Moving to London - Where to live with secure garaging?
Discussion
Hi folks,
My wife and I will be moving to London in the first quarter of next year and we will be bringing a couple of cars with us. I will be working in Lower Thames St/St Katharines Dock area and she will be Marble Arch area. We are looking at areas around Hyde Park at the moment and seem to have narrowed our preference of property down to Mews houses as I can stick the Vanq in the garage (with power so I can keep it on charge) and she will hopefully have off-street parking infront of the house for her FFRR. I see its the fashion at the moment for the scrotes to steal the FFRR's so I'm a little concerned on that front.
I'm keen to keep my commute to a relative minimum so wouldn't want to be commuting any longer than 45mins where possible. We have friends in the Notting Hill area and we both love Sloane Sq and the Chelsea area in general so we're thinking that would be the place to be. My wife loves to run, cycle and walk so a sensible commute across Hyde Park would suit her nicely.
I just wanted to see if anyone had any other suggestions that we might be missing?
We do love the look of some of these new build flatted complexes with gyms and coffee shops within the building but I'm not so sure how secure the cars would be despite the suggestion of "underground" parking. I have asked the agents I'm speaking to if the car parks are sealed and barrier or gate operated but none are all that sure. They're also not sure if power sockets are readily available for the Aston which is an issue for me. So unless I'm missing something on the underground parking Mews properties appear to be the only solid option that ticks all the boxes.
We're going to rent our home in Aberdeen and will roll that money into renting in London. We're only planning on being here for 2 years or so which puts buying out of the question. Budget-wise I'm looking at £1000-£1250 per week.
Anyway, we're down for a pre-Christmas weekend at the start of Dec and will be down permanently come spring so I would be up for a few PH meets over curry/pints/cars.
Thanks in advance
James
My wife and I will be moving to London in the first quarter of next year and we will be bringing a couple of cars with us. I will be working in Lower Thames St/St Katharines Dock area and she will be Marble Arch area. We are looking at areas around Hyde Park at the moment and seem to have narrowed our preference of property down to Mews houses as I can stick the Vanq in the garage (with power so I can keep it on charge) and she will hopefully have off-street parking infront of the house for her FFRR. I see its the fashion at the moment for the scrotes to steal the FFRR's so I'm a little concerned on that front.
I'm keen to keep my commute to a relative minimum so wouldn't want to be commuting any longer than 45mins where possible. We have friends in the Notting Hill area and we both love Sloane Sq and the Chelsea area in general so we're thinking that would be the place to be. My wife loves to run, cycle and walk so a sensible commute across Hyde Park would suit her nicely.
I just wanted to see if anyone had any other suggestions that we might be missing?
We do love the look of some of these new build flatted complexes with gyms and coffee shops within the building but I'm not so sure how secure the cars would be despite the suggestion of "underground" parking. I have asked the agents I'm speaking to if the car parks are sealed and barrier or gate operated but none are all that sure. They're also not sure if power sockets are readily available for the Aston which is an issue for me. So unless I'm missing something on the underground parking Mews properties appear to be the only solid option that ticks all the boxes.
We're going to rent our home in Aberdeen and will roll that money into renting in London. We're only planning on being here for 2 years or so which puts buying out of the question. Budget-wise I'm looking at £1000-£1250 per week.
Anyway, we're down for a pre-Christmas weekend at the start of Dec and will be down permanently come spring so I would be up for a few PH meets over curry/pints/cars.
Thanks in advance
James
Its going to be pretty block specific, not area specific. My block for example has underground parking with a rolling shutter that you have a clicker for. The private street parking section has barriers at either end with cameras and porters. -And a range rover was still stolen from the private street a couple of months ago.... Nothing has gone missing from the garage that I know of, and there's a lot of tasty metal down there...
I can't imagine that any of the blocks in london that have underground parking will have the entrance wide open. -and your estate agents need a good kick up the backside if they can't be arsed to find out small details like that for you. The main thing though is going to be that even if you rent a mews house, or rent a decent flat, you're only likely to get one space.
