Reputation of London Suburbs

[Akatrin]

Me again. This time, trying to decide where I want to rent/work in London. Obviously there's great variation between the various areas, and there are some places that are probably best avoided.
How can I find out what they are?

I've put in a tentative application for the general "North London" area.. but I don't know if that's actually any good. All I've seen are the touristy bits :P

Any ideas will be much appreciated

[Stravinsky]

Dont know the London areas that well I'm afraid, but also is it worth moving outside of London & communting. I have friends in London that say rental costs are horrendous

You just have to offset the cost of the commute against the rental difference. Just very briefly I looked:

For instance this two bed flat in NW& is £270 per week.
Immaculate modern spacious 2 double bed, 2 bathroom flat, with roof terrace Mill Hill, London NW7 North: 2 bedroom flats London houses London

Where as here you will find a two bed house close to the station on the line to Kings cross for £695 a month!

[kaz101]

Hi Akatrin,

Have had a look on Find properties to buy, homes to rent, overseas houses and new homes on rightmove.co.uk That's one website that does rentals as well as property sales.

Do you have any idea where you'll be working?
DO you have you any idea about how much you'll want to pay?
Do you want to rent a flat by yourself or share a house or flat? If you want to share then there's another website as well Flatshare - House Share & Rooms to rent 190,000 Flatshare ads in the UK which is specifically for house & flat shares.

As Stravinsky suggests you may be better off travelling into London from the outside. I lived just North of London in Hertfordshire and I could travel into London on the Thameslink in about 25 minutes to Kings Cross. Of course you also need to take into account the travelling costs from anywhere outside London since that may not be that cheap either depending on where you are travelling from, although travel cards are available.

Hope that helps,
Karen

[Akatrin]

Hmm I don't know where I'm going to be working yet, and cost is secondary to other concerns. Things more important:

-Security: I must be able to walk the streets alone and be pretty sure my stuff is safe sitting in the flat. This could also rule out commuting if certain lines/whatever are unsafe.

-Accessability: being close to transport is obviously important but apparently the last tube runs at midnight and is often cancelled or dodgy. I don't want to be too far out so that I'm not running up large taxi bills after a saturday night out. Half an hour out of the city centre would be ok.

Thanks for the links

[kaz101]

Originally Posted by Akatrin

-Security: I must be able to walk the streets alone and be pretty sure my stuff is safe sitting in the flat. This could also rule out commuting if certain lines/whatever are unsafe.

That one's going to be tough. When I think about what times I used to travel from London to Borehamwood (on Thameslink - now called First Capital Connect) my parents used to worry since it was around midnight sometimes. However at the time I was fine with it. I only lived about 10 minutes walk from the station and there were very few people around. I didn't want to bother with a taxi since it didn't seem worth it but I can't say I felt safe since I was always on my guard. Now I live in a small city in Australia I feel much safer at night.

What feels safe to one person may not feel safe to another.....

You may want to have a look at UpMyStreet - For Where You Live - I just remembered it. It has things on it like crime statistics, age of population, local transport etc.

Another website is Homecheck from Landmark Information Group. which gives you environment info and also a neighbourhood summary. Both of those websites are free and you just need to type in the post code of the area that you are thinking about moving into.

Good luck on your search.

Karen

[Bevdeforges]

There's a book out called "Buying or Renting a Home in London" by David Hampshire and Sue Harris, which details the various bouroughs in London (possibly a few around London, too) - right down to the availability of grocery stores and public transport. This could give you the information you're looking for.

[asea]

You can ask me, I'm a Londoner born & bred & would be happy to give you advice if you want to ask about a particular suburb.

[MichelleAlison]

I'm also a Londoner born and bred and would also be happy to give you advice. I was born in East London, grew up in North London, although not the nicest part, and lived all my married life in the London Borough of Redbridge, East of London (a suburb at the end of the central line).

I never walked at night alone - I went everywhere by car and alway checked my mirrors and locked my doors. According to the police, when we were burgled, we lived in one of the London boroughs with the least crime.

Fortunately, here in Argentina I feel safe, even at night.

Regards

Michelle

[asea]

I'm a bit more reckless than Michelle & have often been wandering around drunkenly quite late at night & haven't had any problems. Like anywhere London has it's fair share of crime (everywhere!!) but to be honest as long as you keep your wits about you you will come to see that London is actually quite safe. I use the tube everyday as driving in London is a big pain in the neck & it's faster & less stressful than driving. Sometimes I cycle, which is scary with the traffic but the most enjoyable way of getting around (& getting to know the city!)

There have been alot of gang-related incidents in the past year or so but most of those have been between different gangs so don't really affect the normal populace. Like anywhere, you need to not take silly risks & pay attention to your surroundings & you will hopefully be fine!

[marc]

Hi,

I live in North London so please come to me with what you want, theres several places which are very nice, the best of which is Mill Hill (most expensive), but also there is Kingsbury, Wembley, Kenton. these are all nice places and have very little crime, i have lived in North London 19 years and never had any problems.