London - Dublin comparisons

nicolo

Hi, I'm planning on moving to London towards the end of the summer and unfortunately i have very little knowledge of the place

I seen theres a thread already with loads of fantastic links on it but I actually was wondering if anyone can give me a few Dublin comparisons, for example what are the areas to avoid (London version of summer hill or Tallaght) what are the areas that are too upper class to afford (London versions of fox rock, black rock) and the London versions of say Drumcondra/Rathmines where things are pretty normal.
I'd preferably want to live as close to Camden within reasonable rent, I'm sure this will be wind up being Dublin but feck it.

damnyanks

Depends on your budget really. I'm told if you move out to zone 6 rent drops insanely, although train costs more and you take ages to get into the city!

Are you going to be working / studying, if so where abouts. IF you are going to north london I guess try to stick near the jubilee line. It's the best line in the place, stay away from anywhere that only has the norhtern line. It's horrible, I got really sick from it. Not to mention its packed and so on....

South London around the river is meant to be dodgy. Some friends who are girls get hassle anywhere they go in east london or south london (Bar clapham) by the sounds of it.

London is huge, west london is usually the more expensive area, but if you live between canary wharf and the city the rent can be crazy. Because all areas have council blocks you can usually find cheap places to rent in good and bad areas.

Stay away from elephant and caslte. It is close to the city and its cheap, mainly because the lads standing outside the tube station have been to jail for either rape, murder or gbh. It's right by ministry of sound though if thats your thing.

Yeah ramble...

final word.

Tell us what area you are hoping to work in
What sort of rent are you looking to spend 0 - 600inc bills, 600 - 900inc bills 9 - 1500inc bills or above that

nicolo

Hrmmm not sure how much bill wise as im not sure how many people im moving over with, im more into rock/metal and will be moving over with about 2000 euro and staying with friends till i get a job/flat

r3nu4l

To be honest you're better off finding out where you will be working before deciding on getting accommodation. Try to live on the same side of the city as your job is located because despite how great the tube looks when you spend a couple of days holiday in London, the tube can be a real pain in the ass and during the summer it gets insanely hot >40 degrees C, so you don't want to be stuck on a tube for a 50 minute commute in the Summer.

Wherever you move to you will have to pay council tax. That varies depending on where you live so I can't help you there.

If you can live somewhere like Ilford, that's only 15 minutes ont he train to London Liverpool Street and the service is very frequent. Rent should be a bit cheaper too.

Jimoslimos

To mirror what r3nu4l said, you pretty much need to know where you will be working - then sort out the accommodation. Its worth trying to live on a train line that runs directly between work and home and you should also look at the overground mainline train network aswell - faster trains and less stops in general.

nicolo

well im planning on trying to get work in camden or somewhere near that, but yeah ill try find somewhere cheap to live for a bit, maybe crash with mates then find work.
so anyone got any dublin comparisons? itd be easier in my head if i knew more bout the place in a comparisons sense,

Dublin's Finest

As someone who moved over in the last two months (from Dublin) - it's hard to compare the two really, they're very different.

From my limited experience though, I'd agree with what's been said below. Especially about the tube...novelty for a week, pain in the hole thereafter.

Fulham's a nice area - full of Aussies. I've heard bad things about Tottenham. Avoid the Finsbury Park area.

South London has a bad rep but Clapham's meant to be very nice.
I'm in Islington, which is nice, but very expensive. Particulalry the council tax.

It is quite like Dublin in that you're walking along a nice area and ten minutes later you're in a bit of a dive.

Hope this helps and wasn't just a ramble...felt like one!!

nicolo

bout how much are you looking at council tax wise in most places?

iguana

First off rents are generally quite a bit more expensive in London than they are in Dublin. In 2005 I went from paying €900pm for a two bed in Ranelagh (central and lovely area) with garden to paying €1050 (equivalent) for a one bed with no outside space in Seven Sisters (not central, not lovely).

Camden could be very, very loosely described as similar to Rathmines in that it's sort of studenty and it's walkable to the centre of the city. A three bed in Camden will cost roughly £400pw, for example; http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-14941397.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=rent It will cost more if you don't want to live in ex-local authority. If you move to the less popular areas within a mile of Camden, such as Holloway or Finsbury park, you are looking at about £300pw for a three bed.

