Looking to possibly take an overseas position in London, but would like a little info first if anyone knows.

Yes, I know it is a super expensive city to live....so..

What is a median apartment price to expect to pay there for a one bedroom?

and/or What suburbs or such are around there where people commute to the city?


I'm just trying to do a bit of research, but the internet apartment listings are so skewed and distorted in range.


(Note: I don't want to live in the worst section of town, something low-end to midrange area though)

If you're looking to actually work in London, the best place in the entire country I can recommend is probably Grantham - about half an hour's drive of where I live. Housing's fairly cheap in Lincolnshire, and Grantham has a train station, so people commute from there every day maybe 2-3 hours. (Having said that, house prices the country over are going screwy, so you're likely to have difficulty wherever you go.) Still, I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for, but it works for an awful lot of people around here, so it might be useful.

Oo, sorry, didn't make it clear. The position is in London, via the company I already work for...mainly in their retail side. Not moving then looking for work.

Shiri's spot on. London is hellish expensive. £300-£400k will buy you maybe a flatshare room near any underground, or if you want closer to the centre, a rolled up newspaper under Putney Bridge.

The thing about London is it's easier to get in from outside than it is to travel within it. Any major stop on the GNER line would be quicker door to door than most underground stops or suburbs. Don't choose West or South because prices are inflated way out into the suburbs and you'll end up commuting with the airport traffic. Kent is nice but not many places in fast range of london, maybe out as far as Tunbridge Wells. If you want to live in London, look south of the river, Brixton or Vauxhall way or along the Jamaica Road - there are too few tube stops to make it all that popular and you are only a couple of bridges from the city.

Peterborough is a good place, an hour into Kings Cross and you can get a 6 bed town house for same price as the rolled up newspaper.

Seriously, unless you want to spend all your income on a damp flat and the rest on unfair leasehold charges, look to commute.

Don't buy in Cambridge, students will move in when you are out shopping and eat all your cornflakes.

Where do I send the invoice?

Oh, and if you buy in London, DON'T BUY WITHOUT VIEWING!!!!

All the posh places you see in the films, Notting Hill, Bloomsbury, Islington - are tiny islands of poshness surrounded by inner city filth. It really is dire and if the price looks low compared to others in the same street, it's because your next door neighbour has a 9" steel front door and a sem-automatic.

I live in China, I pay 1/16 of what I used to pay in the UK for things, at the moment with the strength of the pound London is hellish for anyone not from the UK or a place with a similarly strong currency.

London, being realistic, if you can afford to buy a place their, you don't need to work Best thing to do is get to an area outside of London, 30-45 mins away by train with good (in the UK yeah right) transport links.

The other added advantage of this is, you won't be paying the hellish amount they ask for in London, you should come to Stoke, it may be a shit hole, but it's semi-cheap.

What type of salary you looking at earning if you work in London?

Also better to apply for a mortgage if yer gonna live in London and can afford it, if you're staying out here for a few years, when you sell the property the equity you'll make will probably be equal to the amount you earned through work in one nice lump sum house prices in the UK are stupid, why do you think I moved to China?

Chade/Mike

Dude, 1/16? I knew house prices here were horrible, but dyamn, man. I wish I knew German, then I could go to Germany and pay, what was it, 1/8 of the stuff to live while going to university, for the same quality course. I'm so annoyed at myself for learning French instead.

16RMB to £1, costs 2.5RMB for a beer, 4-5RMB for a pack of Cigs, 7-8RMB per dish in a restaurant, about 1000RMB to rent a flat per month.

This is obviously outside of Beijing, Shanghai etc. in the less touristy places, such as Dongying where I live.

It's nice, I can live here for £100 a month, since I don't pay rent, much less if I want too, although I'm living on about 300-400 cause I've gotten used to the highlife, since things are so cheap out here.

Chade

If only I wasn't so obsessive and neophobic I'd never move out of England if it killed me... I would've taken the Mandarin course too, but I was too old by the time it came up