London accomodation

Excellent! Thanks for the recommendations I will look into them.

Banking, I am 24.

I do not want to commute more than 30 mins to be honest. What about areas like Aldgate, Marylebone, Kensington? Are these areas with good social/night life?

And what would you say would be a reasonable rent?

Thanks!

U think a 20 min commute from Clapham is a good option?

I back this 100%, I love the place & everything you said is true, but it definitely is not everyones cup of tea, so to speak.

True, my cousin is renting a place there, it's actually pretty nice and very cheap for LDN standards! like circa £650/£700 a month! Shoreditch is key, Queen of Hoxton is a cool and Fabric will be re opening soon!!

Thanks for ur feedback!

How's Aldgate east? I've seen its really close to Aldgate, but some of my friends said some very good things about it

For your first time in London I would pick Aldgate over Clapham (although the vibe is good there). In Aldgate you are close to the office (you could go to work with a 5mins bike ride or 20-25 walk) and you are also really close to the east-London action of shoreditch and sorroundings

Oh and this is for a one bedroom/studio.

Look around Russell Square. There should be a decent selection of studios for the price range, though as you say the quality won't be that great when you're on that budget

Why Not live off the Northern Line? Camden area is a fun, eclectic area to live in. Jump on the Camden High street Northern Line and you'll be in the square mile within 20 minutes.

Goldman are going to pump you hard, so you'll never have time to appreciate a nice flat anyway. The last thing you need to deal with is tubes. I lived in Southwark last Summer and it's a walk into work that wakes you up without knackering you out.

Hahah, did you really think no one's going to figure out you'll be at Goldman from the location you described!!

I'm going to be working near Bank so I'm going to be looking at Islington, Russell Square, Shoreditch, Tower Hill docks (Wapping), Farringdon and Barbican. You could walk or take a bus from any of the above. If you're looking for a single studio and in the city, you may have to increase your budget to around £250/week excl utilities. On the Central, check out Shepherd's Bush, its a good area and you could get a 'cheaper' deal there. I'd also consider Putney, i know someone here will probably point out that its the suburbs and almost Surrey, but its 30mins on the District Line to Temple/Mansion House stations and you can get a good deal for £200.

Someone mentioned Camden and Southwark. I would personally steer clear of Camden; I stayed there for about a year- the place was very rowdy and my flatmate got mugged and lost his iPhone. Have also stayed in Southwark - some kid got stabbed (and died) on the street corner next to where I was staying. But hey that could happen anywhere in London.

Yea Camden is shady at times, but if you leave around the edges of Camden Town (ie: border of Primrose Hill and Camden) you can be down to the City in 25 minutes, live in a nice place real close to what some would call "a real beehive of activity".

Honestly have no clue how much it costs there though, as when I lived there I didn't pay rent.

start a shared flat that way you can actually live in a nice neighbourhood. you will only use the tube in the morning (asuming you are in IBD) so at night the car takes you home and your costs wont be much. 200 per week is cutting it a bit close but i recommend all the northside of hyde park (lancaster gate all the way to notting hill gate) or south ken, sloan square and the likes. you can even find studios there but more in the 250-300 per week range. check gumtree.co.uk

yeah you wont be inside of the place a lot but believe me it will relax you a lot more if you have a nice place in a quite area as opposed to some rotten flat in camden.

Thanks a lot for the advice. Seems that a lot of people think that 250 per week (excluding bills) is a more standard price for a first year analyst?

I'll check out the areas mentioned. Quite liking the sound of around Russell Square/Bloomsbury area? Though might just be out of walking range. Also thanks acs and GBB for the more westward Central line suggestions, since it's quite a few stops I didn't realise that even Lancaster gate to Chancery Lane is only 10mins tube so that becomes more viable.

I lived in Russell Square and walked to the LSE pretty much every day, which is about 10 minutes from Goldman. Depending on where around Russell Square you are, it should be about 25 minutes to GS once you learn the shortcuts. I really dislike taking the tube in the morning because it is crowded and you have to add in buffer time for delays. Of course, walking you have to deal with rain, but it isn't as bad or frequent as you'd think.