I can't imagine that any of the blocks in london that have underground parking will have the entrance wide open. -and your estate agents need a good kick up the backside if they can't be arsed to find out small details like that for you. The main thing though is going to be that even if you rent a mews house, or rent a decent flat, you're only likely to get one space.
Finding a garage where the vanq will fit is the main problem. Most garages which were large enough are converted to rooms. I used these guys for around 2 years http://www.londoncarparks.co.uk/index.php. No complaints - a tad on the expensive side but then they are very secure. I only moved out as I got a single lock up instead. May be going back to them as I have a new purchase which would benefit from being in a larger facility and kept on a trickle. If you find anywhere please do let me know as I'm on the hunt!
The Chelsea Car Club are a good bunch of guys and girls, it's an informal car group with a huge range of members. Don't be fooled by the name, it's very down to earth and a wide range of cars. Drop me a PM and I can tell you the dates of the next meet. There are meets in London but more often than not it's meet in London and drive to some nice roads, have lunch and come back.
The Chelsea Car Club are a good bunch of guys and girls, it's an informal car group with a huge range of members. Don't be fooled by the name, it's very down to earth and a wide range of cars. Drop me a PM and I can tell you the dates of the next meet. There are meets in London but more often than not it's meet in London and drive to some nice roads, have lunch and come back.
Block specific as others have said. I've lived in London for 15 years and been in plenty of flats/carparks at mates places all over. Generally there is a barrier/roller shutter/electric gates on 'secure underground' parking but its still pretty easy for someone to dodge in there behind a car if they want to. Unlikely to find power in such a setup in my experience.
Is it even possible to rent a mews house near hyde park for £1000/week?? I'd be surprised. Some terraces in the East End are approaching that on rental...
Is it even possible to rent a mews house near hyde park for £1000/week?? I'd be surprised. Some terraces in the East End are approaching that on rental...
eastsider said:
Is it even possible to rent a mews house near hyde park for £1000/week?? I'd be surprised. Some terraces in the East End are approaching that on rental...
I was going to say. Sounds unlikely these days. How many bedrooms do you need? For that sort of money you could get a reasonable top floor 3 bed penthouse in a portered block in the Bermondsey / Borough / Tower Bridge / Shad Thames area. It's a really civilised and less snotty area than west london. Most blocks have been built in the last 10 years and have excellent underground parking. 3/4 of the spaces are usually empty with people willing to rent their unused space out for as little as £80pm. You can then have both the Vanq and RR side by side without having to be let down by a) unreliable and b) unsafe street parking.
I'll expand slightly, having actually properly read your post this time... And please take this as you will...
If you're looking to accommodate yourself in the Hyde Park vicinity for £1500pw, you're going to be seriously disappointed by the quality of life that will buy you.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but you'll really feel like you're scraping the barrel. And in London if you're "just surviving" you're going to have a pretty miserable time... Even more so in Mayfair where practically every establishment, shop, bar, restaurant and "resident tourist" is looking down on you, regardless of if you're on £100k pa or £1mil pa. Their decimal point goes a step further, rendering you an absolute no one.
It's a hard point I'm trying to put across, but I work on Park Lane itself and can't wait till 6pm everyday when I can depart Mayfair and get back to more down to earth and fun parts of town. London has much more rewarding parts of town. And as far as the Mayfair restaurants go, yes they are amazing, but they're only a cab journey away from anywhere.
I stand on those locations I have aforementioned. Two final points:
- I'd much rather my wife run along the well lit Thames path at this time of year than in Hyde Park.
- How about Fulham? Much more hip than Chelsea and district line will still take you to Tower Bridge for your job at StKD. Also Battersea park is nearby for running.
- is there a reason you haven't actually considered StKD / Wapping itself? Lovely quiet part of town but would be a longer commute for your wife.
If you're looking to accommodate yourself in the Hyde Park vicinity for £1500pw, you're going to be seriously disappointed by the quality of life that will buy you.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but you'll really feel like you're scraping the barrel. And in London if you're "just surviving" you're going to have a pretty miserable time... Even more so in Mayfair where practically every establishment, shop, bar, restaurant and "resident tourist" is looking down on you, regardless of if you're on £100k pa or £1mil pa. Their decimal point goes a step further, rendering you an absolute no one.
