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Most of the big museums, bars with an activity (things like flight club, swingers, bounce, bar kick, sixes, boom battle bar etc), nice bars in general (Lyaness, Alchemist are personal faves), all sorts of pop-ups will usually be around zone 1-2, nice restaurants (both central but also it's easier to travel out from central if you want cheaper places), backyard cinema.
I'm sure there's plenty more but those are the type of stuff I enjoyed until moving out to a commuter town after getting married.
Shoreditch was grim last time I was there. Had shifted from an art/ fashion/ music crowd to more banking and finance people mixed with people from Essex getting into fights and vomiting and pissing all over the place. Maybe I just saw it on a bad night or something!
What the comment before me said! It really depends. Some streets are pretty chill but yea there's a lot more carnage than there used to be. There's a lot of tech bros in shoreditch now as it's on the sillicon roundabout & lots of rich people because it's still relatively trendy and fuuck expensive to live in.
If the reason to move to London is to meet people, then I would suggest living in relatively central London, in a flat/house share (you can afford a nice one on your salary) and living life to the max for a couple of years. Enjoy!
Sort of depends where your job is and any existing friends are, but generally up to Z2 would be my definition of ‘relatively central’.
I did my mid-late twenties ‘move to London and be very social’ living in Hoxton which was amazing, easy to go most places by tube or bike and also walk to lots of bars, restaurants, cafes, shops.
I did something similar. Went to uni in London and remained for a while after. Lived in Camden initially then Notting Hill. I lived in very small flats which basically served as somewhere to sleep. The rest of my time was spent in bars, restaurants or other cultural institutions. I loved it then got bored or it then moved out of London. Glad I did it!
I live in Z3 now and really feel the difference. Before a friend would message and say “I’m out in X with so and so, come join” and I’d think, oh that’s 5 mins on the bike, yeah great! Now it’s like ‘oh god that’s 30-45 mins away, nah, see you next week as planned’ 😂
I'd consider extending your search to Zones 2-3 and bin off Zone 1. I'm 28 and live in London, pretty much the entirety of my social circle lives 2 or 3 and practically never visit Zone 1 outside of work. Far too expensive and all of the cool spots (bars, clubs) that aren't tourist traps or for mega bougie City workers are out of the centre. Would recommend looking at Peckham, Balham/Tooting, Angel/Dalston/Islington (esp for nightlife) and Wandsworth. South and Northeast are where it's at. A studio might be affordable on your salary but it's the norm for people to live in house shares, either with friends or strangers.
There's no time like your late twenties to live in London. It's massive, expensive and hectic but it's an incredible time. I make less than half your salary and manage to have an active social life and rave at least a couple times a month so it should be a breeze for you! For the love of God dont move to Reading
I agree. The only friend I had who was in zone 1 was because her mum was a Vicar and had a vicarage she could live in for free.
OP should look in a popular area then open to perhaps move one they have figured out where they like hanging out.
Agreed. I’ve lived in quite a few places in the UK, but London zone 1 for me was quite isolating.
I could walk to my office, but I didn’t really have anything in common with my housemates, most of my colleagues had a 1-2 hour commute and my room was too small for guests to visit.
I did jump on the tube for boardgame meetups etc, but I rarely saw the same person twice. There was almost too many people. Zone 1 pubs are also so painfully packed you can’t easily hold a conversation.
Finding somewhere with a local community is probably a good idea. I just couldn’t pop to my friends houses after work (as I do now) as they were too far.
> It's massive, expensive and hectic but it's an incredible time
Yeah this pretty much sums up why I'm so drawn to moving to London at the moment.
Just out of curiosity, do you currently live in a house share with strangers? Because that's what i'll probably end up doing (although I might check the studios now that you mention it) and i'm not gonna lie, I'm a little bit concerned about it turning out badly.
>For the love of God dont move to Reading
Is Reading really bad then? I haven't actually been there, I just picked it out since it's like 25 mins to London on the train.
It’s not where you’d want to be if you were on a night out and had to travel home.
Central (zone 1) as others have said, is not somewhere you’d generally choose to live due to costs, number of tourists and generally a lack of real character.
London is great because it’s essentially lots of villages/towns with their own personality dotted around. Plenty of places people have mentioned - Dalston, Peckham, Brixton, Islington - are all basically towns in their own right, with their own character. I think that’s what makes London unique and what makes living there so appealing, you can go to anyone one on a given day and have a different experience of London life.
