Help for dd moving to London from Ireland.

[Alsonification]

Dd is 25 & considering moving to london for a change of scenery. She's got enough savings to rent a room in a flat share for a few months while she looks for a job. She's got a masters degree in psychology.
She's looking for advice on nice areas to live, places to find rooms to rent, jobs etc.
Any advice or recommendations would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Also I should add it doesn't have to be psychology jobs. She's got loads of office/admin experience too.

What’s her housing budget? Rooms in shared houses in decent areas are going for £1000 pcm at the moment. She should try to secure a job ahead of time because landlords will want to see proof of income - unless she has enough to pay 6 months in full up front. Indeed.com good for general admin jobs

@Alsonification - I am also attempting to move from Ireland but the cost seems phenomenal. How many people is she looking to share with? Places I'm looking at are 1400--1500 a month excluding bills.

Was speaking to someone yday who is on 85k and paying 1900 a month and who is now looking for a flatshare as it's getting to expensive for them on their own.

@VanCleefArpels

Good idea about finding work before she goes over. I think she thought it would be easier to find work when she's there but I guess you're right about landlords needing proof of income.

@WitheringTights000 she's been looking at places around £1000 a month & found a few that look nice but of course she doesn't know the areas at all.

There's no way she'd earn £85k! so I hope she can afford to do this. She's happy to share with a few people. In fact she'd prefer that so she could meet people. She's used to it from years of living with strangers in college.

She's been looking at spareroom.co.uk. Some really nice rooms on there.

Areas: a lot of young graduates congregate around Clapham, Balham, Tooting and Brixton. Maybe as far as West Norwood, Dulwich. Further out than that means nightlife is less accessible due to transport

The likes of spareroom.com might be useful to help her find her feet for the first couple of months while she finds work and has the opportunity to get more of a feel for the city and where she'd like to settle, rather than jumping straight into a long-term contract that might be difficult to get out of?

Has she contacted any recruitment agencies? The big ones, such as Reed, would be a good starting point, even if it's just a temp admin role.

Good luck to her - London is a brilliant city to live in, especially as a young person!

The best thing for her to do is sign up with an agency - if she has lots of office experience she will get lots of jobs, and some of these will have an option to go long term if she is interested.

As far as renting, it depends what her expectations are. I live in zone 3 (Walthamstow) and two bed flats near the tube rent for about £1700 or £1800, so there are lots of young people with ordinary jobs sharing with a friend and paying about £900 each. But that is not central or glamorous - she would pay much, much more if she wants to live in a smart area.

Depends what she wants from an area to live in. If she prefers some green space, areas of south london are nice and cheaper, such as west norwood, dulwich, crystal palace - but not such good transport late at night. If she'd prefer nightlife and late night transport - Brixton, Tooting, Balham.

Can she afford to book an airbnb for an initial period whilst she looks at different areas and views rooms?

@Peony654 great minds think alike!

@Alsonification - there are some lovely rooms on spareroom yes. There is also the 'buddy up' option but I think that's for finding just one other flatmate.

I would recommend that she finds a job before moving. I work in HR/recruitment and the job market is horrific at the moment. Lots of layoffs. It could take quite some time before she gets a job.

Just to be aware, rooms go instantly. My dd is a student and currently has nowhere to live for her 3rd year. She's put in for about 150 places.

Everyone thanks so much for all the advice. This will be invaluable. She's looking to move in the new year so has a bit of time to look around. Recruitment agency is a great plan. She can do that now.

I think she'd like to be able to move over & enjoy herself a bit before she starts working but if she has to have a job first then so be it.

I adore London so I'm extremely jealous. If only I was young again hahaha.
I'm hoping she goes purely so I can visit her regularly lol.

i moved from dublin to london 10 years ago now and still here - i lived in an air bnb for 3 weeks and just spent everyday job hunting and room viewing until i got something!

I first lived in seven sisters in a flat share - it was bloody great! and then i later moved to walthamstow and now im back in Tottenham again - i bought a flat 2 years ago

what i did find was my money disappeared very fast when i moved - i had about 5k at the time and sort of moved on a whim (I was 22) I really winged it and it worked out in the end - but honestly once i got my flat share - handed over the months deposit and the months rent up front money was nearly gone - i ended up getting loads of random jobs - agencies where i worked as a server and bartender at events - worked in the local pub for a while, did data entry for some recruitment agencies, then i got a job at one point as an invigilator in the excel center for some exams - until i found a more permanent job (it took a while though)

I hope she can make it work :)

@Fupoffyagrasshole - I love Dublin as well as London but the cost is just insane! It doesn't seem to put people or moving there though.

When you first moved to London did you live with multiple flatmates or just one?

If I was moving to London I would probably only be bringing around 5k and it would be gone in a minute lol. Landlords are asking for 6 months up front and I just don't know how people afford it

@WitheringTights000 Sorry only saw this now!!

When I moved i lived in a house with 6 others - was a big flat over a shop and some of us ended up becoming friends actually and still in contact now!

I think at the time i only paid 550£ for the room - reckon these days its double if not more :(

6 months up front is insane - where are you supposed to get it from!