@Drexel - Will you be working in London or the US when you graduate? I'm not sure if that was you but there was someone on TSR a while ago with a similar username as yours who had accepted an offer at UBS London. That you?

No, I don't use TSR. I work in London though.

well if you work in IBD the tube is mostly empty when you go to work so no hustle really. and the 15 minutes to go to chancery lane from somewhere in central london is really not bad. canary wharf rides suck though, agreed.

a good walk in the morning has its benefits i can see that too.

GBB_19NHS:

well if you work in IBD the tube is mostly empty when you go to work so no hustle really. and the 15 minutes to go to chancery lane from somewhere in central london is really not bad. canary wharf rides suck though, agreed.

a good walk in the morning has its benefits i can see that too.

Unless its in Hackney or similair

haha well if you dont mind having no sleep and substituting that with walking then there you go.

£200 a week for a studio is gonna be very very tough to do, youll have to up to £250 per week or live further away from the office.

Someone mentioned Islington earlier, avoid.

Sharing with someone will greatly lower your cost, and for 250 per person you could find a pretty nice place.

^ Well to each his own I guess. I live in Angel/Islington right now and I quite like the area plus its comparatively cheap, I share a decent 2 bed apartment for £180 incl utilities (no council tax, still a student).

Other good areas to try are St John's Wood (You can get a very decent place if you share for about £220-250) and Marylebone-Paddington (avoid Edgware Road)

Well Canary wharf is technically in Essex ;-) But its handy, if you go towards the city rent is more expensive. If you go away from the city its a lot cheaper.

So you can easily move to the cheaper area's but still be within a very quick commute. It's only if you're considering west london when it gets to be a pain.

Check out Wapping really nice place.

I live in Wapping at the moment and don't really like it though there r nice places here. I can walk to work in the city though in around 20 minutes which is nice.

One important pount to consider is that the tube station is being shut in December so you would have to take the DLR from shadwell (really not a very nice area) to get to work or the bus so is that your thing?

Tequila wharf in Limehouse is pretty nice I'm told by some bankers and is easy access from Limehouse to the city and the wharf, again not the nicest area though.

I used to live in Canary Wharf when I worked there and some really nice propery is available - check out Ontario Tower and New Providence Wharf, pretty nice apartments with gym, swimming pool etc built in but the place is depressing at weekends - also a pain to get back to from central london.

Hope this helps!

Are there villages/towns nearby, e.g slough equivalents...and accessible by train. The canary wharf properties are incredibly cramped and prohibitively expensive..more than 400 gbp per week for one bedroom is just too much. Any idea about specific areas in docklands??

BTW when u say not a nice area is it crime or development/amenities. Its crime and the hoodies that bother me for most part, rest is not much of a problem when you leave at 9 and come back at 2...

How old are you. Presumably if you are looking to buy at 250k then not joining as an analyst? The problem with canary wharf is that it's dull and surrounded for the most part by shitholes. Anybody I know (all renters) who lived near there to be close to work have moved westwards and put up with a longer commute in order to live in a nicer and more lively area.
Also why would you want to buy at the moment. The jury's still out on a crash but property is definately peaking and you can rent for way less than the repayments on the mortgage for the same place. There is nowhere in any half decent part of London that you can find a decent 2bed for 250k which isn't in an ex local authority block.

Live anywhere on the Jubilee tube line. You'll be fine!

Knightsbridge Belgravia Notting Hill Chelsea South Kensington

They're on the wrong end of london for CW. The thing about london is there are council flats in every area so they can make the place look cheap or dodgy. I own a place in limehouse, it's a nice area. Tequila wharf isn't the best - but if you're new to london its fine.

All the flats will be cramped unless you move out to zone 3 or 4. You're better off renting with someone else. I rent my place out for 1400 a month, its a 2 bed flat. Room's are very large (its not a new build).

Basically once you get in with someone else your money goes so much further.

Canary Wharf isn't in Essex, it's in Zone 2, London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Gosh, I couldn't stand living in C. Wharf - my mate lives in Southwark.

I don't see the point of living in chelsea if you're working in C. Wharf because that would be an awful commute and swinging your residential dong around doesn't really make that much sense as a first year.

where is the suburb that most young singles live in? I'm not too interested sharing a place, i am looking in zone2-3.

obviously, i would not want to pay more than 150GBP/wk.