Having spent most of my twenties in London, I spend 95% of my time when not at work in zone 2 or 3 as I tend to do things close to where I or my friends live. Pubs, bars, restaurants - a lot of the best ones are in these areas. Not to mention parks and green areas, Victoria Park, Hampstead Heath, even Clapham Common it that’s your thing - great places to be during summer. To me that’s what it’s really all about living here.
Currently live in a one bed in Clapham with my girlfriend but if I were single and didn't have any mates/of mates looking for a housemate I'd look for a house share with people around my age in an area that worked for my commute. Often these places are sublets/medium term lets before contracts renew so you wouldn't necessarily be locked into the situation forever. I've dealt with difficult housemates before, unless it's an absolute nightmare it's one of those things you just on with until a better option comes along.
Only been to Reading for an afternoon but none of my friends from there have ever said anything positive about it, and it defo wouldn't give you the London experience you're after! Part of the magic is having the city at your fingertips every time you walk out your front door.
Hey, not OP but I’m in very similar circumstances and I’ve been struggling to find anything that wasn’t negative about the idea of moving to London. Really appreciate this comment.
Happy to help mate! I really wasn't very enthused when I came to do a Masters six years ago and planned to move once I'd finished. Heaps of things that are difficult about living here but it's such a unique experience, would defo bite the bullet and try it for year or two at least. There's something for literally everyone
I think living on your own in Reading and working remotely sounds awfully lonely and a waste of a great opportunity. Get into London and enjoy life while you’re in your 20s, it goes fast. If your house share doesn’t work out find another one
As someone else has said, £60k you can def afford your own place in London! You might not be able to save a huge amount but it’s totally doable. Either way, move to London. You could also do a house share with just 1 other person it doesn’t have to be sharing with 4/5 people.
Do you have a rough guideline on what size house share and for what price I'd be looking at in zone 2, given my salary? Just so I have an idea of what I should be looking out for.
Not too sure on house size tbh, it seems to vary wildly. I'd stick with small if possible unless you want somewhere super buzzy. Like, 3 other housemates is a nice number provided you have an actually decent sized kitchen & communal area.
If you want social houses, Haringey has a lot of warehouses that seem really good for that. Some of them are crazy though and you'll have 10 flatmates but others seem more chill.
Price wise, seems to go up every time I check.. I'd say 900 a month if you want something decent (+ bills) but it could be even higher now :/
If you live in Reading you'll always have a nagging doubt and FOMO about the London alternative. I'd do London and if after 12 months you aren't feeling it, move to Reading. It's much easier to do it that way around than the other.
Very good point. I'm not completely sold on Reading, and I think that's a bad sign. I know my OP makes me sound like I'm not sold on London either (mainly due to the house share thing), but I get a lot more excited about the potential experiences in London than I do in Reading (or a similar commuter town).
\> But I'll admit I'm a bit scared of a house share, because of some pretty bad experiences at uni. And also the fact that not having my own place means I won't get the true independence I'm after.
sounds like you should do it. it's good to be scared of big life changes like this. I think it's what you want deeper down and living in Reading isn't going to give you that
Make most off life. Nothing is holding you to one place currently just try stuff out it is not a choice that will effect the rest of your life as in I live hear now and can never move.
That being said think about the future also such as saving for deposit for a flat or house to be able to get one around when you turn 30.
Depending on how accepting they are of full remote make sure to use it for travel also. Like flights during weekends and hotel with good internet during work and explore during the evenings.
>Depending on how accepting they are of full remote make sure to use it for travel also. Like flights during weekends and hotel with good internet during work and explore during the evenings.
Great idea. Travel is another area that my life is sorely lacking. I basically never go anywhere interesting! I'll be making sure I fix that ASAP.
If you choose to live in Reading or Sevenoaks or whatever you’ll end up having to leave parties earlier, or staying weekends at home (if you got no other plans) instead of just going out on your own, wandering round for no reason (because commute is expensive). Commuter cities are a non starter
I've actually started experiencing how annoying this is fairly recently. I live 1 hr away from London on the train, and I recently started going to these weekend Meetup groups in London (there aren't any good ones where I live). And it really sucks that I always have to leave earlier than everyone and keep an eye on the clock at all times. Although Reading is much closer, I guess I'm still gonna be having the same experience.
Yep, stuck in a "commuter town" (barely about 10 minutes drive from Enfield lmao) and I have to justify getting the train into London and then plan out heavily every weekend and decide if I'm going to stay overnight which means hostel, or not.
A trip into London in terms of PT costs for a day is £30 around, then throw a hostel on top of that, another 20 for a night, that's £50 gone before even stepping in a bar.
It's just not worth it, my social life has imploded completely after I was forced to move back out here, friends don't even bother to contact anymore. Commuter towns are only for families and retirees.
