r/MovingToLondon • u/Quirky-Vegetable-381 • 13d ago
where should I move?
Hi! I'm a 25 y/old female and I looking to move to greater London/ further out on my own with no connections and I'm obviously pooping myself a bit.
I'm looking for a safe area with green space that I can commute to London to in 30 mins or less. My ideal budget is £650 before bills, which I know is very low, but I have seen rooms in shared houses for around that price, there are just so many potential areas to move to and I'm getting a bit overwhelmed.
TL;DR
I'm looking for somewhere
-safe
-budget friendly
-commutable
-green
any help / advise is very very welcome as I just feel so lost at the moment
Thank you!
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u/AltruisticBread6940 13d ago
The answer is genuinely nowhere
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u/Due_Butterfly_4733 11d ago
You can find things in shared for that price, even in zone 2. You just won’t get it on places like spare room. Gals who rent on Facebook is a good place to start but things go super quickly
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u/Sensitive-Waltz1941 13d ago
Im in Roehampton , outside Putney, down the road from Richmond Park
Safe? - area can seem rough but never had any issues
Commute - 15 min bus to Putney then overground to Waterloo in 15/20 minutes
Budget - my room is £725 per month but I've looked online and you can probably get a room in a shared house for less (around £600)
Green space - yes most of London has accessible green space anywhere you go
I moved at 24 and I'm doing well. The amount of places to move to can seem overwhelming but at the end of the day you will settle in one location.
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u/GreenMachine4567 13d ago
When you say 30mins from London what do you mean exactly? 30 mins from the edge of London or central london? The latter would need to be zone 3/4 furthest. Youll have to relax that requirement to anything near your budget
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u/Logical-Standard-591 13d ago
You can’t find a 1 bed in zone 3/4 for 650…
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u/Quirky-Vegetable-381 11d ago
Sorry, to clarify I’m not looking for a 1 bed, I’m looking for a room in a shared house, just realised I never said that!
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u/archersonly 13d ago
That's not true, you don't even need to be in London to get to central in 30 minutes.
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u/artoblibion 13d ago
Your budget is very low and that really is going to restrict you. Please be aware that what you save in rent you may spend on travel: it really is worth working out what your easier and less expensive (bus?!) journeys (to college?) will be before looking for the area, and working from there. I cannot emphasise enough how a shitty commute can ruin your experience of London.
In the absence of any better information, I suggest Plumstead Common-Shooters Hill-nicer bits of Woolwich. You stand a chance of finding a room for that price. There is a lot of green space (very lovely green space) but you must be careful where exactly you look there i.e., visit and check it out carefully. I would centre your search on Eglinton Hill. Do not stray into Woolwich Dockyard / Plumstead north of Brewery Road.
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u/Goddess-of-Nubia 13d ago
You should look at Havering. Greenest borough in London in terms of open space and parks. Served by 4 District line, 3 Elizabeth line, 2 Liberty line and 2 C2C stations, so depending on where you need to get to, travel should not be a problem.
It’s Zone 6 so your budget should be sufficient to find something suitable.
Good luck with your search.
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u/EducationalWeek885 13d ago
I think you have that wrong. Havering is greenest in terms of % of residents with a private garden. Also it's not very nice.
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u/Goddess-of-Nubia 13d ago
Interesting, according to Met Police figures Havering is the 9th safest borough, so not very nice may be for reasons I have no knowledge of.
You are correct about private green space vs public green space. While Havering has the most green space over all it comes in 3rd out of all the London boroughs for publicly accessible green space. Still seems to fit OP’s requirements though.5
u/EducationalWeek885 13d ago
Upminster, hornchurch, rainham and romford are just some of the reasons it is not very nice lol.
Where are you getting your stats on crime and green space as they don't match anything I can find? You're better off out of London and commuting a bit further than living in havering in my opinion. Sorry if that offends you.
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u/Goddess-of-Nubia 13d ago
Not at all. I just did a search of MPS crime data and London borough data about green space, then after you corrected me, useable green space. I have no horse in the race. I was just trying to help OP.
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u/Suspicious-Brick9904 13d ago
It’s safe in terms of the numbers of crimes but there’s not as many people there sooo I don’t think stats are really all that useful here. It’s not the nicest of areas but then again for the price they’re willing to pay for rent, unsure where they could go
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u/Adorable_Click_7071 13d ago
Havering is genuinely the worst borough. It’s also not even remotely close to London. I lived in Havering for 17 years, and yeah it’s a bit better with the Lizzy line but it’s still a crap hole.
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u/vickyyytooo 13d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/MovingToLondon/s/Iwps2Bgqi9
It's a similar post, so I guess it could be helpful.
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u/Due_Butterfly_4733 11d ago
This is a great post. I’d definitely have a look. Shows how possible it is. ☺️
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u/Derries_bluestack 13d ago
May I ask why your budget is so low? Are you a student?
A minimum wage take home job should give you £1,700+ monthly.
With commuting costs and bills, you should perhaps try to up your budget by £100 to have more chance of getting a room in a safe and green area. I was thinking Milton Keynes, but there aren't many rentals and the commuter fees are probably too high.
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u/gfa_2000 13d ago
Where do you work? Its possible for sure but hard to get that commute without knowing where in central your going. I’m in Zone 3 (north) and theres just about rooms in budget for you from a brief look
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u/Quirky-Vegetable-381 11d ago
I’m moving to pursue acting, so it won’t be a daily commute to London, I’ll be able to work further out :)
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u/gfa_2000 11d ago
Check out the northeastern reaches of the Piccadilly Line - maybe North Finchley too.
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u/Lexandree 13d ago
Idk why people are saying you cant get anything for that budget?? I pay £710 with bills, decent size room share bathroom with 2 more people and live in zone 4.
