Bats in the belfry, windows are jammed - London flat renting, deposits & landlords

i thought it would be wise to ask the locals being you folk....

when i move to london around august.......how much ROUGHLY would i be looking to spend per month on rent for a double room in a decent area? i dont mind if its like 20 or 30 mins cycle from the city center, what price range would i be looking at?
decent area mind...... just one where i dont have to worry about sketchy folk every night.

£400-£600 a month. May or may not include bills:

http://www.gumtree.com/london/north-london-double-room-flatshare_70_1.html
http://www.gumtree.com/london/south-london-double-room-flatshare_69_1.html

Monthly price = (price per week x 52) / 12

^^ what Hars said (and budget for a kidney or spare limb).

thats bloody expensive.
i couldnt afford to pay more than 400 i dont imagine

does anyone want to rent me a room?

If you are charging £20 for a hand job down one of the busier slippery cobbled back passages around King's Cross - you would only have to knock off 10 tourists a night / 2 nights a month to hit £400 take home.

Think about that, if you can forget all your ridiculous notions of self-esteem, dignity and self-worth you can cover your rent for a full English month with only two nights of violent sexual degradation.

I normally listen to Private Dancer by Tina Turner on my Sony Walkman cassette music player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTG2X3M6V8A

i like your work

Go single room

and / or go to a "less nice" area

and / or live further out.

You say you don't mind living 20 -30 min from the city center but where abouts in the city center do you want to be 20 - 30 min away? I live in the zone 3 /4 border s.e London and I can get to London bridge in 20 min, most of the time it takes me 30 min but 20 min is not impossible. It then takes me another 10 -20 min to get to where ever else in central London I need to go (longer if I had to get to the west side of Hyde park), so technically I could argue that I am 20 min from the city center but really if I tend to need to leave 40 - 50 min to get to somewhere in central London.

If you throw in a couple of 'specials' (for instance a 'brown holiday' or 'around the world') you are most likely looking at a garden and an indoors toilet.

Think about that.

tynan, have you just got in from work?

tynan, have you just got in from work?

I work from home.

Just clearing up.

I live in the zone 3 /4 border s.e London and I can get to London bridge in 20 min, most of the time it takes me 30 min but 20 min is not impossible. It then takes me another 10 -20 min to get to where ever else in central London I need to go (longer if I had to get to the west side of Hyde park), so technically I could argue that I am 20 min from the city center but really if I tend to need to leave 40 - 50 min to get to somewhere in central London.

what areas do people suggest then?
i dont know london too well, hardly to be honest, ive been once for a week and stayed in peckham.

it's really hard to suggest areas, cos the place is so big and it depends what you like.

the first thing is do you want to live north or south of the river?

to be honest, even thats a hard enough question.....whats the pro's and con's?

Do you know where you will be working (or studying)? North, south, east, west, central London if so what side of central London N, s ,e ,w? Place your self on that side of town for ease of commuting.

i dont have the job sorted yet, i was going to work some shitty job whilst it gives me time to look for a better one.

how much do you pay if you dont mind me asking in "zone 3 /4 border s.e London"

Ooh I'm after a similar thing... want somewhere in london (4+ bedroom house ideally) to rent between me and a few mates. Needs to be far enough out of the centre that getting outside of the m25 by car won't be too much of a PITA (I need to commute out monday mornings). Not too pricey (is <£500/person/month realistic?). Any reccomendations for which areas to look?

I pay 300 but live with my girlfriend in her flat, I would not live where I am if it was not for my girlfriend.

Brockley which is zone 2 s.e I think there was a room advertised on here not long ago going that way that was 330 - 350 ish including council tax in a sheared house. I would try to keep within zone 2 if you can especially if you're new to London, much better for your social life / meeting people plus will make it possible to get a job on the other side of London with out having a mammoth commute. If I suddenly got offered a job in Hamersmith for instance it would be 15 -16 miles each way for me and I would have to give myself 1 hr 15 min to get there reliably every day so I would not have to race every morning.

You'll hear a million opinions of people telling you to live north / south /east / west and it'll be difficult to work out where to go. Try and work out what you want in an area as far as amenities what kind of atmosphere you would like e.t.c Don't stretch your self too thin financially though, a flat mate of a work colleague is having a terrible time because he will not except that he can't afford to live in Highgate. He is working all hours and still having to live on baked beans but is too much of a snob to except it and move out of the area.

Where are you moving from?

cheap, nice, and central isn't gonna happen!
at the moment, i pay 450 a month for a nice double room in a pretty small flat but it's really central (5 mins walk to tottenham ct. rd.)
i'm looking for somewhere cheaper now as it's just too much for me as a student.
i would move northeast to hackney/manor house/dalston/etc, but my uni is northwest so the commute would be a bastard.
me and my gf are looking for a boat to live on, but if we can't find one, we'll probable move to willesden/kilburn/swiss cottage/etc.
it's really confusing looking for places when you don't know you're way round london and don't know the areas, there'll be plenty of good advice on here though.
also, one thing to bear in mind is that the further central you are, the more expensive the shops are too. so you're food can cost you a LOT more even if you get a good deal on rent.

of the centre that getting outside of the m25 by car won't be too much of a PITA (I need to commute out monday mornings).

Just make sure you are living on the side of London you need to be driving out of. i.e if you need to drive out to Bristol make sure you live in west London near ish the A4 / M4 if you need to head to Stanstead make sure you live north east London near ish A12.

Just make sure you are living on the side of London you need to be driving out of. i.e if you need to drive out to Bristol make sure you live in west London near ish the A4 / M4 if you need to head to Stanstead make sure you live north east London near ish A12.

This is the issue - its consultancy so I could be driving anywhere in the UK. Makes me think somewhere NW would be best, but my mates are looking for places near clapham :/

if your not too fussed about where your living camelot guardians is worth keeping an eye on, rent is dirt cheap and includes all bills, and some people get some really cool buildings (met a bloke who had an old school in brick lane with massive halls and stuff) i think it costs like £40 a month or something stupid cheap.

http://www.camelotproperty.com/home.php/b/gbr-en/content/102/130/

Clapham you could hit up the A316 I think then M3 or A3 to the M25 not too bad but it get very bad around Richmond. The west side of the M25 is worse heading north from Surrey to Heathrow than heading south from Heathrow to Surrey in my experience. Any where around the M1 / M25 intersection is very bad for traffic at the moment because of the lane widening they are doing but it's due to be finished by September this year I think and is on schedule. Between the A/M4 and A/M40 would prob be best for you I would guess then you could get south west, west, north west and north with out much trouble, only really a hassle to head to Kent or Essex then. Eailing is alright as is Acton.