lost yet!

Wow robowns, that sounds amazing. Going to have to rethink where we’d like to live, as I would like to be able to keep up MTB riding

it all depends how much you want to compromise on either riding or work/city life.
the Surrey hills are the honey pot and much better than epping or anything north, if you want quick access then that means south south/west. having lived in most of the places you list and working in clerkenwell you may like to look at somewhere that is near to the rail routes out to the hills (via clapham junction) but also near the tube line in or overground into farringdon/blackfriars. for example herne hill/tulse hill would get you in to work but also out to the hills. when i lived in tooting it was a few min by bike to jump on the train at wimbledon to get to dorking but also easy to get to work.

By sharing with another couple you’re in a pretty fortunate position. GF and I moved to London last year, but as it was our first time living together we didn’t want to share with strangers so were limited by trying to stay on budget searching for a 1 bed that suited our needs.

What other tips do you guys have? Is it worth trying to find somewhere to live that’s possible to go for a MTB ride?

As above, try and find a place where you’ll be willing to cycle to work every day. Tube/train/bus adds too much stress for my liking.
I get the impression your location for city lifestyle is more important and riding, so that rules out easy MTB riding. Surrey Hills are accessible by trains, but I found it was more hassle than it’s worth so opted for SW London with easy access to A3. I can be on the trails within an hour of leaving my flat.

Yeah, I think the tube/bus everyday would stress me out also. Cycling or walking is certainly the one.

I understand theres some cool greenspaces north east ish that can be nice to cycle a roadie/city bike around?

I lived in Angel for 6 years (2007 to 2012) and kept up MTBing whilst I was there. Used to regularly go to Surrey Hills and also to Swinley, Aston Hill and Chicksands. All by train.
Ride from Angel to Waterloo in 20 mins. Train to Dorking. Then ride up through the vineyards towards Leith Hill. You could be riding within 90 minutes.

Now my time is occupied by family and I’ve moved further North so road riding has replaced MTBing.

from the north you can get the train to wendover and cycle aston, bit harder to get to chicksands but woburn can go by train as well

Wendover = Marylebone
Tring/Berkhamstead = Euston/Watford
Amersham/Chesham = Zone 9 (seriously) on the Metropolitan

You can ride to Aston Hill in 15-20 mins from Wendover (easiest way is probably along the canal, then turn right), 25 from Tring (nearly all on cyclepaths and – erm – offroad footpaths). Good local riding round Berko, Tring and Wendover.

As above the best route out of London to decent riding in the Surrey hills is the A3 which you can pick up in Wandsworth or by train from Clapham or Waterloo. Rents in SW London are cheaper than in very central London and the commute is 20 mins by bike. I do Hampton Court to London Bridge in an hour (ish) by bike, so really anywhere inside zone 3 is easily do-able as a daily and not too sweaty commute and it’s free. Putney, Wandsworth, Parsons Green, Fulham, Richmond etc etc all worth a look and I’d argue better to actually live in than right in the heart of the city. Cheap cabs home when needed 2k would get you something nice instead of a noisy shoebox.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-43177263.html

Nothing to add from plan on cycling around London, it’s unbelievably good

Forget the bus and the tube, cycling is nearly always quicker or nicer, or both

If you’re in a flat and are a little concerned about bike safety, then seriously consider a brompton. They’re actually brilliant

(I live in the suburbs, living in the central areas will be ace but it’s expensive. Really depends on what you want out of your time here)

South London as mentioned is good for access to Surrey etc. Depending on area, rents can be a good bit cheaper. Closer to Gatwick and Heathrow if south-west. North London better for rail links to northern UK, Stanstead and Luton. Travelling with a bike to either of those airports is a lot easier than Heathrow, unless you drive/get a lift. We were in Barcelona recently, 4 hours after leaving our house!

Don’t discount north west London; some of the suburbs there are very leafy and quiet, and a lot cheaper to rent.

I do know of a place in Hampstead that’s about to be vacant for rent; beautiful flat, right next to the Heath. Possibly a little outside your price range. 😯 Some new neighbours have just moved from Highbury where they were paying £2100 a month for a 2-bed flat. 😮

few friends peckham/ beckenham way. good access to kent for road riding. no idea on off road.

I lived in East Croydon- EASY train distance from the North Downs and very easy access to Victoria etc. Croydon for me is a city of two halves. Don’t know if that’d help you?

BTW the Surrey hills is ace 🙂

Expect the rent to be crippling and your flat to be tiny. I’ve concluded that the only people who can live in London are very tidy people, helped by the fact that after rent they can’t afford any possessions anyway.

Surrey hills are nice as is north east Kent.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking “I’ll do it for a few years, save a deposit up an move back out to the suburbs”. The only people I know who actually managed that had a household income of well into 6 figures and then got divorced.

