When the whole London Project begun my DH was pretty confident
we would find a flat soon enough but I wasn't so sure. DH moved to London a
month ago planning to spend a week or at the most two in flat hunting and
moving over to the new flat but that hasn't happened yet. He is still living in
a hotel and we are still looking for a flat.
Our house in Spain is spacious and full of light with a
beautiful garden and backyard. We knew that moving to London, at least for the
first year or so would mean compromising to a different space and way of life.
I'm so used to live in big houses that the actual thought of living in a flat
not to mentions small flat hasn't been on my wish list for like ever. But life
changes and now we are moving to exactly that: a small flat.
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| Views from our house in Spain |
My DH workplace is located in West London near River Thames, to
be more precise in Chiswick, and is in this area that we are looking to rent a
flat. One thing that I learn in this quest is that any property located inside
"The Ring" formed by the M25 is not cheap. At all.
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| Took the idea of the Venn Diagram from this blog about Flat hunting in Singapore . You should definitely check it out! |
In the beginning my DH was thinking about living in the
outskirts of London in places like Windsor or Langley or Reading where
properties could be more affordable than inside "The Ring" but that
option would force us to buy a car immediately for me to use as the good houses
are not precisely close by public transport and not so convenient for everyday
life. Add to that the fact that all in all the sum of what you would spend in a
year to travel back and forth to London is really high (a friend of ours that
lives in Windsor spends roughly £4500/year in train and tube!).
After long conversations we reach the conclusion that we need to
be living nearby my DH office in Chiswick for the following reason:
1. It is conveniently close to his work.
2. It is a beautiful and safe neighbourhood to live in.
3. It is close to parks and recreations (Gunnersbury Park, Richmond Park, Chiswick Park and Kew Gardens just to mention a few).
4. It is very well connected (public transportation wise) and provides an easy access to Central London.
1. It is conveniently close to his work.
2. It is a beautiful and safe neighbourhood to live in.
3. It is close to parks and recreations (Gunnersbury Park, Richmond Park, Chiswick Park and Kew Gardens just to mention a few).
4. It is very well connected (public transportation wise) and provides an easy access to Central London.
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| Views from Richmond near the Main gates of Richmond Park |
For those of us who know me well, I'm not a public transport type of person. I love
driving my car and being able to go wherever I want whenever I want to BUT
sometimes you can't have what you want and either way driving a car (on the
wrong side of the road) and parking a car in the centre of London is not a easy
and cheap feat. It’s been almost 12 years since the last time I actually used
public transport as a mean to get to and from home in an everyday way and that’s
one of my DH major concerns, but thanks to the Flying Spaghetti Monster there
are some useful apps that can help you get from A to B in London in a fast and
easy way. Apps like “London Transport” can help you plan a Journey or check the
buses and tube times from anywhere in
London.
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| Screenshots of London Transport App for Android |
We began our search online but soon realised that all the
interesting flat were gone before my DH had a chance to view them. My DH
contacted several real estate agencies and booked some flats to see. Results so
far are appalling.
Webpages like PrimeLocation, Zoopla and RightMove search estate agent listings (usually the same ones) and offer lots of
pictures. Problem is, the agents themselves might not respond quickly enough to email requests, so it’s best to give them a call and make viewing appointments immediately. Places
like Gumtree need to be approach with care as there are some scams and iffy
people around.
To give you an idea a studio flat around this area could easily
be around £900 to £1200. Anything below £1000 means you would be living in
small room with your bed, your kitchen and sometimes even the shower occupying
the same room! And I'm not joking. Try searching a rental for about that price
in any area in West London and let me know what you find.
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| London Rental Map Postal Code W4 |
I'll keep you posted on our search for "El Dorado". Hasta la vista, baby!
Leti.-
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