....to London

[Moving soon ....]

Hello

Am soon moving to London (with a package of GBP 75000 exclusive of bonus).

My office will be in Canary Wharf and I would be very glad for advice on the following :-

1. I am single and would prefer to live as close as possible to office without spending more than GBP 1000 per month on rent . How possible is this ? What possible localities should I consider ? I am ok living in a one Bedroom flat.

2. I work out in a gym everyday - is there a gym chain in London like "Fitness First" or any other chain ? What are yearly membership fees like ?

3. Could anyone please guide me to any expat forums specifically tailored for foreign workers in the UK ?

4. Having lived in Singapore for many years , I prefer to get by without using a car - will this present any difficulties in London ?

Thanks for your help

[peggy]

Look at find a property dot com. It shows you all the options incl neighbourhood info. If you type in Canary Wharf, plus 1/2 mile, max 1000 you'll get quite a few options.
Tons of gyms in London. No need for a car.

[mdl]

Hello and welcome to London.

1. If you are working at Canary Wharf, there are plenty of nice apartments around there for rent; although for the nicer ones, you may not get one for £1000 a month.  A little further afield (ie. near Mudchute or Isle of Dogs) may get you stg in that budget but you do have to travel to work via the DLR (similar to LRT) which is not too bad.

As suggested, do look at either prime location or find a property.com and select Docklands. There are other costs to factor in as well. Council tax are likely to be about £100-120 a month but electric and water bills are quite reasonable.   

I would advise asking the company to put you up in a serviced apartment for about 2 mths while you look around for a place.  Even in a nice areas like Docklands and Canary Wharf, they have pockets of council estates which are throwback to HDB flats in the 1960s-70s.  Best to look around physically and see what you would like.

2.  Plenty of gyms here and yes, they do have Fitness First chain (although I do prefer Virgin)

3. Hmmm... haven't really see a website for expats in UK although I didn't look very hard!

4.  It is OK to be in London without public transport although I must admit I was horrified when I first came here. Got into a Northern Line tube and found wooden floors on the train - a far cry from the MRT. 

Although saying that, the transport network is excellent albeit really old and creaky in parts (no airconditioning, cargo lifts, lots of stairs, not disabled friendly in parts etc.) and the tube shut down around 11.30pm.

You may find no need for a car although it is quite useful to have one for shopping and getting out of the city.  The insurance for first timers can be a killer though.

[ex-wharfer]

The nice flats where you could walk to CW are likely >1,000 but other areas a short trip away would not be a problem.  Greenwich is nice and only a few minutes on the DLR.  Many people ride in on bikes from there.  Sothubank is also an easy commute and you should find something along there.

Most of the major co.s in CW have gyms in the office buildings (e.g. Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse).  There is also a Holmes Place there.  From memory they cost about the same in GBP as you pay in SGD here (i.e. 3 times as much).  Holmes place probably more.  There is also a Virgin gym and a Reebok gym around as well.

[Andy Ang]

1000GBP?!?!? Are you guys kidding?!?!\

I stayed in Providence Whard near Canary in a 2 bed flat, and it cost me 2000 GBP a month!!!

Where do you guys stay in?!?! Poplar? All Saints???

[mdl]

Err Andy.. if you read our replies carefully, we are saying that yes there are apartments to rent in Docklands but no, you can't get nice ones for about £1000 a mth.  Further afield into the Isle of Dogs, it is possible to get apartments. 

My friend rents a 2 bed at Mudchute for about £270 a week and a quick browse through findaproperty shows flats for abt £180-200 a week but I would say some of them are not too desirable.