Hi Sri,
Welcome to the forum.
I left the UK in July 2007
and I am also in IT (JD Edwards analyst programmer - soon to be ex!)
I assume you will be renting rather than buying?
Whereabouts in Central London will you be working? I was just thinking about
where your nearest train station will be, and then it would be worth looking at what's within a 45 min train journey since the distance out from London covers a lot of ground. Kings Cross goes north to Luton in that time period and there you can rent a house for about 750 - 900 pounds a month (or more if you want a really good house).
You also need to define what you think of as a decent lifestyle. Some will say a Mercedes and others a Hyundai (nothing against Hyundai since I drive one
)
Regards,
Karen