Boroughs

In terms of geography, London is divided in 32 boroughs. From the expensive Chelsea and Kensington to the traditional Greenwich or popular Croydon, you have a large choice of areas to stay.

Postcodes

To find your way around London, postcodes are often used in accommodation adverts. If you know an address but not its postcode, you can use a (free) postcode finder tool here. If you want to live near a certain tube station, you can find the station’s postcode here.

The first two letters of a London postcode are WC (west central), EC (east central), N (north), E (east), SE (south east), SW (south west), W (west), or NW (north west) - the number that follows is a kind of random thing so you better check in a map for the exact location. Other postcodes used in outer London are (in clockwise order): EN (Enfield), IG (Ilford), RM (Romford), DA (Dartford), BR (Bromley), CR (Croydon), SM (Sutton), KT (Kingston), TW (Twickenham), UB (Uxbridge), HA (Harrow), and WD (Watford).

How to find a place

As previously mentioned, London is a very expensive city to live in. So many people share their house or flat with others. It’s a very common thing to do and a good way to meet people from all over the world.

I first stayed in a house with 8 people. They were from as far as Brazil, South Africa, Spain, France and England. To flat share or house share means that you will have your own room but share the bathroom, kitchen and living room with you flat mates. From my experience, it’s extremely easy to find a place to stay as long as you are able to pay a deposit (usually 4/5 weeks of rent) and a month of rent in advance.

You might have to pay your rent per week or per month but the adverts usually specify so.

The best websites to find a place without having to pay the agency fees are gumtree, the fantastic moveflat, the loot (which has a paper version too). Rightmove and findaproperty are popular but expect to pay agency fees (roughly £150).

Also, the agency will usually ask for references. You would have to provide details such as employer’s phone number, former landlord’s contact, and your bank account details.

Other costs

Don’t forget to include the bills: gas, electricity, telephone, TV licence and the Council tax (every year it usually costs 1.5 times of the monthly rent).

One more thing…

Your usually sign a contract for 6 months or 1 year. In the latter, you can add a Breaking Clause that allows you (with 1 month’s notice period) to leave the flat earlier than you contract specifies.

When you move into a flat, you will need to sign an inventory form to certify the state of the accommodation and possessions if furnished. It is a detailed document, that will be your guarantee should anything be damaged beyond normal “wear and tear”.

Tube

I would highly recommend you to buy an Oyster card when you first arrive in London. Oyster card is an electronic ticketing transport card that can be purchased from a number of different outlets in London (underground, convenience shops,…).

There is a huge difference between the normal paper ticket and Oyster fare thus it is very important to get one.

As an example:

- Single Tube journey without Oyster: £4

- Single Tube journey with Oyster: £2

If you plan to take the tube several times in a day, it’s worth buying Travel cards (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Annually)

Prices, as of Feb. 2008 are:

……………..7 Day ..Monthly Annual

Zones 1-2 £24.20 £93.00 £968.00

Zones 1-3 £28.40 £109.10 £1,136.00

Zones 1-4 £34.60 £132.90 £1,384.00

Zones 1-5 £41.40 £159.00 £1,656.00

Zones 1-6 £44.60 £171.30 £1,784.00

Zones 1-7 £48.00 £184.40 £1,920.00

Zones 1-8 £56.00 £215.10 £2,240.00

Zones 1-9 £65.00 £249.60 £2,600.00

The tube runs between from 5:00am until 00:30pm. The tube service is not good value for money: lack of space in the carriage, bad ventilation, poor time frequency and delays occur regularly.

Buses

London is well known for its red double decker buses. They run 24h a day, switching to a night nus service from 10pm. The maps of the London buses can be found here, and here for the night buses. The single journey ticket price is £2 or 90p with Oyster. The service is pretty good as there are bus lanes on most of the roads, so it’s definitely more reliable compare to the tube but it’s slower, so it’s up to you!

Trains

There are several train stations across London: London Bridge, Waterloo, Victoria, Charing Cross, Paddington, King’s Cross, Liverpool Street,…) and various train companies (Virgin, Southern lines,….). You must buy a ticket prior to boarding. It is advisable to plan ahead.

You can check the fares here.

Cabs

Black cabs are part of London’s icons. In the day time you will find numerous cabs in the street. The light on the cab roof indicates the availability. The minimum charge is £2 and they charge on a pay per meter basis. Alternatively you can book a “mini-cab”, basically these are private companies that provide taxi services. In my opinion, the best (GPS, spacious car) and cheapest is Addison Lee (0207 387 8888). Tell them you are a pay by cash customer (otherwise you are a company), then you will be asked for the address that you will be taken from to your desired destination.

Airports

Heathrow is one of busiest airports in the world. London has 4 others airports: Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, City Airport. To get to the airports, you can take the Gatwick express, Stansted express, the Train for Luton airport and DLR for London City airport.

You can easily travel around Europe without having to spend a lot of money on air fare, check Ryanair and Easyjet and grab a bargain.

Cars

Not only it causes air pollution and noise, it is very expensive to own a car in London. If you want to drive in Central London, you will have to pay the Congestion Charge, £8 per day! The Congestion Charge applies from 7am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. The boundary of the central London congestion charge zone is basically the touristic centre and the City. Payment of the daily charge allows you to enter, drive around and leave the charging zone as many times as you wish in one day. You can pay online, by phone (0845 900 1234), by text, by post, at shops and petrol stations. Penalty is £50 if you failed to pay by midnight (to be payed within 2 weeks). Check the official website.

My advice is to rent a car, it’s cheaper and you don’t have to worry about congestion charge. You can check EasyRentacar or the great Streetcar the pay-as-you-go car service.

Parkings

If you plan to own a car, it’s best to buy a resident parking permit. It allows you to park around your neighborhood for an annual charge. You can find where to buy it here. Don’t forget it’s not allowed to park nearby a yellow or red double line.

Maps

In my opinion the best map online service is Google Maps.

Any other questions, please leave comments