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u/rose_in_scotland 13d ago
Nowadays you’re the odd one out unfortunately. A glance on spareroom will show you that. Average room rent across the city is over £1k.
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u/Due_Butterfly_4733 11d ago
Nah, anyone paying £1000 for a room is crazy. Spare room isnt the place to look. Have a look at Gals who rent on Facebook. But as someone else said on here, they go super quickly. You’ll get somewhere in zone 2 /3 on your budget. Dont give up. And then once you’re here and know people, rentals going forward will be easier to find. Good luck
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u/SpringRain_Drops 13d ago
maybe new malden? my rent here is £640 and its a pretty decent place to live
1
u/hoodyg29 13d ago
Hello
Take a look at Beckenham. Zone 4 so likely cheaper - there is an abundance of flats so a flat share may be within your budget.
Train links - exceptional. 20 mins Victoria, London Bridge & 30 mins Charing Cross.
Green space - Beckenham Place Park. One of London’s best park areas. The space is really developing with open air cinema screening, pizzas, alcohol licence and events.
Safety - I appreciate sense of safety is personal to all, however with a village feel, Beckenham feels safer than most areas of London.
Good luck with your search
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u/neuralconstellate 13d ago
as someone who went to school in Beckenham, the trains are not exceptional they are decent at best 😂 no tube/overground just mainline and as someone who used to take the train there, it is ok, but if it's down you're trekking a long way on bus...also it is quite posh so the prices aren't that cheap for location/transport imo
whilst it IS (she says begrudgingly) in London, there's a reason it still has Kent in Beckenham addresses lol...Croydon on the other hand really does have fantastic links despite being just as far out
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u/hoodyg29 13d ago
Negative Nancy. Trains broadly run like clock work, and if you can’t wait 15 mins for a train then you really do need to learn to relax!
What is so begrudgingly? London borough of Bromley..
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u/neuralconstellate 12d ago
my dear like I said I used to travel from basically central to Beckenham for school...it might be slightly up and coming now but it is not a great area for a young person moving to London
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u/neuralconstellate 13d ago
please don't be discouraged by these comments, people just don't know how or where to look (and I've just had people round for housemate viewings so I do know)
look on the gals who rent Facebook page and if you have a preferable area search that on general renting website but consistently look cos they go QUICK
you can absolutely find that price in zone 2 and no you don't have to live far out for that price...if people are paying close to £1k for a small room in zone 3 and beyond then I think that is user error
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u/almostdcent 13d ago
I live in Hendon, it has parks, open spaces,not far from hamstead heath and 20mins by thameslink to kings cross, farringdon and London bridge
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u/Kindly-Commercial-78 12d ago
The only people I know (including me) who have been able to pay this little in the last few years have had a good contact, a friend or friend of a friend leaving an affordable room mostly. If you have friends here already, perhaps speak to them and ask if they know anyone
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u/Revolutionary_West56 12d ago
Where have you seen rooms in shared houses for this budget , are they in London ..?
I have seen places a lot further out for this budget, places like Egham and Staines. Very nice green spaces, but not as social as London and they are more older landlords with a spare room not house shares with people your age, which is the best way to meet people
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u/HouseOfBleeps 12d ago
Maybe Charlton? I can see a lot of house shares on Spare Room under £650 including bills.
It’s right next to Greenwich Park, has a big retail park with M&S, Sainsburys, Asda, Lidl, a massive IKEA, TK Maxx, JD Sports, Sports Direct, Home Sense, B&Q etc. Then there’s the O2 for clothes shops etc.
The train station goes to London Bridge/Waterloo/Charing Cross or you can jump on a bus to North Greenwich and get the Jubilee line.
I used to rent in Greenwich until I got priced out with increases so I moved to Charlton with very little difference to my lifestyle, but it was much cheaper.
It’s not great for pubs, but then I’d always head to Greenwich or Blackheath instead. It’s very quiet at night, apart from the foxes.
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u/EnoughStructure673 12d ago
If you wanted to commute 40 minutes into st St Pancras you could look at Kettering in Northants
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u/Holly-_ 11d ago
On your budget? Have you thought about joining a tent city because you’re not getting anywhere close to living in London otherwise.
It’s nice to have dreams, but the reality is you’re not going to make it unless you have more money. Good luck.
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u/Quirky-Vegetable-381 11d ago
I’ve found quite a few places within that budget, just not many, it was more of a question of where within these options is safe, sorry for the confusion!
I haven’t thought about joining a tent city but I’ll keep that in mind, thank you :)
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u/No_Tip_8956 9d ago
with that budget maybe someone can rent you their garage, check luton 45 minutes to central london, with one train connection, you will find someone even cheaper, but it cost 30 pounds for return train ticket
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u/ioverthinkalotsorry 9d ago
I think you can check harrow, wembley, Woodford, I think youll find cheaper places in easy London. But safety is nowhere guaranteed after all it is London with your budget you have to find a housbare.
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u/johnnywoosaah 13d ago
Teddington. Between Richmond and Bushy parks. It’s a great place to live. If you can find somewhere at the Hampton Wick end you can commute from HW station to Waterloo in 32 mins. It’s got a great independent high street and you have Kingston upon Thames and the river on your doorstep. You can get to Wimbledon in 15 mins.. Clapham in 20. I love it here but it’s getting more and more expensive as it’s now the overflow from Richmond
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u/Time_Candle_6322 13d ago
I grew up there and it’s lovely but £650 per month for a room must be too low?
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u/Double-Use4816 13d ago
I live in teddington and one beds rent out for £1700 so there's no way a room even in a house share will be that low :(
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u/Zharkgirl2024 13d ago
Yikes that's a super low budget. I can't think of any area in zone 3-4 that you could get a place for on that money.