Living in the big shmoke...

Verbal · Post by **Verbal** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:26 pm

Well next year sees me go on placement for a year. Now you may see it as a bit premature, but I do understand there to be alot of people located in and around the London area on this site, which is more than likely where my placement would be. My question is: what could I expect to pay per week in terms of living costs (food, bills, rent etc) on average?

Athers · Post by **Athers** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:58 pm

I did a placement in London last year, who you thinking of working for?

I imagine you'll have to get a houseshare of some sort, unless your placement is in investment banking. I'd suggest you roughly set a target of £100/week rent plus your bills. The issue that I found here is that means it's £800 gone in just your deposit and first month before you even start work. Tesco etc. is the same as anywhere but if you're in the City then add 50% to any food and drink you get there.

I lived in the East End and although it was cheap, I'd really advise against it, I would've left had I been permanently based in London. It'll be a pain but you may have to make a couple/few trips to London just to find the right place. Think there are some decent flats on the Isle of Dogs but otherwise on a budget you're looking at perhaps Ealing which is out West, or you could brave Clapham maybe. Basically the closer to the West End you are the more expensive it will be, such as 50sQuiff's former residence in Kensington costing him a fortune.

Good news is that you've got ages to find somewhere, I had 3 weeks!

Verbal · Post by **Verbal** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:22 am

Ah cool - the one I most want atm is a Reuters Journalism Placement, but if not I will probably go with JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, PWC or the like. What did you do for yours?

100 quid sounds reasonable for London I guess...flatsharing is a given as most of my coursemates will be in London too. I just wondered whether there are some definite no-no's and recommendations.

Like I say it is early days - I'm actually only in the process of writing the CV atm - but I just want to get next year cemented so i can worry about the uni work! 3 weeks!?! Christ, they didn't let you hang about!

Athers · Post by **Athers** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:47 am

I used to work for BT in product management, it was in the City of London next to St Pauls and the Stock Exchange. The City boys popping the champagne on Fridays is something to behold, they think nothing of a few hundred quid for a drinks round, different world.

There are some ideas here:

http://www.the-wanderer.co.uk/boards/vi ... php?t=4796

If you get Reuters for instance I know their offices are at Canary Wharf so a Docklands flat would be ideal, though it's not ideal for getting to the lively parts of the West End.

Depends on how much they're paying you really, I wasn't on good money for my placement. I know Goldman pay an undergraduate £30k which isn't bad is it. May be worth clubbing in with some coursemates and finding somewhere rather than moving in with randoms, it's a weird world down there...

I applied late for my placement and the team I joined were too late to recruit themselves a graduate so I got straight off what was basically a graduate job for a year. They only interviewed 2 candidates for the position and I got the job offer as I was getting off the train in Manchester, the other guy must have been shocking

Verbal · Post by **Verbal** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 1:15 am

Yeah, I heard Goldman Sachs give you a £2k 'golden handshake' too. Bit different than working a fiver an hour!

Cheers for the info mate, sure it will come in good stead

enfieldwhite · Post by **enfieldwhite** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:09 am

Verbal wrote:Yeah, I heard Goldman Sachs give you a £2k 'golden handshake' too. Bit different than working a fiver an hour!

Cheers for the info mate, sure it will come in good stead

If you're going to be working in the city, you could do worse than renting around Enfield. I know I would say that, but I speak from what I know. The town has a good variety of nightlife. It's the greenest borough in London. It's served by 2 mainline stations, both of which are 20 mins or 30 mins into Central London (Liverpool Street and Kings Cross) Houses start from around £500 pcm.

Soldier_Of_The_White_Army · Post by **Soldier_Of_The_White_Army** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:13 am

I live in Oxfordshire, in a town filled with people who live here but commute to London to work each day. The average rent here is between £600/£700 a month.

Fxcking outrageous!

Yet being in the Army, I live in a huge three bedroom Semi in the nicest village in Bicester and pay £80 a month rent

Has it's perks does the army

Batman · Post by **Batman** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:40 pm

Getting bummed in the showers is a downside though

Soldier_Of_The_White_Army · Post by **Soldier_Of_The_White_Army** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:54 pm

Batman wrote:Getting bummed in the showers is a downside though

Better then getting fxcked in the ass by the goverment every month fella!

Batman · Post by **Batman** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:55 pm

Not as gentle either I would bet

Verbal · Post by **Verbal** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:57 pm

enfieldwhite wrote:
Verbal wrote:Yeah, I heard Goldman Sachs give you a £2k 'golden handshake' too. Bit different than working a fiver an hour!

Cheers for the info mate, sure it will come in good stead
If you're going to be working in the city, you could do worse than renting around Enfield. I know I would say that, but I speak from what I know. The town has a good variety of nightlife. It's the greenest borough in London. It's served by 2 mainline stations, both of which are 20 mins or 30 mins into Central London (Liverpool Street and Kings Cross) Houses start from around £500 pcm.

would you say 500pcm is reasonable pricing for london? The area itself sounds ideal.

I'm paying 290pcm at the moment, and I thought that was a bit steep!

enfieldwhite · Post by **enfieldwhite** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:08 pm

Verbal wrote:
enfieldwhite wrote:
Verbal wrote:Yeah, I heard Goldman Sachs give you a £2k 'golden handshake' too. Bit different than working a fiver an hour!

