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Ghetto Living in London; how low can one go?
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Deicide



Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1005
Location: Caput Imperii Americani

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 11:19 am    Post subject: Ghetto Living in London; how low can one go? Reply with quote

In 2008 I will likely be heading off to London for postgraduate studies. London is ridiculously expensive and thus far I have only experienced it as a tourist. Now How ghetto low could I go? in terms of sterling. Could I get a flat with 10 square meters, a bathroom and a fridge for 150 sterling for month? What about food; ghetto tunafish in water and canned bean, etc. So if I were to live like a total ghetto *beep* how much do you reckon I would need per year to live in London? London experts, this is of course a question for you so if you can help me out with guestimates I would be very grateful...cheers all, D

Last edited by Deicide on Sat Feb 03, 2007 3:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
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chiquitita



Joined: 13 Aug 2003
Posts: 37

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 12:03 pm    Post subject: Re: Ghetto Living in London; can low can one go? Reply with quote

Deicide wrote:
Could I get a flat with 10 square meters, a bathroom and a fridge for 150 sterling for month?


Please tell me this is not a serious question?! 150 a week, yes. 150 a month. No.

Where in London do you want to live? And have you considered sharing a flat? I found rent a killer in London. The cheapest I lived in was about 300 a month and that was sharing with 3 other people. My boyfriend and I were in a one bedroom in zone 3, just the 2 of us, and that was about 800 a month. Add up the transport costs per month as well. Or buy a bike and helmet!

I lived in London from 2004-2006 so feel free to PM me. I'm sure those who live there now will be able to give more info as well.
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SueH



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 1022
Location: Northern Italy

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 2:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Even my nephew who works in The City and gets large end of year bonuses lives in a room in a shared flat (although admittedly he's saving to buy).

Have you really done no research on this beforehand? Have a look in LOOT magazine, which has lots of classifieds for accommodation. There are 300,000 or so French people alone who have moved to the South East of the UK, let alone thousands from the new EU accession countries, asylum seekers, etc. all looking for accommodation. It's both scarce and very expensive.
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Deicide



Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1005
Location: Caput Imperii Americani

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 3:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, it's not definite yet but it is important to scope out the info out there
prior...

Unfortunately these posts confirm my fears...I happen to be a New Yorker so the problem is not entirely unknown to me. I just spoke to my folks the other day who wanted to move to inner Manhattan (lower east side) but have canceled their plans because even the tiniest studio flat down there is a minimum of $2000 rent a month. Scary stuff.

Any idea on living costs in Glasgow and Edinburgh? May end up there too...
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stillnosheep



Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 2068
Location: eslcafe

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

London: Check 'Gumtree' for rooms. current rates are about 500/month minimum for a small room anywhere near the centre (ie zones 1-3), plus council tax (depends upon borough and how many in flat but guess at 40-90 pcm) plus tube fares (one month central London (zones 1&2) pass currently 90pcm - more if you need to include zones 3 or above)

Edingburgh and Glasgow cheaper although, arguably, not as much fun.

BUT as a student: you don't have to pay council tax if every occupier of the property is also a student, so many groups of students will only live with other students as otherwise everybody in flat has to pay council tax, this creates a seperate market and keeps rents down. Expect to pay from 350pcm upwards, more if close to centre.
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lolwhites



Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 158
Location: France

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I lived in London from 1998-1999. If you have to travel into the centre a lot for lectures etc, you might find that what you save on rent by living further out is offset by the extra you spend on transport. I found that Elephant and Castle was a fair trade off between rents and transport, though it's a bit grotty. As a student you will certainly have to share but take stillnosheep's advice and move in with other students if you're a full time postgrad. There are bound to be noticeboards for student accommodation out there.

You don't say whether you're male or female - when I was looking for accommodation there were a lot of "girls only" room ads. It seems sexism is fine so long as you're (a) advertising housing and (b) discriminating against men. Expect to have to spend more time hunting if you're male.

