Thoughts on neighborhoods?

Hi there.  My husband and I are moving to London on Thursday and we have a week or so to find housing.  I'm trying to narrow down neighborhoods, but it seems to be really difficult because we really are open to anywhere within a reasonable commute from work and we are both working in central London.  I will be at the London Bridge station and he will be at the Goodge Street station.  Reasonable commute = ~30 minutes.

We are looking for a one bedroom for 250-300 per week.  It would be nice to be in a neighborhood that is near lots of restaurants/shops and things to do as we will be there for only a couple of years and want to take advantage of the time there.

Thanks in advance!

There is a lot to do in that area you will be looking.
Your rent budget is on the low end so it will be easy for you to find something. This means you will be limited in choice.
Check listings on Rightmove. Remember you are in one of the most expensivest cities in the world.

Is that pounds or dollars?

There is a lot to do in that area you will be looking.
Your rent budget is on the low end so it will be easy for you to find something. This means you will be limited in choice.
Check listings on Rightmove. Remember you are in one of the most expensivest cities in the world.

Is that pounds or dollars?
Check this as an example
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-21016586.html

Thanks for the response. 

250-300 pounds per week. We aren't looking to be right near work and are okay living out in zone 2 or even 3.

Unfortunately, in my experience Cheers is correct in saying that £250-300 per week is at the low end for a one bedroom, at least north of the river, which is generally more expensive than south. I’m sure you’ll be able to find a decent place for that amount but either you or your husband may end up with a commute longer than 30 minutes if you factor in walking or a bus ride to/from the tube.

Neighbourhoods along the Northern line would be good for both of your jobs, but it’s often very, very crowded.

North of the river, the Victoria line would also work. Warren Street is very close to Goodge Street (and your husband could either walk or change to the Northern line) and it’s an easy change to the Bank branch of the Northern line to London Bridge at Euston if you’re travelling south.

I’m more familiar with North London some suggestions are:

Tufnell Park, Archway, Upper Holloway, Highgate on the Northern line. Finsbury Park, Stroud Green, Crouch End (though this requires a short bus ride to Finsbury park tube). Highbury and Islington would be great too but it would be a real struggle to find something in your price range in my opinion.

I’m less familiar with South London but Clapham is great but I think you’d struggle to find a good 1 bedroom in your price range.

Good luck. If you need more advice or have questions about a specific area I’m sure you’d get more responses.

You could try East Dulwich (SE22) in zone 2. It's a 20 minute train ride to London Bridge, maybe longer to Goodge Street though. Not sure what age group you belong to, but this is a family-oriented family. Lots of nice restaurants and shops, but be warned about the number of buggies as well. It's a great little community with an online forum: www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk, check out the residential property section and see if there's anything that suits you.

And to give you an idea on prices, my husband and I currently live in a one bedroom apartment in Camberwell (SE5) that costs £250 a week. Previously we had lived in a 2 bedroom ex-council flat in Elephant & Castle for the same price.

Hope that helps. PM me if you'd like help house hunting.

I was gonna add to vchpa's comment, the Kennington train station is close to Camberwell and that station serves both stretches of the Northern Line. It's zone 2, right under Elephant & Castle, just three stops to London Bridge and just straight up for Goodge Street. I also used to live near Elephant & Castle and that area has loads of buses that will take you all over London.

Cheers is wrong £300 a week is totally doable. We're renting a one bed for a garden in Zone 2/3 for less than that.

Just FYI even if your commute is technically 20 minutes on the train, door to door you're going to double that, especially by overground if it isn't regular. I'd try and stick to the tube, buses are the devil for getting to work as you get stuck in traffic.

I'd probably recommend Clapham with that commute, love a bit of Clapham. You'll be standing on the Northern though, but you'll soon get used to it. £1200 a month is affordable in Clapham, you could get a two bed for that.

Something like this -
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-31881706.html?backListLink=%2Fproperty-to-rent%2Fmap.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DREGION%255E85282%26minPrice%3D1000%26maxPrice%3D1250%26radius%3D1.0%23_includeLetAgreed%3Don%26houseFlatShare%3Dfalse%26locationIdentifier%3DREGION%255E85282%26maxPrice%3D1250%26minPrice%3D1000%26previousSearchLocation%3DClapham%26radius%3D1.0%26searchLocation%3DClapham%26searchType%3DRENT%26useLocationIdentifier%3Dfalse%26box%3D-0.20084%2C-0.08480%2C51.41784%2C51.50361%26popupPropertyId%3D31881706%26mapType%3DMap&fromMap=true


Or this -

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-34491899.html?backListLink=%2Fproperty-to-rent%2Fmap.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DREGION%255E85282%26minPrice%3D1000%26maxPrice%3D1250%26radius%3D1.0%23_includeLetAgreed%3Don%26houseFlatShare%3Dfalse%26locationIdentifier%3DREGION%255E85282%26maxPrice%3D1250%26minPrice%3D1000%26previousSearchLocation%3DClapham%26radius%3D1.0%26searchLocation%3DClapham%26searchType%3DRENT%26useLocationIdentifier%3Dfalse%26box%3D-0.20084%2C-0.08480%2C51.41784%2C51.50361%26popupPropertyId%3D34491899%26mapType%3DMap&fromMap=true
15 minutes to London bridge and 25 minutes to Goodge street on the Northern. Clapham common is lovely.
 
