Coming to London for Grad School

After months of dealing with all of the oh-so-lovely British bureaucracy, I finally found out that I got accepted to the University of London Institute of Education for a one-year masters degree program beginning in September. I'll be relocating for at least a year (and hopefully a bit more) with my wife who is a social worker (fortunately for her the UK is apparently desperate for social workers).

Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself. And if anyone has any great leads on cheap flats in London, I'd love to hear them! (We're still waiting to hear if we'll get offered a spot in graduate student housing.)

Also, where do people go to watch baseball in London? I just know that as soon as I move there, this will be the year that my beloved Red Sox go all the way!

Welcome to UK-Yankee!  I lived in London for fifteen years before leaving for the US.

..... if anyone has any great leads on cheap flats in London, I'd love to hear them! .....

It's great to have a comedian around!    The words "Cheap" and "flats" don't work well together in the same sentence when talking about London?    What sort of price range did you have in mind?

Also, where do people go to watch baseball in London? ....

I'm not aware that baseball is played in London.  Softball is popular as a game to play, you'll see numerous games in progress in Hyde Park on any summer evening; but I don't think that you'll be watching any baseball, unless you count watching on cable/ satellite TV!  

Well, by "cheap," I do mean "relatively cheap." I know that nothing is REALLY cheap in London, but I come from Boston, so I'm used to it. I'm thinking maybe 600-700 pounds per month for a one-bedroom. Does that sound at all realistic? I'm not looking to live in South Kensington or Notting Hill or anything, but I would like to be in or near zone 1. I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has suggestions about up-and-coming neighborhoods -- ones that are maybe a bit funky, and not that pricey YET.

And about baseball, I meant that I want to watch AMERICAN baseball on TV, not to see it played in person. Any bars or anything that show it? Cable channels?

Hi there PJP, welcome.

You can in fact play baseball in London, if you so desire. There is a note about that on the main page, there are organized amateur leagues.

Otherwise, for tv, I've just completed the update to the American programs on TV page, http://www.uk-yankee.com/telly.php, it includes some baseball on a couple of channels. If you follow the link to NASN, they have a list of pubs/sports bars that show their network, you might some baseball publicly that way. Hope that helps.

Well, by "cheap," I do mean "relatively cheap." I know that nothing is REALLY cheap in London, but I come from Boston, so I'm used to it. I'm thinking maybe 600-700 pounds per month for a one-bedroom. Does that sound at all realistic?  .....

I'm not in touch with London prices these days, but I'd say that for a self-contained flat that £600-£700 would be pushing the lower limits.  Try looking at Loot (www.loot.co.uk, I think) as they have a large number of housing ads.  

I'd also seriously recommend looking at a house share, especially if you can find an owner looking to rent out a room.  The cost of housing is so high in London that it is common for 2, 3, or more people to band together to rent a house, or for owners to rent out a room to help make ends meet.  So long as you find a good property with good sharers you'll get much better facilities, more space and/ or get to live in a nicer area than if you go-it-alone.  

I'd recommend that you avoid Elephant & Castle and SE1, both just south of the Thames, and E1 (east of "the City") as although they have cheap housing they are rough inner-city areas, with all that implies.  

Hi PJP, congrats on your acceptance to your masters program.  

I'm currently living in SW London -- Vauxhall. My husband and I share a very very very tiny (no seriously, I'm not kidding, people don't believe me; it's minute) studio flat. Let's put it this way, we can only stand upright in the middle of the flat because it's an attic. We can fit a bed, a table and a desk along with the kitchen fittings (including the world's smallest oven that doesn't fit any of my cookie sheets from the States). We must walk up four flights of stairs to get to said tiny tiny flat. We can't invite people over because we can't fit more than one person, and everyone bangs their heads anyway.  

I'm saying this all for a reason. We pay 650 a month, and I'm panicked that we'll have a rent increase soon. Yes, Vauxhall is still zone 1 (border of zone 1/2 actually) and I know we are lucky. I do recommend my neighborhood, but I am not confident you'll find anything much in your price range (and sorry, we're not moving soon ) You could luck out of course. I think you may have to look outside of zone 1, but, if you can find something on a good bus line the travel costs won't be exorbitent, or too time-restrictive. For example, looking in zone 2 will up your potential housing immensely.

I don't know much about other neighborhoods, but I'm happy to expound on the virtues (and dis-virtues) of Lambeth Council.

Where you look for a place is really going to be based on where you and your wife need to get to every day. If, for example, either of you is working/studying near to a train station, you may consider going further out into the suburbs where you can get something lovely for less, and the trains are (despite my complaining) fairly useable.

HTH,
Tricia

..... you may consider going further out into the suburbs where you can get something lovely for less, .....

I think that if you go further our you won't find anything much cheaper, you'll just get more for your money: space, quality, or neighborhood.

Welcome to the boards!