Renting near the U.S. Embassy (London)

For those of you familiar with London neighborhoods:

Professional couple in their 50s (no kids, no pets, no car) looking for reasonable (less than £900/month) flat rental convenient (tube, train, taxi, walk) to the Embassy (I'm applying for a job there). Seek suggestions as to areas to search?

Thanks! 

Living within walking distance of the embassy will be very expensive.  I knew of someone on expat boards who worked at the embassy but commuted from Reading.  With the tube, really any area of the city is open to you.  Your budget and commute time will depend on where to look.

For those of you familiar with London neighborhoods:

Professional couple in their 50s (no kids, no pets, no car) looking for reasonable (less than £900/month) flat rental convenient (tube, train, taxi, walk) to the Embassy (I'm applying for a job there). Seek suggestions as to areas to search?

Thanks!  

How far are you willing to commute? The US embassy is near Oxford Rd and Hyde Park, by Marble Arch and Bonds Street. I think you'd be very lucky to find a one bedroom flat for under a 1000GBP a month within that area. I can recommend Baker Street, but probably still expensive, however if you can afford it, you'll be near five different tube lines and it's a short walk from Marble Arch.

You can also live further out, but live along the Central line so that it is just a straight ride all the way to work.  Or you can commute from Bonds Street, which is on the Jubilee line, and is about the same distance from the embassy as Marble Arch.

I would check out:

Marylebone
Baker St
Paddington
Bayswater
Queensway (literally a block away from Bayswater)
Good luck

It's a bummer, but 900 a month isn't going to go far in the areas immediately around the embassy.  I live in Marylebone, near the Baker Street tube station, and it's an easy 10 minute walk down Baker Street to the Embassy, but I think it would be near impossible to find something under 250 a week -- looking for places within walking distance might be setting yourself up for a very long, unproductive search. 

However, as rynn_aka_rae said, the embassy is only a short walk from the Bond Street tube station (Central and Jubilee lines), so you could live further out.  There are a whole lot of busses that will get you within a few blocks of the embassy, too. 

 

What sort of area would you like to live in?  What's your max commute time?  That might help folks narrow down a search.

The US Embassy is only a couple of minutes walk from the busiest and most dense shopping street in Europe and the busiest street in London: Oxford Street . It's 1.5 miles long, has 548 shops, and gets 200 million visitors per year... that's an average of 550,000 people walking down the street every day (just a block from the US Embassy) - lots of shoppers, more shoppers and even more shoppers!

It's not a very residentially friendly area to live in, really (I find it stressful enough just visiting that area of London for one day, let alone living there all the time) and it's not cheap. Flats to rent in the Grovesnor Square/Mayfair area seem to start at around £1,500 per month and go right up to about £22,000 per month!

As others have suggested, I would think about maybe living a bit further out and taking the tube or walking to the Embassy. Everything in London is pretty close together so you could live a bit further away from Central London and still get to the Embassy fairly easily.

Hi TLDenise, though I think Mayfair and Marylebone are wonderful neighbourhoods to live, they are prime locations and two of the most expensive areas in the London. In my opinion, it will be very difficult to find a place for £900 anywhere within Zone 1 other than a studio, and that will be tough, and unfortunately it’s getting harder to find anything under £1000 in many parts of Zone 2 as well.

But as others have said, the embassy is centrally located so if you’re willing to commute you certainly can find something decent for that price further out on the Central and Jubilee lines on the tube, the stations closest to the embassy. Green Park is also nearby and that will give you access to areas on the Piccadilly and Victoria lines as well.

As Ophinky suggested, if you let people know what the types of things you’re looking for it will help narrow the search.

Like Ophinky, I live in Marylebone just a short walk from the US Embassy and I agree that in the Mayfair/Marylebone area it will be virtually impossible to find anything more than a bedsit and only if you're very lucky a studio, for 200 pounds/week.  900 pounds/month simply isn't a reasonably budget for walking distance to the US Embassy, however you did say you'd be willing to take the tube so I would concentrate on areas along the Central or Jubilee Line as both go into Bond Street tube station which is the closest tube station to the Embassy.  I would concentrate on Bayswater and anything west on the Central Line and Swiss Cottage and anything north on the Jubilee Line.

Here are some property websites so you can see what's available in your price range in different neighborhoods:

http://www.primelocation.com/
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/
http://www.findaproperty.com/

To check out neighborhoods:

www.upmystreet.com

Hope that helps. 

Sorry it's taken me awhile to get back online to thank everyone for their input, suggestions, etc. You have been very helpful!

I submitted my application to the Embassy today, so fingers crossed.

We'd like a 1-bedroom (ideally, 2) flat; it's just the two of us. Hubby is 6'5" so studios are a non-starter.

He just put in for a job in Chiswick. If he gets the Chiswick job and I get the Embassy job we'll have to sit down with the tube map and figure something out.

We've really been spoiled here in the States (we're repatriating, btw) - we both work for the same employer, ride to work together, lunch together, etc. Will miss that!

Thanks again.

 

If you are looking for a 2 bed around the Embassy or Chiswick, you will need to double your budget.

Did they open the new embassy yet?

Did they open the new embassy yet?

That's true.. they are moving it to Wandsworth aren't they? Definitely possible to rent a 1 bedroom flat for around £900/month in that area.

Did they open the new embassy yet?

They're not planning to break ground until 2013!