If you want to be more Urban, you could go East London like Bethnal Green. Hubs could walk from Tottenham Court Road station (about five minutes) and you could change at Moorgate or Bank for the Northern.
12 minutes for Hubs and 12 minutes for you.

Bethnal green flat - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-25792673.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-32144483.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-21621117.html

Thanks for all of the great responses!  I'll take them all in and start narrowing down my searches.

Do most leasing agents charge a fee for helping you search?  Or do they just charge you after you have found something through them?  My only other experience finding an apartment to rent was in Chicago and typically there is no fee for the renter and the rentee pays the fees, but I don't think it's the same way here..

We are both 30 years old, btw.

Not sure about fees when using leasing agents, but we really didn't want to go through any agencies, so mostly relied on Gumtree and the East Dulwich forum (all rentals there are via private landlords). Initially I had tried to work with agents, but found setting up an appointment to view anything was like pulling teeth.

We've been very lucky with finding our landlord on Gumtree. No weird additional fees, just a 1.5 month worth deposit. Our 1 bed flat also came fully furnished at £250/week.

Thanks for all of the great responses!  I'll take them all in and start narrowing down my searches.

Do most leasing agents charge a fee for helping you search?  Or do they just charge you after you have found something through them?  My only other experience finding an apartment to rent was in Chicago and typically there is no fee for the renter and the rentee pays the fees, but I don't think it's the same way here..

We are both 30 years old, btw.

Letting agents don't charge you a fee to help you search they normally charge an admin fee and a referencing fee per tenant once you've signed for a property, your referencing fee is normally £50 per person and the admin fee around £100 per tenancy. YMMV of course, but that's normally what I pay. You normally pay between 4-6weeks rent in advance as a deposit and a month of rent in advance
I also used a private landlord through gumtree and merely paid a £15 fee for teh tenancy deposit scheme. If renting through a private landlord make sure that your deposit is held in the TDS and you get the certificate.

Be aware you may have problems with agencies because you have no credit history in the UK. Some people have had to pay up to 6 months rent in advance in order to secure a property through a letting agent, so you may be better off trying to rent through gumtree, spare room or similar. Read a lot about it first as gumtree is chock full of scammers (although they are normally fairly easy to spot).
 

Thanks for all of the useful information, Cheesebiscuit.  So, just to be sure, these admin and tenancy fees, they are separate from your rent, correct?  Specifically, these fees are not applied towards your rent?  I see from one letting agency, Davis and Gibbs, that they charge 500 pounds to secure the place and then an additional 500 pounds referencing fee.  This sounds a bit ridiculous when you say it's normally 50 pounds admin and 100 pounds tenancy...

  I see from one letting agency, Davis and Gibbs, that they charge 500 pounds to secure the place and then an additional 500 pounds referencing fee.  This sounds a bit ridiculous when you say it's normally 50 pounds admin and 100 pounds tenancy...

Gulp, gulp

Thanks for all of the useful information, Cheesebiscuit.  So, just to be sure, these admin and tenancy fees, they are separate from your rent, correct?  Specifically, these fees are not applied towards your rent?  I see from one letting agency, Davis and Gibbs, that they charge 500 pounds to secure the place and then an additional 500 pounds referencing fee.  This sounds a bit ridiculous when you say it's normally 50 pounds admin and 100 pounds tenancy...

That's outrageous! The 500 pounds to secure the property should be deducted from the deposit (i.e if the deposit is 1200, you pay 500 to secure the property then on the day you move in you pay the balance (1200-500) and the first month's rent) so check with them on that.
But the 500 for referencing fees is insanity. For two of you, you really shouldn't be paying more than say 100 per person for referencing and maybe an additional 150 as an admin fee, total 350, and that's right at the top end of what I was being quoted when I was looking for flats a few weeks ago. Most agents were 100 for tenancy and 50 each for admin, total cost 200.  And yes the admin/referencing stuff is separate from your rent, however the holding deposit is normally part of your deposit.

I agree with cheesebiscut. For our property in Putney, SW London(this was in 2011)- the fee's for references and admin were £350.
We paid another £500 deposit on the same, which counted towards the two months up front rent we had to pay the day before we moved in.

I would check with other realtors in the neighborhood to see what they are charging- as £500 seems really high!