What to consider when finding accommodation in London

What to consider when finding accommodation in London

By Charlotte Crisp

Do you want to make your moving process as smooth as possible? Get up to date with the ins and outs of London accommodation to avoid any surprises. Hear what Charlotte Crisp from Crenns Properties has to say about her first-hand experience with accommodation in London.

Location, Location, Location! 

London is so big that you can spend hours getting from A to B! The underground is a great place to start as the tube map is straightforward to read and the stations are easy to find. Make sure you find a place to live close to a station to try and reduce your journey, ideally less than a 10-minute walk. Once you have mastered the tubes, buses are your next best friend! There is a huge network of buses and often you will find that one single bus journey can be all you need rather than taking two or three tubes; plus you get to look out a window and see London as you travel. Both tubes and buses have announcements to say what the next stop is, so you know when you need to get off.

You will find that Londoners often travel around 45 minutes to get to work. This is a standard commute so don’t be shocked by this and be flexible on choosing the location of your accommodation.

Safety

London is a big city and has some safer areas to live in than others. I am very biased, being a West London Girl as I would always recommend living in West London. My catchphrase ‘West is best’ is close to my heart. It is well known for being a great area by people coming over to London so you will not be the only visitor walking around! All our Crenns Properties houses are in West London so if you would like to take a look please check out our website. A good tip for looking at the safety of your potential new home is to visit the area at night and ask yourself “would I be comfortable walking home every night after work”? West London is a bustling area. You can walk around at 3 am and there will still be people around, making it nice and safe.

What Zone to live in?

London is zoned for transport. Travel in London can be expensive so if you work in Zone 1 but live in slightly cheaper accommodation in Zone 4 you will be spending a lot more on your commute than if you lived in Zone 2. It is worth looking at not only the time it takes to travel to work, but also if you would need to go through different zones! Central London is Zone 1 and then as you go further from the centre you go through the higher zones which spread out radially. It is less common to live in zone 1 as this is mainly for shopping and offices so your aim for living would be zone 2 and upwards. A positive to living in the higher zones is you usually get bigger rooms and more space in the houses. You would also pay a bit less for accommodation the further out you are but then spend more time travelling to work and pay more for travel. What you need to decide is whether you would prefer to be closer to town, in the middle of things, with a smaller more expensive room or further out paying more for travel but having a bigger room. The cost usually evens out!

Shared house or Studio?

London is such a big place it can feel quite lonely so I would always recommend to someone who is coming to London from overseas to live in a shared house when they first arrive. This is a great way to meet people and make friends straight away. Most shared houses are full of people from overseas so a great opportunity to seek advice from other people who have come over to London and meet like-minded people who are here to work, travel and experience London and Europe. The joy of shared houses is you can usually sign up on a short contract and bills tend to be included – this is true of all our houses at Crenns Properties with leases down to just 1 month in length. If you then decide after a few months that you would like to rent a studio then you would need to get in touch with Estate Agents and this would usually be long term contracts of a minimum of six months. You would most likely be responsible for your bills (including registering with the various companies) so make sure you take this into account when doing comparisons.

With these tips, you can get your accommodation sorted now and smoothly move into your new home.

For quality and valuable short-term rental accommodation in London, check out Crenns Properties.