Moving to UK from South Africa

[Nay]

Hi all

I am in the process of applying for a HSMP visa.

I have a few questions i am hoping some of you could answer and provide advice on.

1. What are the decent/affordable areas to live in, specifically in London?
2. What would a 1 bedroom apartment generally cost in London?
3. Would you advice i apply for a job while is SA or when i get to the UK (I would first like to get my Visa before applying for a job)?

I would appreciate any advice in general about living and working in the UK.

Thanks and hope you all have a awesome weekend.

[MichelleAlison]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

A good website to look at for properties in London is Properties for sale, homes to rent, overseas property, retirement properties and new homes on rightmove.co.uk and they cover the whole of the UK. A good area is going to be expensive, but I would recommend NW London and parts of North London, such as Highgate and Muswell Hill to begin with.

Regards

Michelle

[jlms]

Decent areas are West London (Kensington and Chelsea, bits of Notting Hill, etc, bits of Fulham, Primrose Hill).

Affordable? Well, you can't possibly know that before you know how much you will earn. As you can imagine affordability and desirability are mutually exclusive.

Also do not expect to buy a property hers any time soon, unless you are filthy rich, you will not get a mortgage because you don't have a credit history in the UK, so most likely you'll end renting, if you are not a high earner you will have to share a flat with strangers or rent a single room (which are not big in London). Welcome to lovely UK.

You should check the conditions of your visa, that will pretty much tell you what you can do in regards to jobs, if you have got some savings maybe you should take a couple of weeks to check things around in London and then apply for jobs.

if you are not sitting ina pot of money then it is quite temerary to come just like that, and may end like many South Africans: as pub bar tenders :-)

[kaz101]

Hi Nay,

Do you need to live in London? Depending on where you are working in London it may be cheaper to live slightly out of London and pay to commute in. It may take longer to get to work but it may work out cheaper with getting a rental place.

Regards,
Karen

[MichelleAlison]

Originally Posted by jlms

Decent areas are West London (Kensington and Chelsea, bits of Notting Hill, etc, bits of Fulham, Primrose Hill).

The OP said decent and AFFORDABLE areas. Kensington and Chelsea only fall into the decent bracket. I can't imagine them being affordable regardless of salary

Michelle

[jlms]

Originally Posted by MichelleAlison

The OP said decent and AFFORDABLE areas. Kensington and Chelsea only fall into the decent bracket. I can't imagine them being affordable regardless of salary

Michelle

Decent can be described very straightforwardly, Londoners roughly know the "decent" areas in town.

Affordability in the other hand is a matter of how much money you have. Once a budget is stated one can make suggestions that are more precise ....

[MichelleAlison]

Originally Posted by jlms

Decent can be described very straightforwardly, Londoners roughly know the "decent" areas in town.

Affordability in the other hand is a matter of how much money you have. Once a budget is stated one can make suggestions that are more precise ....

In my own opinion, somebody that asks about affordability, probably can't afford Kensington and Chelsea.

Michelle

[jlms]

Originally Posted by MichelleAlison

In my own opinion, somebody that asks about affordability, probably can't afford Kensington and Chelsea.

Michelle

Without numbers it is all speculation...

[Nay]

Hi All

Thank you for your response to my questions.

I don’t know at this moment what I will be earning but based on jobs I have applied for and my professional background I think I would fall in the bracket of earning between 30 000 and 60 000 GPD yearly.
And obviously I would have to take into account taxes, food, and other monthly expenses.

[jlms]

Originally Posted by Nay

Hi All

Thank you for your response to my questions.

I don’t know at this moment what I will be earning but based on jobs I have applied for and my professional background I think I would fall in the bracket of earning between 30 000 and 60 000 GPD yearly.
And obviously I would have to take into account taxes, food, and other monthly expenses.

If you earn towards the end of that range you should be able to chose pretty much anywhere in town( at around £1200 per month rental), of course in Notting Hill, Kensignton and Chelsea and other posh places you would not get more than a small studio flat (i.e. a glorified bedroom where everything except the bathroom is in the same room). in other areas (like Greenwich, Islington and even around Waterloo) you could manage to find a one bedroom flat.

If your aim is to save money just flat share, then you could pay around half of that to share a 2 bed flat somewhere middle of the way (Greenwich and the like).

If you are earning more towards the low end of the range, then most likely you need to look for flat sharing somewhere East of town or South of the river, but in any case further away from town centre.

Either way, another option is to live out of town, where housing is cheaper. In Woking for example, half an hour away from London, you can get a 3 bed house with garden for what you would pay to get a 2 bed flat in Greenwich (fact, I own both), unfortunately you would pay a fortune for train fares (around £3000 or more a year) for a service that leaves lots to be desired (I spent most of my time in London to avoid the trains as much as possible).

I hope this helps to inform your decision.