Angel/Clapham/Earl's Court

Angel/Old street is probably best because it's lively and pretty trendy with a good mix of people but still v. close to the city and c. wharf. Though you wont get a 1 bed for 150. Basically if you want to live on your own with a budget of 150pw you have to compromise on something because you can't find a place that's in a nice area popular with singles, away from scumbags, and in easy commute of c. wharf for that price. As others have said, if you lived with another person then you could. Otherwise you'll probably need 200pw min.

Oh haha OK...well I think CW has a bit more class than Essex. For the Americans, the "Essex" people are a bit like Bridge and Tunnelers.

I need a place to live, as I'm moving up from my student flat in S London. Is Bermondsey OK? Seems to have some nice flats but doesn't seem like much is going on over there.

Bermondsey Street,next to London Bridge tube station,is a a lovely and trendy area to live in.There are few developments of lofts in old warehouses that seem really cool.And there are some parks and a lot of cool cafes..

Concerning the area called Bermondsey(which is a bit more on the east of London Bridge,direction Canada Water)I haven't heard good stuff;personally I wouldn't live there.

Otherwise Limehouse is quite nice and convenient,Shadwell sucks.

So you actually want to live outside London? Well you should probably look in Kent and Essex if you'll be working in CW. There are actually nice places in London, but it is a city. It's no more a shithole than Manhattan in my opinion. And crime--umm you won't be surrounded by crime in any well-off suburb outside of Zone 1.

I'm in Angel -it's pretty money, but the bars close at 11 which sucks balls - but shoreditch is around the corner and that is open pretty late.

Angel is mad fun, and so is the womans

with all these hypes, how do the non-bankers normal population survive in london? it seems even with 37k it's quite difficult to make a living... where do normal graduates live? or how do they live?

They live in houses with 3/4 other people paying 500 a month and they actually have to think about their outgoings. As for IB - 36k gives you 2200 net/month, enough to live on in my opinion.

I'm only starting in July but aiming for 750pm max sharing with a friend, so 1500 for 2bed. Had a look in easter hols and saw some decent places for that price. A few of my mates who are already working at banks pay approximately that so I've got my figures from them. Was thinking about spending less but thought what would you do with an extra 150 quid a month. That and I want to feel like I'm moving up in the world from my shit student accommodation situation, would rather not have to live in a "party house". How about you, how much do you pay/plan to pay?

Yup once you live with 1 other person everything else becomes managable. As for other graduates and so on - I don't know. I never met anyone in London that didnt work in a bank!

Thats why the place is so boring :-)

try imperial college housing...

if he wants to live in zone one, the only shot at 500 is in college accomondation. Usually a room in a flat (shared) in zone one starts at around 600-800....

THere are studios for 500 but I would not recommend them! It should make you curious that the average studio in zone oine is approaching 1000 so any offer for 500 might have serious shortcomings.

Summarising: college rooms, spend more money, move to zone 2. Those are your option id argue

LSE bankside house is close to the city, as well as King's College's. You can try Nido spitalfields too. But they're all A LOT more expensive than 500 quid per month, and I don't think they will still have rooms available. More like 200-300 per week. There is another college residence in the old street area, although I don't remember which, google it. For 500 a month you won't find anything rat-free int he city. Although if you are in MS or some other of the banks in the canary wharf area you might find smth cheap and close. If you can't spend more money just look for a place that has direct tube line and go to a cheaper area. Like I said Canary wharf is not far, so if it's a direct tube line it might take you 15min.

500pw is going to be impossible in central london, especially on a short term let.

Start thinking 800plus in decent shared flats in central london.

Have a look into university halls those tend to accomodate short term lets and are somewhat more affordable.

500pw is going to be impossible in central london, especially on a short term let.

Start thinking 800plus in decent shared flats in central london.

Have a look into university halls those tend to accomodate short term lets and are somewhat more affordable.

DON'T go to NIDO, its a total rip off... False marketing, you don't have internet because it doesnt work 90% of the time, you dont get heating even though there are radiators, most of the drains dont work and they dont even bother to fix it... so you get a room with no internet, heat and lots of flooding..