Bats in the belfry, windows are jammed - London flat renting, deposits & landlords

i know south is the sketchier part of london right? so what areas do i want to avoid?

use the search mate, there are a few good threads on people moving to London

Cheers PJS pick me up on spelling grammar all you want I'm happy to learn, most of it I either have forgotten, never learned, never been taught or forgotten. If I have no red under lining I am happy. I am useless on homophones e.t.c.

yep well there you go, who really cares eh? you know so very much about bikes and I don't and I think it's a bike forum here - now where's that "London Full Grammar and Savvy Spelling" forum link gone these days....

i know, society has gone 'tits-up' if i can't rely on you posh English folk for proper grammar!

i know south is the sketchier part of london right? so what areas do i want to avoid?

don't rule any areas out Cuppa T, everyone has bad impressions from other people of places they've never actually been and while the big bad news reports tell it like it is it often actually isn't.. for example a late-night ride through Peckham High Street doesn't necessarily mean you're razzing head-down through a hail of crossfire.
There are pockets of moodiness/scuzziness anywhere, you have to go with your own feelings. Personally I find Islington one of the more avoidable villages these days yet the rent round there is phenomenal. Then again if you're always on the lash it might be worth the extra £pcm..

great thing is as a bike user you gain a better perception of the geography and vibe of places and probably cover a lot more ground than someone using public transport.

yeah, i get what you mean.
when i stayed in peckham for a week i didnt get a like sketchy vibe from it, plus as a cyclist you dont have to deal with dick heads all the time, they dont often get the chance to come up to you and give you grief as your cruising down the road pretty quick, you just pass by and give your one liner of abuse such as "GIT IT ROOOUND YE" ha only joking, i keep my mouth shut.

but cycling around is so good for getting to know the layout of the city you live in.

Everywhere you go, there are posh and rough areas wedged up against each other. (I have a Dulwich-dwelling friend who refers to it as "West Peckham" when his urban credentials are under threat.)

That having been said - if you look at areas that are off the tube, you'll get more for your dorras. Hackney/Stokey are really close and cheap.

roughly.......how long would it take me to cycle from wood green station to london bridge?

maybe 45 minutes.

could i take an easy pace to get 45 mins or would i have to cycle fast?

you'd be sweating like a zoo in front of all the foreign girls at your new job...

haha, i want a place 30 mins cycle out the city for £400, thats all i want!
is it so much to ask.....

i seen a place in "Nunhead Peckham Rye SE15" for a decent price......sketchy place?

south isn't sketchy, I've only been mugged once. Yes it was literally outside my front door, but I got them to go away with a quid.

You should be able to get a place in peckham for under £100 a week, possibly even with bills included.

Aidan lives in lewisham and pays literally 50p a year. I live on lilford road, camberwell, and pay £500 PCM, and live in a mansion - 4 toilets for 4 people! (Yes one of them doesn't work and the other one is being used a storage cupboard)...

http://www.camelotproperty.com/home.php/b/gbr-en/content/102/130/

i thought that said 'cameltoeproperty' , ha!

also, don't live sth london, you'll regret it for the rest of your life!

Shameless plug but very useful for house / area hunting...

http://www.londonprofiler.org/ , click "Index Multiple Deprivation". Select "IMD total" from the drop down, and click "2007" - Select the hybrid view from top right.

You now have a map of deprivation for london. Red = high, blue = low (nice).

You can use
the "House Prices" tab to search for property to by or rent by entering a postcode district - e.g. SE23 / NW6 etc.

hope it helps.

PS - South London rules!

also, don't live sth london, you'll regret it for the rest of your life!

The recommendation of a non-Londoner......

haha, i want a place 30 mins cycle out the city for £400, thats all i want!
is it so much to ask.....

i seen a place in "Nunhead Peckham Rye SE15" for a decent price......sketchy place?
I used to live in Nunhead (over 6 years ago now) and a friend of mine always referred to it as 'pretty Peckham'. It's a nice area but a bit quiet.

I moved to london from Glasgow 18months ago and just couldn't get my head around the extortionate rent, so I decided not to pay it: I'm just moving out of a decent sized double room (bed, wardrobe, desk, 3 bikes, you get the idea) in a flat in East Dulwich, zone 2, 15min cycle to London Bridge, £250/month...yeah, it ain't glasgow prices but it's not too far off. And now I'm moving to a double room in a house in Clapton with doors opening onto the garden for 275. I don't believe that these are the only 2 decent priced rooms in London, you've just got to be canny and look, maybe be lucky too! But there's no hard and fast rules. Cycling will save you a fortune too.

I've found that the best thing to do is to go to estate agents and ask them directly. Obviously this requires you to be in london though! Instead of finding a place then moving in directly from scotland, Couch surf and find a place down here. It's stressful, but it gives you more time to find a cheaper room.

as somebody who has actually lived in different places all over london over the last 15 years i would steer clear of the crime hotspots of east and south east london. it's not difficult to find good value property to rent in other areas.

move to Dalston, there are enough murders here a month to keep the price down.
I pay £320pcm and about £22 council tax.

Glasgows homicide rate is twice that of London, so technically... londons gota be aware incase i murder YOU!

so seriously WTF, i have been renting a flat in south kensington and now im moving out ( not yet ) .... but then, 200 pounds will be charged by the flat owner from deposit due to a 1m x 2m wall with bike tyre marks unless i can clean it ....... what can i do about it !!!

any suggestion ?!

re paint it.