It's a hard point I'm trying to put across, but I work on Park Lane itself and can't wait till 6pm everyday when I can depart Mayfair and get back to more down to earth and fun parts of town. London has much more rewarding parts of town. And as far as the Mayfair restaurants go, yes they are amazing, but they're only a cab journey away from anywhere.
I stand on those locations I have aforementioned. Two final points:
- I'd much rather my wife run along the well lit Thames path at this time of year than in Hyde Park.
- How about Fulham? Much more hip than Chelsea and district line will still take you to Tower Bridge for your job at StKD. Also Battersea park is nearby for running.
- is there a reason you haven't actually considered StKD / Wapping itself? Lovely quiet part of town but would be a longer commute for your wife.
One other are that may suit would be Battersea itself (the park had been mentioned), but easy reach of both Marble Arch and Tower Bridge for work and easy reach of Sloane Sq/Chelsea. Property prices are generally lower than the more highly thought of neighbours, but a good variety of property might tick the boxes - some mews type place do exist (but in most cases garages have been converted), riverside modern blocks, plenty of more traditional stock with garaging in some cases, or conversions of old schools which really do offer a lot of space - bigger units in these often have more than one space, but chances are you can rent an additional space from a neighbour.
What you will find with any gated/secure complex in London, is they are only as secure as the resident's are conscientious regarding security, which is difficult in bigger development - although an on-site porter/caretaker does help. There are often so many people in a development not everyone considers who is coming in behind them.
The concession you may have to consider would be access to a charging point, or an outdoor cover for instance..
What you will find with any gated/secure complex in London, is they are only as secure as the resident's are conscientious regarding security, which is difficult in bigger development - although an on-site porter/caretaker does help. There are often so many people in a development not everyone considers who is coming in behind them.
The concession you may have to consider would be access to a charging point, or an outdoor cover for instance..
If you do end up living west of centre and working out east, then I'd recommend buying a scooter for getting across town.
We're in Battersea in a block overlooking the river, between Battersea and Wandsworth bridges. The underground car park has remote-operated roller shutters. A couple of push bikes have been pinched, but no cars (and there are serveral RRs, a Roller, several Porsches etc).
You'd get a really stunning riverside penthouse for your budget.
Personally, I wouldn't want to live Hyde Park way. AOK puts it rather more boldly than I would, and I don't agree with all of it, but ultimately the sentiment is similar.
We're in Battersea in a block overlooking the river, between Battersea and Wandsworth bridges. The underground car park has remote-operated roller shutters. A couple of push bikes have been pinched, but no cars (and there are serveral RRs, a Roller, several Porsches etc).
You'd get a really stunning riverside penthouse for your budget.
Personally, I wouldn't want to live Hyde Park way. AOK puts it rather more boldly than I would, and I don't agree with all of it, but ultimately the sentiment is similar.
Fenchurch Street station is just a short walk from St. Katherines Dock. 15/20 minutes can get you a fair few miles east close to M25 borders - similar time to drive in/out at quiet times - plenty of properties for your 'buck out there (if you don't mid being labelled with an Essex 'tag')
Secure car parking just off Bryanston Square is easy, so long as you are willing to pay £120 a week for a space. Marylebone will offer some decent flats for upwards of £800 a week but not houses even mews houses which are way more pricey. Great location, good communications and very peaceful all things considered. If you want any help PM me re buildings and agents.
Bit late to the part but St John's Wood is worth a look....there's a garage just off the High St which has 24 hour attendant and places can be rented long term. You can get something decent round there for the OP's budget. On the Jubilee Line so very good for Marble Arch and one change for The City.
Also very close to Regents Park.
I'd never do Battersea if I was working in the places. Best Transport links in London are north of the River.
Also very close to Regents Park.
I'd never do Battersea if I was working in the places. Best Transport links in London are north of the River.
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