Council tax will vary from area to area, but I'd suggest allowing for a budget of £100pm. If you need a travelcard this will also set you back between £90 - £105 pm depending on whether you end up in Zone 2/3. Remember you will have to pay a regular water bill in the UK which you don't in Ireland but waste charges are covered by your council tax.

damnyanks

I'd second islington really nice place. Couple of parks for football and so on. You learn too tic tac toe (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

iguana

Dublin's Finest wrote:

Fulham's a nice area - full of Aussies. I've heard bad things about Tottenham. Avoid the Finsbury Park area.

South London has a bad rep but Clapham's meant to be very nice.
I'm in Islington, which is nice, but very expensive. Particulalry the council tax.

Tottenham and Finsbury Park have much lower crime levels than Islington. They just don't have much by way of nice places to socialise.

damnyanks

Clapham has a good life to it, mainly cause its so far out. Has a nice town , few decent pubs and nice restraunts - obviously it has the green. ONly draw back is the northern line.

Dublin's Finest

iguana wrote:

Tottenham and Finsbury Park have much lower crime levels than Islington. They just don't have much by way of nice places to socialise.

No offence intended, if there is anybody who lives in those areas. I only mentioned them because my estate agent flatmate mentioned them to me in that context.

iguana

Dublin's Finest wrote:

No offence intended, if there is anybody who lives in those areas. I only mentioned them because my estate agent flatmate mentioned them to me in that context.

They are also pretty much one of the UK's fastest rising property markets. Some areas having seen 30% price increases in the last year. And expected to outpace the rest of the London market (with the obvious exception of areas on the Haggerstown line) for the next two years as they are being heavily developed, especially Tottenham.

They just are both really crappy as far as places to go out are concerned. Apart from price and transport I wouldn't actually recommend anyone to live there if they could afford elsewhere. Unless they were willing to live there in the hope of making a quickish profit from property.

damnyanks

Dublins forrest you arent that lad whois always playing hurling in the park up by islington / arsnel ?

Dublin's Finest

damnyanks wrote:

Dublins forrest you arent that lad whois always playing hurling in the park up by islington / arsnel ?

No not me - never much of a hurling man myself!

damnyanks

neither are these guys, blatent golf swings!

But then again you I find you cant but help be more Irish when abroad.

growler

as has been said above, wait and see where you get a job before deciding on where to live as the last thing you want to be doing is spending hours more on the tube than you have to. Buses are a great alternative, as unlike dublin they work, often turn up on time and can be quite fast.

That said I think I'd hate to live in Camden it might have a big market full of crap and allows you to eat pizza slices 24hours a day, but its constant mayhem at weekends, pubs are always rammed etc. ... actually i'm probably just getting old :-)

TBH almost every area in london has its good and bad bits, I've lived in stoke newington for years and it has million pound properties beside council estates, fancy resturants next door to urkish mafia poker clubs, crack heads and journalists queuing at the same chip shops, yuppies and geezers mingle freely and with (relatively) little trouble (if you don't mind the odd shooting / machete attack).

You can run into nutters on the Kings Road as easily as on Seven Sisters, thought the scenery on the Kings Road is far superior.

Generally speaking though, north london tends to be more laidback and casual, south london tends to be a bit more dressed up and full of gob****e-types: this is a gross generalisation !!!

nicolo

class im thinking of looking for somehwre near stoke newington, Ive got long blue hair so my best bet for a job is somewhere in the camden/oxford area apperntly

growler

or shoreditch, soho, hoxton.... etc.

growler

or you could change your hair colour and open up a whole new world !

man1

nicolo wrote:

class im thinking of looking for somehwre near stoke newington, Ive got long blue hair so my best bet for a job is somewhere in the camden/oxford area apperntly

Trojan911

growler wrote:

TBH almost every area in london has its good and bad bits, I've lived in stoke newington for years and it has million pound properties beside council estates, fancy resturants next door to urkish mafia poker clubs, crack heads and journalists queuing at the same chip shops, yuppies and geezers mingle freely and with (relatively) little trouble (if you don't mind the odd shooting / machete attack). You can run into nutters on the Kings Road as easily as on Seven Sisters, thought the scenery on the Kings Road is far superior. Generally speaking though, north london tends to be more laidback and casual, south london tends to be a bit more dressed up and full of gob****e-types: this is a gross generalisation !!!

Fully agree there, I lived in London for 15yrs. Started in Lewisham in '89 (wasn't great) then Charlton (was good) then Blackheath (also good) then Belgravia for 10.5yrs (excellent but very expensive). I worked around Oxford Street and Camden, both excellent places to socialise. I went over with 700punts, when that ran out I got a job.

Public transport was good and I loved the laid back attitudes..... There are nutters everywhere over there but there are also some great people too.

Go for it......

TJ911... (wishing his youth back)