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A lurker moves to London

Constitution Hill

01:08 / 08.01.03

I'm planning on moving to London in the next month or so. I'm also
venturing forth into the fearsome london job market. I've been meandering wildly since finally leaving my uni haven of aberystwyth, but it's now time to give up my pursuit of becoming a postmodern hobo and get a job & a flat in london.

So, any advice on where is good & cheap to live? i'm looking for a 2-bed flat. Any tips on good agenices to join, or ways to find work?

I'd also like to thank all of you for keeping my mind fragrant and supple in these last few slow months of living at home.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

07:55 / 08.01.03

No hints on accommodation right now, I'm afraid, but I'll give you my standard answer of - "Move to Stoke Newington! It rocks!"

And you're probably best off joining a tmp agency or something to start with, so you've got time to find something you actually like doing.

And if you de-lurk so's we all know what you're like, we can probably point you in the direction of some good places to hang out.

illmatic

08:24 / 08.01.03

you might find this thread of some use:
http://www.barbelith.com/underground/topic.php?id=8154

As I (think I) say in there, helps if you're targeting a particular area, that you wanna pick up experience in. There's probably an agency for it somewhere. Rents seem to going down as well, lucky for you, but haven't really got any recommendations there.

gozer the destructor

08:49 / 08.01.03

Job wise try, http://www.prospect-us.co.uk/contact.htm (sorry forgot how to put the link in) they were great with me, free training on anything i needed, a good wage and they only deal with public sector stuff.

Housing, its a nightmare.

Good luck.

Kit-Cat Club

08:50 / 08.01.03

If you want to rent a two-bedroom flat all to yourself, I recommend you try management consultancy or accounting...

Loomis

08:57 / 08.01.03

... or you could work in real estate ...

Bear

09:19 / 08.01.03

findaproperty.com is my favourite for finding somewhere to stay. But yeah like others have noted your going to need a well payed job if you want your own 2 bedroom flat.

You could always pretend your from the planning department and live in the house until the original owners arrive back that's what I do, no wait that was Beverly Hills Cop II.

Yeah best to tell us what kind of job your looking for, I actually own London so I can help you finding a nice job.

Loomis

09:21 / 08.01.03

Anyone who owns a big important place like London needs a wise-cracking sidekick. Are you accepting applications?

Constitution Hill

11:32 / 09.01.03

Thanks for all the advice. I've sent my CV off to ProspectUs, and i'm hoping to share that 2-bed flat with a chum. Which parts of N London are good to live in?

illmatic

11:36 / 09.01.03

Stokey's good but it's a bit fucked for transport. Unless you walk - yes, WALK, dammit - the 20 mins to the tube. Y'lazy fuckers.

Depends on what you're after really.. sorry, I know that's too vauge..

Hattie's Kitchen

11:42 / 09.01.03

Stoke Newington's cool, but Crouch End very nice also, except when you bump into C-list Eastenders actors and frigging Neil Morrissey gives you filthy looks in Oddbins...but maybe that's just me. No tube station, but only five minutes from Archway, close enough to Hampstead for walks on the heath, but it's a bugger cycling up those hills.

Mourne Kransky

12:43 / 09.01.03

North? Why go North? Have you no imagination, Constihill?

Go South ~ Life is peaceful there
Go South ~ In the open air
Go South ~ Where the skies are blue
Go South ~ This is what you haveta do

There where the air is free
You'll be what you want to be
Now if you make a stand
You'll find your promised land

Come on, come on, come on
Go South....
Go, ooh, go, yeah

(c)Lambef Tourist Board 2003

angel

12:46 / 09.01.03

Nice one Xoc!

Yep, South is lovely .... but perhaps I am biased! Ah, sunny Brixton, the cultural melange that you are!

Kit-Cat Club

12:55 / 09.01.03

Crouch End very nice also, except when you bump into C-list Eastenders actors and frigging Neil Morrissey gives you filthy looks in Oddbins...

I raise you Muswell Hill and constantly bumping into Billy Mitchell in Ha Ha's. He wears the most disgusting sport shorts the whole time, and has a crownd of sycophantic hangers-on. I'm sure he's lovely, but... the shorts.

Muswell Hill's all right apart from that, but it is a bit pricey. Nice views from Alexandra Palace though.

that

14:50 / 09.01.03

Muswell Hill *is* nice, I lived in the least posh house in the area for two years - if you move there and take a wander round, you'll probably be able to spot it, actually - look for the 'interesting' green and yellow paint job - my handiwork, if it's still there. The heath is lovely to have close by, as are Highgate Wood and Ally Pally, esp. if you've got a dog. As far as celebrities go, I saw Maureen Lipman browsing in Hawkshead (I think that's what it's called), and my ex tried to chat up Lynda Bellingham in the local pet shop. As you do.
South London isn't as scary as people would have you believe, either (I've spent half my life down here), and there are several nice green spaces around and about. Good luck, wherever you end up.

Tryphena Absent

14:55 / 09.01.03

Don't listen to them, trying to poison your mind, don't go south of the river it's wrong... wrong!

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

19:58 / 09.01.03

Not only is it wrong... it's AGAINST GOD!!! And scary.

Hmmm... Muswell Hill... I remember trying to start a fight between Dexter Fletcher and a friend of mine (who lived next door to DF and was moving house the next day) by standing in DF's garden yelling, drunkenly, "Oi! Dexter, y'bastid!!! (my mate's name here) wants a fight!"). But then I was younger then. And not averse to nesting my parentheses.

rakehell

21:52 / 09.01.03

I just had a look at that findaproperty.com and WTF? Those prices are outrageous.

Granted I'm multiply by almost 3 to get from Australian dollars to Pounds, but the inner-city prices are as ridiculous as they appear, yeah?

I was in London mid last year and wondering around I thought occassionally "I'd like to live here". Now I know that I'd never be able to afford to rent in any of the places I walked around. Are salaries vaguely in line with those crazy rents???

I have to have a lie down, excuse me.

Cosmicjamas

22:18 / 09.01.03

No, no, not South! I live 5 minutes from Crouch End and walk my son to nursery and back past Neil Morrisey's house every day and have never seen him! (Actually, he lives well off the beaten track - right round the back by the reservoir!) I don't go to Oddbins, tho', Budgen's is far better than that for wine. I'd recommend Stroud Green in fact, just between Finsbury Park and Crouch End, a bit cheaper. But you're still looking at around £210 per week for a 2 bed flat!

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