Food wise, use local markets as much as you can for basic essentials as they're cheaper than the supermarkets.
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SueH



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 1022
Location: Northern Italy

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry lol, but it's not discrimination, just natural caution... It's pretty hard on all the decent guys out there, but lots of people aren't prepared to take the risk with unknowns. If you have contacts that's different. I'm big and butch and don't worry much, but with a rape conviction rate at 7% if I were 5'6" I'd be cautious too.

Get to know people and you'll find doors open, particularly if you're practical and helpful. Probably a lot tidier than a lot of student women I knew as well!
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Londonlover



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 90
Location: London

PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 11:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I live in London. A small, furnished self-contained (bedsit style) rented flat in zone 3 with your own (small) bathroom and cooking facilities will cost you around �600 pounds a month.
You can get places for a lot cheaper,of course, but this would involve sharing kitchen and/or bathroom facilities. In general rents increase the closer you are to zone 1.
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Will.



Joined: 02 May 2003
Posts: 783
Location: London Uk

PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Are you sure you want to study in London?

It appears that your finances may not be able to reach to offering you the necessary accommodation that you would find half-way near to being conducive to study, especially post-grad study. I imagine this will be full-time study?

Check your finances in order to guarantee the minimum environmental impact that your day-to-day living will have upon your study. Should the cost be beyond your means. Work some more and save until you have enough to guarantee thet your masters will not suffer because you have run out of money and spend all your time worrying about this instead of concentrating on your masters. Remember beer and cigarettes are also expensive here, socialising costs an arm and a leg or two as welll and you will want to eat out once in a while and dine on something other than the cheapo chinese all you can eat buffet



I remember the example of the student who got scurvy as his grant had been drunk away and with the remains of his money his last refuge was to amass a huge wash basket size mixture of porrage oats and dried fruit and nuts everything left in the fridge and stirred. This was spread flat and dried. This, and nothing else, was the only intake of food for the last six weeks of term!

Well an amusing anecdote to study... from Will's book of utterly useless information.

The objective you should be aiming at is the removal of all these distractions thet prevent you from giving your attention to serious study. Why should you have to, or want to, to live in penury while studying?

It does not have to be this way. Look to providing yourself wiyth a comfortable existence and consider ghetto living as a failsafe mechanism in case you get really desperate.
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lolwhites



Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 158
Location: France

PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 12:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sue - it's not just the 4 girls sharing with one spare room who insist, perhaps understandably, on a female. It's landlords/ladies with empty flats that they'll only let to all-female groups. It took me months to escape from my grotty bedsit 'cos noone would let to me just because I was male, even though I was a mature student and was old enough to understand that mum wouldn't clean up after me.
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dmb



Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397

PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 1:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Edingburgh and Glasgow cheaper although, arguably, not as much fun.
I may be a tad biased as Edinburgh is my city of birth. But it is one of the coolest cities in the world... and also coldest and wettest. I reckon a New yorker would have a great time in the 'bra for a year of study.
Go for it and enjoy
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jammish



Joined: 17 Nov 2005
Posts: 1704

PostPosted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 2:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just to add: Yes, London is stupidly expensive.

About the only thing that isn't too bad compared to some places is drinking out. I mean you pay the same for a beer in a London bar as you do in China, even though salaries in China are somewhat lower. And Paris I found stupidly expensive for drinking.

But rent in London is just daft. My brother and his old gf were renting a place in Crackney which was basically a titchy front room and titchy bedroom, both not big enough to swing a cat in, plus bathroom and small kitchen, that cost about 760 pounds per month. Would probably be even more now.

Transport is also insane - you're looking at something like 80 pounds a month for a zones 1-2 travelcard, I think.
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 4:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Edinburgh is cool but rents are also high. Try Glasgow but you may have problems in understanding the locals.
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poof



Joined: 23 May 2005
Posts: 161

PostPosted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 10:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Check out www.easyroommate.com to see typical shared rental prices for London.
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jammish



Joined: 17 Nov 2005
Posts: 1704

PostPosted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It tends not to be too bad when sharing a house, i.e. living like a student. It's when you want to rent your own flat etc that it becomes much more expensive.
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