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1) There is nowhere great to live in the City without paying extortionate rent 2) It is literally a ghost town at weekends
Assuming you're working near / on Fleet Street, there are many places which are less than a 20 minute commute away. You have St Pauls, Blackfriars, Chancery Lane and Bank and most of the City is within a 5 minute walk from any of those stations. You can go east (Westferry, Limehouse, Shoreditch), west (Hammersmith, Bayswater, Oxford Circus), southwest (Westminster, Fulham, Pimlico) or south (London Bridge, Clapham) and find much better places.
The 'City' is actually a very small area with very little housing. You can live in Zone 1 for no more than £700 a month on rent and have great access to social areas, better value and better transport links.
On a side note - I am looking for a new place in Zone 1 with great transport to Fleet Street area for September, pm me if interested.
The London Bridge/Borough area (what you call the Shard) is cheap and within walking distance across the bridge. Borough market is practical for breakfast and food shopping. Gets livelier during the day in the weekend. It's a trade off between living in a nice place but taking the tube, or not taking the tube; personally (especially if working very long hours) I'd go for walking to work and taking a tube/cab on the 1-2 nights I need to go elsewhere. Not a bad M&A dorm :P
There's actually quite a few places... Spitalfields has quite a few localised spots where you can live and then there's obviously Shoreditch. Barbican is actually rather expensive, IMHO. If you're willing to go further east and take the tube, there's even more value.
Barbican is expensive so definitely head South or Southwest. I'm moving back into the city too so PM if youre still looking for a place.
Just don't live in the City. Expensive. Too near to work. Completely dead on the weekends. No one else lives there.
If you want somewhere practical and affordable, go east - check out the new builds along the DLR (Westferry, Limehouse, etc). Also try Angel / Old Street / Shoreditch / Aldgate - used to be great value, have gotten considerably more expensive, but still better value than anywhere out west. London Bridge / Bermondsey also worth a look. Borough is ok as long as you're in between Borough tube station and London Bridge. Stay the hell away from Great Dover St / Old Kent Rd / Elephant & Castle.
Aldgate East- woolhouse
2 years ago I'd never have ventured in Shoreditch at night with a suit... maybe it's changed since.
DLR towns (Limehouse, Westferry stretch) are very quiet and suburban, some dodgy characters followed me a few times, but nothing like the stretch between Limehouse and Bank, Shadwell is an especially interesting zoo even during the day. The river walk to the Wharf is pretty nice during the day.
On the other hand the DLR is absolutely jam packed at commuter time and the Bank stairs alone (to get out of Bank) will put you in a great mood for the rest of the day (I guess the escalator must be fixed by now?). Bus is a bit better but much, much slower.
Thankfully, the Bank escalator is finally working. And the DLR is nothing as bad as the Central line. Especially when we get a heatwave over summer... ugh... utterly horrendous.
Going out in Shoreditch in a suit is still a no-go though.
I used to live near London Bridge only at that time rent was really very low,and where you live now is really very expensive.You will get flats in low price near London bridge.
This x1000000. I currently live in the Westferry area so have the joys of BOTH the DLR at Bank and the Central line....
PM'ed you Asatar and FinancialNovicell.
For anyone else. I will be starting to work in the City in September and I am looking for a flat. So if anyone is interested in a shared Flat PM me.
Just make sure you live near a tube station to make your morning commute easier. Hammersmith is nice/affordable. South Kensington is really nice as well, with lots of great little bars and restaurants.
Thanks for the advice..
What agencies are best? I've been told Foxton and Styrling Acroyd
And then for internet searches: Gumtree, Rightmove, Easyroommate, Spareroom .. any others?
Be very careful around Foxton's....
Don't do Fulham. Trust me, it isn't worth it. Unless you're a young family, then it's nice. (Sister lived in Fulham for two years and regretted it.) Shoreditch is trendy. Hammersmith is convenient but lacking in night life. I would personally live in South Ken, Marylebone, or Sloane Square.
What level are you joining and how much of a sweatshop is your place? In your first year you ideally wanna live as close as possible to the office you'll be in the office all the time anyway and every minute saved on the commute is a minute more sleep.
Should be quite busy.. the team has very high deal flow.. so I have in mind a few tube stops away max?
One of my friends recently recommended Shoreditch as well.. but how exaggerated is it to be careful of wearing a suit in that area? I'd be taking a taxi home at night and I guess it wouldn't be shady in the mornings?
