Moving to London - Culture Shock!

Moving to London - Culture Shock!

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Lee540

Original Poster:

1,586 posts

144 months

Tuesday 18th March 2014
quotequote all
Hi all,

At the moment I live down in Cornwall by the sea.. however, last week I accepted a new job in London so as of 28th April I shall be there..

Quite scary, whole new way of life I think..

Temporarily staying with family in Surrey but its 25 miles to work and I have to take the train as no parking at my office.

I shall be working in SW London, south of river, just across the Hammersmith bridge. Any tips on finding reasonably priced accommodation? what is parking situation like?

Other than that, I'm massively excited.. been planning this move for a while.

Thanks

Lee

//j17

4,480 posts

223 months

Tuesday 18th March 2014
quotequote all
No mention of family so I'm assuming you're on the younger side and so happy with a flatshare. If that's the case then try places like www.spareroom.co.uk for somewhere to live.

Parking - not that great in London but you will quickly discover you don't really need a car most of the time.
Newer builds are more likely to have allocated parking spaces or underground car parks. House conversions and you are in to the on-street residents parking permit free-for-all.
Expect to see a bit of an insurance premium jump over Cornwall too!

Lee540

Original Poster:

1,586 posts

144 months

Tuesday 18th March 2014
quotequote all
//j17 said:
No mention of family so I'm assuming you're on the younger side and so happy with a flatshare. If that's the case then try places like www.spareroom.co.uk for somewhere to live.

Parking - not that great in London but you will quickly discover you don't really need a car most of the time.
Newer builds are more likely to have allocated parking spaces or underground car parks. House conversions and you are in to the on-street residents parking permit free-for-all.
Expect to see a bit of an insurance premium jump over Cornwall too!
I have a fiancée who is staying in Cornwall for another 12 months to complete her degree. I still need my car for the 600 mile round trip to see her every couple weeks, I don't need car for commuting around London. I have bicycle or public transport.

Car insurance currently £250/year.. it is whatever it is.. not bothered to be honest, I'm being paid considerably more than I am here in Cornwall.

I am 26 years old and want to experience it before children, settling down etc..

Thanks for links!

okgo

38,031 posts

198 months

Tuesday 18th March 2014
quotequote all
You're likely to find lots of flat-shares in Hammersmith/Shepherds Bush area, added benefit being you could walk to work from Hammersmith, and its fairly well connected so you can get about from there.

Expect to pay 6-800 for a decent double room in a niceish flat probably with bills on top.

If it were me I'd try to be around Addison Gardens area of Shepherds bush as its nice, and walking distance to everything, but might be more costly.

The other option is to live down Castlenau, which is the long straight road leading up to Hammersmith Bridge, though many of the houses are huge and owned as whole houses (5 million quid jobs) some are split into flats, and rooms etc, but bit further from shops and the rest if you're there.

Parking will be permit I would imagine, not likely that expensive, good thing of being around that area is you're pretty close to escape via the Westway up by BBC and the prison etc, or not far to M4 at Chiswick.

Lee540

Original Poster:

1,586 posts

144 months

Tuesday 18th March 2014
quotequote all
Yep, I am expecting.. not looking forward to the high rental costs.. currently renting 2 bed, mid terrace with garden and allocated parking for £595/pm in Penzance, Cornwall..

I'm sure I'll be fine though and me and my girl will buy a house in 12 months.

More importantly, car things happening in London/Surrey? I'm temporary living near Brooklands/MB World.

Shaoxter

4,075 posts

124 months

Tuesday 18th March 2014
quotequote all
okgo said:
If it were me I'd try to be around Addison Gardens area of Shepherds bush as its nice, and walking distance to everything, but might be more costly.
Yep that's a good suggestion. Just don't live on the other side of Shepherds Bush! (i.e. towards Shepherds Bush market or White City). What you have to realise about London is that one street can be totally different from the next.

V1DL3R

560 posts

129 months

Tuesday 18th March 2014
quotequote all
Brentford is nice and quite cheap. I live in Grove Park which is nice and.... parking is free! SheBu is good but as someone said can be rough - around Askew Road is quite nice and reasonably prices. Then Hammersmith is good for connections but more expensive.

AOK

2,297 posts

166 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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Lee540 said:
Yep, I am expecting.. not looking forward to the high rental costs.. currently renting 2 bed, mid terrace with garden and allocated parking for £595/pm in Penzance, Cornwall..

I'm sure I'll be fine though and me and my girl will buy a house in 12 months.

More importantly, car things happening in London/Surrey? I'm temporary living near Brooklands/MB World.
ace cafe won't be too far away... There's a monthly meet for most favourite Marques. What's your field of profession if you don't mind saying?

Lee540

Original Poster:

1,586 posts

144 months

Thursday 20th March 2014
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I forgot about being close to ace cafe... Missed their kawasaki day last year.. My area of profession is architecture

carphotographer

500 posts

195 months

Tuesday 25th March 2014
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I don't think you're get any free parking in Hammersmith, but there is on road residents parking which you pay for.
A lot of people do cycle ( I know people who cycle from Weybridge to the city every day :-0 ) and my dad spent 20 years commuting by train to the city by train.
The Thames has a good towpath that is popular with cyclists too, Putney and Richmond are within a easy bike commute.
Car events .... as said Ace Cafe, but there's a large Pistonheads gathering at MB World and there's always something happening at Brooklands.
The Boat Race will be on your doorstep and always worth a watch too.

Lee540

Original Poster:

1,586 posts

144 months

Wednesday 26th March 2014
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Cheers for comments,

Commute is sorted, combination of train and motorbike.. getting old man to bring up my ZX7R and I'll swap it in for something new like a Yamaha MT-07..

Cycle would be on brilliant sunshine days only and perhaps only once a week.. 20 miles each way to double what my legs are used to!