Location Opinions

Hi folks!

I've recently been offered a job in central London, and will be moving down from Huddersfield - West Yorkshire this September. After a few days of checking flat prices in various London areas, I've come up with a list of places I think I could afford to live. I'll be coming down this weekend to have a look about, and was wondering if anyone could give me their opinions on these areas (or suggest a few others). So far I have Islington, Clapham, Acton and the Maida Vale area (though thr latter seems to be a bit more expensive, and so I'd have to make cutbacks on accomodation size).

I'll be commuting in to Blackfriars tube station most days, and will need available transport of some form or other from central London late at night or early morning (after the tubes stop running). I think my top priority is living in a safe, pleasant location - with a relatively lively environment nearby, and I'll be looking to buy on a budget of around £200,000.

Thankyou all very much for your time, your help is very much appreciated!

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Hi there,

Islington - good location for the city/west end, lively, lots of young professionals, loads of bars and restaurants - quite expensive.

Clapham - trendy area, lots of bars and restaurants, large young professional crowd, can be expensive, tube from clapham common in the morning is a nightmare, not dangerous but not the safest place either.

Acton - a bit further out, cheaper accommodation, not as lively, doesn't have the same feel as more central areas.

Maida Vale - very pleasant area, safe, nice restaurants and bars nearby, very close to the West End.

I used to live in St John's Wood which is next door to Maida Vale, out of the places you've mentioned I would go for Maida Vale, although I'm not sure what you'll get for 200k.

Other areas to look at:
Richmond, Chiswick, Battersea, Putney


Hope that's of some use :)

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Thankyou very much Mogwai, that's exactly what I was looking for! I think Maida Vale would be my first choice, so long as I could find an affordable place I liked.

After looking around a bit more I'm actually thinking of putting off the buying option. I'm tempted to rent for a while, at least until my salary increases or I get to know London for myself. Another advantage is accommodation I can afford to rent (at about £1000 a month), seems far nicer than accomodation I can afford to buy.

I'll most definately pay Maida Vale and St. John's Wood a visit this weekend - hopefully I'll fall in love with the area!

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Very smart way to do it, we rented for the first 18 months until we knew exacty where we wanted to buy. You'll get something much nicer on your budget. Having a decent flat in London makes all the difference - some of my friends tried to save money by living in cheaper areas and ended up very unhappy for 12 months, they ended up spending even more money by eating out every night as they hated the flat so much. Proximity to the tube isn't always that important, make sure you check out the route from the station and whether or not you'd feel safe walking it in the dark. To be honest all of the stations in St John's Wood/Maida Vale are in nice well lit locations.

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