If you want to roll like that I’d imagine that your joint gross income would be 6 figures all in

Don’t forget that if you aren’t saving you’re very likely not to be able to buy if you want to move further out. House prices seem pretty rock solid at the moment

We’ve actually already got a decent chunk of money for our first home. It wouldn’t be a deposit in London, but would certainly work in Southampton where i’m from. That was saved before this all kicked off, so they’ll be another “What would you do with £30k?” thread a bit later to decide where to keep that in the mean time.

So as I said, we have another couple coming with us. Based on a £2k a month flat that’s £500 each, which is 1/4 of my take home a month. That seems perfectly reasonable? A lot of people here saying we won’t find anything we can afford but with the above maths i’m finding plenty of properties in Z2. The flats are decent too – sure, not massive bedrooms, but easily big enough living spaces for 4 people.

I need to see the maths fully through, taking in bills, phone, internet, insurance, food, etc and get a final outgoing a month figure. I’d still like to keep saving, but as I said, we have a deposit already so there’s not a massive pressure to save 15k in one year or anything.

I don’t know the Islington/Stoke Newington area well, but £2k a month seems perfectly reasonable. Paying 1/4 of take home on rent is fine, mine is 1/3. London is expensive if you’re going out several nights a week, but as long as you’re half sensible your outgoings won’t be a million miles away from Southampton so you could continue saving a bit.

I think you’re logic feels fairly sound. By have 2 couples share 2 rooms, it’ll be much cheaper so shouldn’t be a problem. I’d look for somewhere with lots of living space if possible, as you’ll want your own space to be able to chill out (so you’re not living out of each others’ pockets)

If you’ve not lived in London before, then living in London somewhere fairly central will be excellent – you’ll love it

I lived in Finsbury Park for a couple of years, then between Crouch End and Highgate for a couple more. Had a bunch of friends withing a few miles – that was the main reason for living where we did. Loads of green space, loads of great pubs.

Good to be near A1 for car trips out of London, F Park was great for public transport, but not much of a community feel. Crouch End the total opposite.

If you’re in North London, you’ve got nice road riding north into Herts and Epping/Suffolk/North Essex. Waterloo/London Bridge for trains to Surrey Hills are a 20/25min spin across London – quite nice early on a Saturday morning.

Then there’s your bike strategy! Ideally, you want a crappy bike you don’t mind leaving locked up, a road bike and a mtb. My mtb spent most of its time with front wheel off, tucked under a rug in the corner, next to the wife’s. I don’t have a road bike, got a cx type thing that does the job. It’s non-crappy though, so I never left it locked up anywhere for very long. Secure bike parking at work so that wasn’t a problem. Bit of a pain using public transport for evenings out when I had a perfectly good bike!

Now moved out to the hills, swapped the cycle to work for a train commute and trails from the door.

And you should definitely get this book:

”Lost Lanes: 36 Glorious Bike Rides in Southern England.” – more money for author link, but also cheaper, new and used on amazon.

Really lovely book, with great bike rides, 3 in London itself, and all the rest within riding or short – medium train rides of London.

and the Surrey Hills a short train ride to the South. We’re all very adaptable, though, so that will prob feel like real riding after a while.

What a Twonk! 🙄

My mate in Battersea rents his 3 bedroom very close to 2 train stations, bus stop and park for £2k a month. Its taken by 3 sharers.

Look at a buy-to-let, as you say you know Southampton. IMO being out of the property market is a dangerous game.

Good luck.

Yeah – once we’ve established if we like London or not we will think what to do with our cash. Property is the next step once careers/locations are more solid.

If you are working in Clerkenwell, then don’t forget the Thameslink line, this makes parts of NW London and South London very easy commutes. I used to live in North West London and then cycled in the Chilterns at the weekend. I also went to Surrey occasionally but I prefer the Chilterns as I am not a big fan of trail centre type riding.

“So as I said, we have another couple coming with us. Based on a £2k a month flat that’s £500 each, which is 1/4 of my take home a month. That seems perfectly reasonable?”

Yes, you should find something reasonable for that. It’s 1-bed places that can be truly extortionate. You could even go to a 3-bed place for that sort of money, and have that extra bit of space/storage. Bear in mind that most conversions just don’t have any decent storage, so if you have multiple bikes, they will be squashed into your bedroom etc. An outside area is handy for cleaning bikes, and storing them if it’s reasonably secure.

If you are willing to go a bit further out, you could start to see nicer 1-bed flats fall within your budget. Living with others seems ok in principle, but things can change very quickly, and if two or more people fall out, it can get very nasty.

“Yeah – once we’ve established if we like London or not we will think what to do with our cash. Property is the next step once careers/locations are more solid.”

Start saving now, if you want to ever buy anything in London. Tiny 1-bed basement flat near us is going for half a million quid. Some other neighbours recently sold a 2.5 bed place for £750,000. 😯