Also, how are the neighborhoods just west of the City.. such as near Holdborn or Chancery Lane?
yeah most of the places mentioned arent the nicest areas to live in but are conveniently located and give good value for money. It all comes down to you but I always thought living in a nice flat/area was more important than being close to work and/or saving a few bucks a month (arguably though in your first year living close is probably a high priority).
If you think you can make it work try bayswater, notting hill, marylebone, st johns wood or south ken/sloane square
foxtons is alright, otherwise just go into the area you are looking at, find the real estate agents and just go into their offices and see what they have, literally a day per neighborhood and you should be able to find something nice.
btw shoreditch is perfectly fine, quite trendy now, would not worry at all about wearing a suit tbh
Tbh I'd live walking distance if you think pull be working loads, 15min is a good time to take. If you are close to blackfriars area around Westminster is pretty nice to live in
Shore ditch absolutely fine. Find previous comments frankly hilarious. It's full of city workers these days. Holborn and chancery lane are not residential areas. It sounds like you would be best off checking out angel and surrounding area.
Hi mate,
If you're interested we are currently looking for a couple of new roommates in an apartment of bankers in Marylebone -
Check out the pics/details here:
http://www.spareroom.co.uk/2763128
It's a really nice flat/area so just give a message through spare room if you're interested at all!
Heard there are some cheap flats in The Shard going.
P.S. This thread is ridiculous. I really like Knightsbridge, get a flat there, you're a banker after all....
agreed
Agree that there are merits to having more sleep, but just wanted to add - if you're gonna be starting as a first year in a sweatshop, do NOT let anyone know how close you live to the office. Unless you really want to be the number one pick for every spontaneous weekend fire drill.
I don't know why, but people actually do this kind of shit (usually Europeans?). When I was in my first year, there were guys in my class paying £1,400 - £1,600 a month on rent (not from wealthy families, not getting subsidised by parents). The best part was that it would be for some tiny one-bed apartment overlooking Hyde Park. I'm sure they enjoyed the view when they got home at 3 in the morning on most days...
Hey! I paid £1,600 a month for my studio flat on the banks of the Thames overlooking the O2.... Wasted wasted money.
So bull market
London Analysts - Working in the city (Originally Posted: 05/09/2014)
Is Bloomsbury a good location for analysts working in the City?
bump
London - living south of the river (Originally Posted: 05/29/2014)
Hi there,
what's your opinion on living in the area North of Lambert North Station, North of Borough Station, around London Bridge and West of Bermondsey (you can draw an imaginary line on the map to see the exact area). Rates for flatshares seem pretty reasonable from what I've seen after a quick search on spareroom.
How's this area? Is it safe? What about the bar scene? Ok for someone in his mid-twenties?
Thanks!
Anyone?
Closer you are to the river, the nicer and pricier. So; W/ of Bermondsey, N/ of Borough St & N/ N. Lambeth. I prefer closer to London Bridge, Borough Market ftw. Bar Scene is pretty shit except around Borough Market/ River Edge nice pubs. If you want to check crime go to police.uk and enter postcode. Im just south of Borough - bit of a shit hole, sketchy as fuck at night.
It's cheap because it is south of the river: characterized by more immigrants and higher crime. But, the image is much worse than the reality, how much time are you really going to spend at home anyway.
Working in London (Originally Posted: 04/11/2007)
I have a summer internship with a $5 billion Hedge Fund of Funds. I will be working from June-August.
Can anyone give advice on housing in London? Will I need to get a work visa or can I travel as a tourist? Anything else I should know about London?
Thanks
You'll be changed on your annual projected income in the UK, I believe. Thus your tax bite will be correspondingly higher. I believe there's a form to fill out beforehand to avoid this problem, but don't remember what it is - does someone else know?
Well a work visa would be handy...
The easiest places to live for students are university halls of residence. Try LSE, King's College, and Greenwich University (if you're working in Canary Wharf). If you're getting paid you will need a work visa--isn't your company getting that for you?
Although the firm has a decent size of money under management they do not have a large number of employees. I think I might be their first summer intern from the United States. When I asked the CEO if I need a work visa he told me to look into it or just come over as a tourist. If I do that will I still be able to be paid?
um, you can't just 'come over' and 'work as a tourist.' That is mad illegal. You definitely need a work visa. Any tourists state when entering the UK they will not work for any purpose whatsoever. Now, if he pays you under the table, that's another story. The only thing is, if you put it in your CV, then how can firms background check you if you don't have an official pay check.
Dude, get a visa and apply now.
mate you need a work permit immediately. As much as I would enjoy heading to San Francisco on "holiday" and take an internship to experience california, I imagine the U.S. government wouldn't be pleased. Query the legal department.
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