Cheers for the info mate, sure it will come in good stead
If you're going to be working in the city, you could do worse than renting around Enfield. I know I would say that, but I speak from what I know. The town has a good variety of nightlife. It's the greenest borough in London. It's served by 2 mainline stations, both of which are 20 mins or 30 mins into Central London (Liverpool Street and Kings Cross) Houses start from around £500 pcm.
would you say 500pcm is reasonable pricing for london? The area itself sounds ideal.

I'm paying 290pcm at the moment, and I thought that was a bit steep!

Not bad for a house. Which you could share.

Flats are obviously cheaper.

Check out Atkinsons Residential / Haart/ Antony Pepe / Bairstow Eves. All local estate agents.

Good luck

50sQuiff · Post by **50sQuiff** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:16 pm

Verbal wrote:
enfieldwhite wrote:
Verbal wrote:Yeah, I heard Goldman Sachs give you a £2k 'golden handshake' too. Bit different than working a fiver an hour!

Cheers for the info mate, sure it will come in good stead :)
If you're going to be working in the city, you could do worse than renting around Enfield. I know I would say that, but I speak from what I know. The town has a good variety of nightlife. It's the greenest borough in London. It's served by 2 mainline stations, both of which are 20 mins or 30 mins into Central London (Liverpool Street and Kings Cross) Houses start from around £500 pcm.
:shock: would you say 500pcm is reasonable pricing for london? The area itself sounds ideal.

I'm paying 290pcm at the moment, and I thought that was a bit steep!

Anything under 650pcm is cheap! If you want to live alone and go the 'studio' route, you can expect to pay that anywhere central. It felt awful to be paying so much for so little though. Sharing changes everything: me and the missus pay 1340pcm for a flat in what is probably the nicest part of central London, Little Venice. It's a lot, but it's a fantastic place to live.

Verbal · Post by **Verbal** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:37 pm

*bump*

Right, I finally appear to have my placement sorted working in Westminster. Are there any student friendly areas in and around here for living, or ones which are within commutable distance?

Lord Kangana · Post by **Lord Kangana** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:55 pm

Some general advice:

West London is f*ckin expensive, East is a feckin sh*thole(and the transport links are painful), North might be your best bet (northern line go to westminster?I forget).

South of the river from where you are isn't too bad; used to have a reputation, but I worked there for a while, and have visited several times since and all seems good - maybe Clapham et al would be commutable (remember travel costs in your equations - you HAVE to use Public in London)

The lucky thing about working in W'minster is its fairly central, gives you options..

(can't be more specific, left London 4 1/2 years ago, and the place moves on fast!)

malcd1 · Post by **malcd1** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:11 pm

I'd rather eat my own ear wax than move to London. Mind you with the prices being quoted that may just be what you will be eating. Does ear wax have any nutritional value?

I have a large box in my garage if you need one. Lets say £80 per week should sort it.

That doesn't including living in my garage by the way as the commute from Bolton may not be worth the hassle.

spraggy · Post by **spraggy** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:21 am

First - choose an area you want to live in. North or South of the river is your first decision.

Second - buy a copy of the latest 'Loot' (or search online). Here you will find hundreds of rooms available in flatshares.

I lived in North London (Finsbury Park, Islington, Crouch End) for ten years and never paid over £400 per month to rent a room in a shared flat. However, bills and council tax are expensive.

If you're going to work in Westminster then anywhere in zone 2/3/4 will be a not-too-bad commute.

Third - get a bicycle. The only way to travel in London.

Fourth - join the London Whites

Abdoulaye's Twin · Post by **Abdoulaye's Twin** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 1:12 pm

Some have already mentioned bits but here is my advice after 15 years of moving around London - apologies if it sounds obvious!

1st, decide what your priorities are:

1. Easy commute?
2. Nice area?
3. Close to lots of bars/pubs etc?
4. Easy access to other parts of town?
5. Close to big supermarkets?
6. Close to outdoor spaces/parks?

and so on...

For Westminster it is on the Jubilee Line and District Line. Some places maybe to consider:

Willesden Green - zone2/3 on the Jubilee Line. Approx 20 minutes to Westminster
Pros - easy access to central London and work. Jubilee Line is generally one of the better tube lines. Near to West Hampstead and the Czech bar! A few stops from Baker St and Regent's Park. Also, you are near to Wembley so easy access for the Play-off Finals next season!!!

Cons - Not the most asthetically pleasing on the eye, but for your budget there are far worse! A bit close to Neasden which is a shitehole!

Ealing - zone 3 on District and Central Lines. Approx 35 minutes to Westminster
I don't know Ealing that well but from what I know it is an ok place. A bit further out but not too far.

Other areas that may or may not fit in budget that are easy to get to Westminster -

Hammersmith
Ravenscourt Park
Finchley Rd

Stay clear of East London - lived there a few years and its shite. If you don't mind nearer an hour commute then Barnet and Enfield are good.

price in London will depend on the houseshare itself. The more people you share with generally the cheaper it is. A big houseshare could make a more expensive area more affordable. Good places to look are Loot and Gumtree - http://www.gumtree.com

I pass through Westminster every day. It takes about 20 minutes from Chiswick, however, you'll be lucky to find anything near budget there. If you can then I highly recommend it. Lots of green space, shops, bars and restaurants. close to town and lots of good looking women

Hope this helps a bit...

Verbal · Post by **Verbal** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:37 pm

Cheers guys

gumtree looks like it could come in very useful. Thanks for the info!

David Lee's Hair · Post by **David Lee's Hair** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:48 pm

Just look at the google links on the bottom of the page

Connect with your social network account

Living in the big shmoke...

Living in the big shmoke...

Who is online