London, England housing

[JDD]

I would like some prices on a 3 bedroom apartment or other housing in or around the Lloyd's of London area. Any ideas or thoughts would be welcomed for other areas while working in the financial district.
TIA

[Figment]

Lucky dog.

[Dick Wynne]

Go to rightmove (http://www.rightmove.com). You can find places to buy or rent. I would suggest looking in East London, say Limehouse way, minutes from both the City and Canary Wharf financial districts. Limehouse also has a small marina with the odd interesting boat. The further out you go, the cheaper it gets, of course.

[jlapratt]

A LOT!!!

All kidding aside, I rented a brand new, fully furnished 2 br flat outside Windsor and was paying 1400 GBP/mo. One year lease. I would expect significantly higher in the city.

Enjoy your stay, I sure did.

Jeff

[Thorne]

Two words for ya -- BRUTALLY EXPENSIVE.

Consider living outside London and commuting by train or Tube. Even just near town can triple prices. I spent a night a few months ago at a Holiday Inn within 20 miles of Heathrow and it cost $260 for their cheapest room...cheapest!

If this is on your own dime, commute. If the company is paying for it, get an agent or ask them to pick a temp spot while you look for something more congenial.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Thorne speaks the truth - there can be a hideous collision between expectations and quality of life - or not - it all depends on what you hope for.

You really need to see the lie of the land for yourself - if there is family involved then traditionally their needs come first.

I'd be tempted to look at living Essex/Suffolk and just surviving the commute - perhaps ACB or some other member of the "Friends of the A12" will chime in - Gets you an OK lifestyle and a (barely) tolerable commute - Alternatively you might like to be in London itself, some people do.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

"...in the Lloyd's of London area."

The triangle bounded by Leadenhall Street, Lime Street and Fenchurch Street is known as "The Golden Triangle" and has the most expensive commercial real estate in the world.

I assume you don't want to live there.

Now, being practical (much good advice, above):

1. You can live in the Barbican, which is actually in the City and is in walking distance of Lloyds, (I have a friend who has lived there for years, and likes it - I can enquire of him for details if you like) This is your only option for walking to the office.

2. Docklands. Expensive and to my mind terribly boring. Yes there are some marinas but the Thames is not much of a river to sail on.

3. Elsewhere in London. OK if you like it. Still expensive. the commute by Underground is very unpleasant and will involve about an hour.

4. Outside London. If you travel into Liverpool Street or Fenchurch Street stations both are in easy walking distance of Lloyds and the Golden Triangle.

Fenchurch Street serves South Essex, which is not a tremendously fashionable area (cf "Essex Girl" jokes).

Liverpool Street, a much larger terminus, serves Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. This opens your options enormously - Cambridge is about an hour's journey (but a hellish expensive place to buy a house in!) as is Colchester (a nice sort of town, also with a reasonable University, and close to some very good sailing coastline) whilst Ipswich, the Vale of Dedham (as in John Constable) and the Suffolk wool towns are all "possible" espescially if you drive into the station.

Finally you couldlive in Surrey or Sussex, commute into Waterloo and get to the City via the Waterloo and City Line (aka "The Drain"!

As a VERY rough guide to prices, a three bedroom house in the sort of London suburb that your family might feel safe living in (but nothing at all fancy) will set you back about a million Dollars. In the outer commuting area, prices might be half that, and the quality of life is higher.

[Figment]

3. Elsewhere in London. OK if you like it. Still expensive. the commute by Underground is very unpleasant and will involve about an hour.


It's all relative. Ever been on a NYC subway or the boston T? The London Underground is positively FIRST CLASS by comparison.
I dunno what commuting traffic is like in Florida, but I'll take an hour in the tube over a half hour in my local traffic anyday.

I'll second the reccommendation for the Barbican. I know a number of people who really enjoyed living there.

[Keith Wilson]

As a VERY rough guide to prices, a three bedroom house in the sort of London suburb that your family might feel safe living in (but nothing at all fancy) will set you back about a million dollars. Yipe! I don't think I'll be moving to London any time soon, thank you.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

As a VERY rough guide to prices, a three bedroom house in the sort of London suburb that your family might feel safe living in (but nothing at all fancy) will set you back about a million dollars.
Yipe! I don't think I'll be moving to London any time soon, thank you.

As you might guess the outer fringes of the commuter belt are some way off.
When I started working in London (a while back) I was shocked to find people in the office commuting from Rhyde on the Isle of Wight - five hours of travel time every day. Its not just the people of Barking who are mad.

[Thorne]

Yeah but commutes in the UK are different from the US.

Here if we get a job in a faraway city, we move. In the UK distances are less, and so you see more folks spending the week at hotels or whatever and then returning home on the weekends, or doing horrible commutes as above.

Prices are at their worst around London, and can be quite reasonable (by Euro standards) elsewhere in the UK. I lived outside of Brum in senic Droitwich in the mid 90's and many young couples we knew were homeowners -- at a far higher ownership rate than here in the SF Bay area, where most are renters.

[Presuming Ed]

I would like some prices on a 3 bedroom apartment or other housing in or around the Lloyd's of London area. Any ideas or thoughts would be welcomed for other areas while working in the financial district.
TIA
Well, as has been already said, very few people live in the City itself - some in the Barbican, true, but IME they tend to be traders who need to be at their desks by 6am. The city is fairly dead at night - the pubs close at 9pm, and completely dead at the weekend.

Which leaves commuting. You'll either find the tube tolerable or intolerable. If it's tolerable, you can live withing tube commuting distance of the city - Putney, for example is about an hour or so by tube from the City (door to door). The downside of this is that the closer to the centre of London you are, the more expensive housing is.

Otherwise, it's as Andrew says - train. The drain (waterloo to city line) isn't actually that bad - relatively quick and efficient. About 15 mins from the platform at waterloo to bank station, IIRC.

One thing you might well do is buy a copy of "Watching the English" by Kate Fox. Well worth a read - explains a lot.

Oh, and have a look at www.primelocation.com Will give you an idea about prices. Large drink required first, though.

[JDD]

Thanks for the leads and replies. I will not have any family with me. This will be business partners that require sleeping quarters.