Choosing a Location

Some of the factors to consider when choosing an area in which to live:

Transport: Availability of transport to and from your school, workplace or places to socialise with friends. Being near to a transport route can be convenient and could be safer. Note that buses may not run in the evenings or late at night in some areas.

Social life: You may want to live near where your friends live

Green areas: You can find street maps and aerial photographs from: http://www.streetmap.co.uk or: http://www.multimap.com

Check if there are local facilities you need. You can use the Find My Nearest tool at http://www.upmystreet.com (based on the Thomson directories), or you can search Yellow Pages online at http://www.yell.com

For a detailed guide about how to find accommodation in London, see: Life/Accommodation/London.

London is a big city and you can go to zones 3, 4-6. But remember the further you live, the more the cost of the transport ticket will be (see our section London Transport for more information; refer also to the London Transport Website). Don’t be too confident in public transport, as especially compared to other cities, there are often problems: signal failures, escalators repairs, station overcrowded, delay trains every day.

Then you will be able to decide where you want to live. West London is generally more expensive than east, south and north. Hampstead with its nice, pleasant, peaceful areas, Little Venice, Notting Hill with the famous Portobello market, Kensington and Chelsea with the proximity of Hyde Park (well-known as the most expensive area, a lot of embassies are there) are among the highest prices. In contrast, South of the River (that’s how English people call the left bank) is cheaper. But you can also find expensive area such as Wimbledon there. Clapham is nice but can vary depending upon if you are at Clapham Common or South Clapham. Further, you can take the train at London Bridge and stay near more popular areas such as Bexley or Lewisham.

http://www.nalscheme.co.uk/frameset.htm - lists estate agencies by area of London who are registered with NALS