Where can we live if DH accepts this job in London

[LondonMove]

or more to the point can we afford to take this job in London?

Salary 37000

I think we can afford a combined commuting/rent cost of 900 a month rent and 2000 a year travelling with some flexibilty and movement between them. Ideally an hours total commute to regents park on the East side of London so I am closer to my family who live near Colchester, Essex.

need minimum 2 bedrooms, ideally 3 although we live in a two bed flat currently with two DCs. It is a bit of a squeeze though.

and advice greatly needed, even if just pointer to other sites etc.

Where in London?

I'm not working atm, but when I do start looking my wage will not add to the pot as will just cover childcare etc.

initial thoughts were romford way but I don't know the area or the outer london sub area's at all really.

Romford a good idea but I would also look at Walthamstow. On tube so probs 45 mins to regents park (Victoria to oxford
Circus then bakerloo line) or by bike. Right side of London for Essex. Nice, suburban, lots of parks. Annual Oyster card about £1200.

travel card 1100 per year

looking to rent as we will probably only be there a couple of years. DC are 10 months and 2.5 so don't care about schools.

baby is awake for his feed so will dash and pop back in the mornin

basildon is looking good

It depends which train station is closest to his work. Can he walk to work from any of the thameslink stations, Waterloo, Victoria? If you have to add on tube/bus journey, your commute is longer & more expensive. Sutton / cheam / carshalton will get you into Victoria in 20-40 min, or london bridge or city thameslink in 40-50min.

Have you been to Basildon? I moved to Southend from the north of England for work, and the information pack they provided said to avoid it. But that was a while ago.

Will you have a car? If not, and links to Colchester are important, then the train goes from London Liverpool Street / Stratford. Leytonstone would work for that as it's on the central line.

I lived in Basildon as a young teenager as my parents had the opportunity to move out of our flat in London to a house with all mod cons. At the time it was a great place to grow up however, we still moved on to other areas of Essex as soon as they could afford it. Try Thundersley, Benfleet, Leigh if you want the Fenchurch St line. Obviously, the further out you go the longer & more expensive the commute and the more expensive the property. Not lived in these areas for some years so they have probably all changed quite a bit.
Good luck

nearly forgot to name change then

I know basildon isn't great, similar to where I grew up (also in Essex, I don't recognise the 'posh'/rich part of Essex that people go on about). However we can get a good three bed house with dishwasher for 750 and we actually get a little extra each month compared to now. Looking at places inside M25, then rents of 950 and commuting will be the same as now, look harder to find (not sure how to spend time looking for them and viewing them) and leave us the same, which is just making it through each month but nothing to set aside for savings.

DH is still negotiating so we'll see what the final figure is, but now thanks to you, when we do we have a few more places to look at properly.

DH will train in to work, I will have access to the car for driving to my family. I have lots of young siblings so they will alternate visits to me.

Plus if it is only for 2/2.5 years we can put up with it i think

Redbridge, wanstead, ilford (north) Newbury park, seven kings, Woodford barkingside, clayhall,

It is very easy to drive straight up a12 from these areas.

But in reality my 2 bed dump in Newham is over 900 so you may have to rethink

I'd think if you were looking as far out as Basildon you could do lots worse than Southend

not sure you'd be able to find something in London for £900 or less. I live in SE London (prob one of the least desirable London postcodes according to idiots who know nothing ) and afaik you'd really be pushed to find something even approaching that

Southend is lovely for little kids, it's a quickish commute, you'd be near your rellies and you might be able to cover the higher commuting costs with the rent saved

and it's a fuck of a lot nicer than Basildon IMVHO

for some reason i thought it was a lot longer commute and I kinda have a automatic hatred of seaside towns, but I shall look into it.

We would struggle on one wage tbh.
Most places also need you to be earning annual wage x3 annual rent

so that would be 1250 for us, we just need to have a final confirmation and take it from there really. Will be back at that point I imagine, hopefully by the end of the week.

although being near a climbing wall is quite important for me

£37k is not much for London

One of the main things that can make London life unbearable is a long and horrible commute. It really is awful. A nicer house doesn't compensate for a longer journey.

I agree pigletbomb- we pay a small fortune to live in zone 2/ edge of one to save commute, but means we only have a tiny place

I'd have a look at Tower Hamlets some parts are very nice ,climbing wall centre at Mile End!, if I recall correctly . you'll find a 2 bedder for £1000pcm and tons of cheap kids activities. Nice green spaces at Mudchute farm and Victoria park. Isle of Dogs is right by the river plus it's in zone 2 with great transport links into central London.

Thought I'd do a random update

In the end we decided the salary wasn't enough (which this thread helped confirm). Plus we felt the job was undervalued as well so we/DH didn't accept the job offer as they refused to move on salary.

They didn't appoint anyone and re-advertised a few months later at a higher salary (but actually still the final one they offered DH last time). He re-interviewed, got re-offered the job but still said they weren't moving on salary.

However, we got the terms such that he only has to go into the office two days a week and they will pay for travel making the salary worth it and taking home slightly more than his current one (once you take into account loss of tax credits, payment of student loan).

He accepted and we are staying put until if I get a job.

Great negotiating tactics, London - I hope he enjoys the new job. I'd agree that 37k isn't much for a family in London.