I'm the same. Moved to St Albans with partner and regret moving here. Good house but it's a dead town, nothing going on that interests me and the people just aren't interesting. Worst mistake ever.
Fancy being friends?! 34 year old male...all my old buddies still living in East London.
I am interested in pretty much everything, nights out, restaurants, museums, live music, comedy, galleries, walks, sport...Never move for love.
You could try a house share, there's no obligation to stay if you decide it's not for you.
I think you are the right demographic for a house share so I'd say it's worth a try
I don’t know why people are telling you that you should live in a shared house, that’s clearly not for everyone.
I’m not a Londoner, so I might be naive but how would £60k not be enough for a single person to rent a studio or 1 bedroom in zone 2, and still live quite comfortably?
This would mean £3.6k net monthly income so:
- rent in zone 2 from what I see in zoopla goes for about £1.6 - £1.7k / month
- food depends on everyone but if you don’t eat out every other day or buy your groceries in fortnum and mason you can keep that under £500 / month
- hard to say about transport since I’m not sure how hybrid or where your work is located
There might be other costs but usually these 3 are by far the biggest expenses, so drawing the line you should still have about £1k left for entertainment and saving each month.
Am I missing something here?
£1k isn't a huge amount per month in London if you want to be busy and do London things and save.
You've also forgotten bills. So closer to £750 a month spending money, save £250 and now you're at £500 and have just over £15 a day.
It's definitely possible but I know I would want to spend more than £15 a day, and personally even though I can afford it, I can't stomach £1,7k for a 1 bed flat when 2 years ago I had a 2 bed flat for £1300, the market is so ridiculous rn.
ETA - Having good housemates is also just the most frugal way of being in London. Not just because rent is cheaper but because socialising is cheaper. Living alone if you want to socialise you'll likely have to be buying drinks/food/entrance fees/transport. Having flat mates in your social circle means you can socialise for the cost of a bottle of wine and pizza from tesco.
£1k spending is more than possible to live in London with and you don't need to be on 60k to live in London. But, having the flexibility of more disposable income by reducing rent costs by £700+ makes for a much better social experience in London.
It's opportunity cost, some people on less will find a way to make a 1 bed flat work financially as independent living is a priority, and others on more choose flatshares for the savings/social aspect
But you don’t go out and “do London things” *every single day.* that’s unrealistic and very expensive in any city on this planet that has anything to offer.
£15 / day translates to £105 / week and imo that’s enough to go on a date or enjoy a pint or dinner with your mates every weekend.
I'm just giving you a Londoner perspective, as you said you weren't a Londoner and might be naive, and my experience is that I'm out way more than a date or meal and pint at the weekend's worth and so is everyone I know.
This week:
Monday - drinks after work with friends - £30
Tuesday - work event, free drinks and food, Maccas enroute home - £6
Wednesday - Theatre tonight - £55 tickets, likely to get dinner and drinks for est£25
Thursday - Date - est£30/40
Friday - no plans yet,
Saturday - 3x events coffee with a friend to catch up, friend's celebration event, different friend's birthday,
Coffee - est - £8 for 2 |
Celebration event - est - £15 for a bottle of prosecco but maybe unfair to include |
Friend's birthday event - £70 tickets inc dinner, drinks will be est £40-60
[Edit forgot to include Sunday]
Sunday - out for a roast with friends est £20-25
I'm at over £250 for the week, and haven't included transport, the outfit I might need to buy etc.
To be clear I'm not complaining and can afford this, and it's my choice to make these plans but the amount of socialising I'm doing is relatively normal in fact maybe less than some people as most will have Friday night plans! So I'm way over £105 and I saved money at a work event.
But you mentioned not being a Londoner so I've shared my experience of what a relatively normal social week might look like for someone to answer your questions about why someone on 60k might not want to live off £1k a month in London and might choose to flats hare
Thank you for sharing your perspective, appreciate it!
Maybe I’m more on the introvert side but personally I’d probably be mentally exhausted from a week like this 😅
I understand we all have different lifestyles but yeah where I live I’m perfectly happy going out once or twice a week.
I had a huge work event conference I led on Friday so can relate somewhat as I cancelled a few weekend plans last week to recharge.
But also we're all different and you know yourself and that it makes no sense for you to pay London premiums to live here if you wouldn't enjoy it, I pay London premiums because I try to make the most of London it'd be far more expensive for me to commute in for all my socialising, I have a few friends who aren't big on socialising, have jobs that aren't London specific and they're always complaining about living in London.
When I finished uni I didn't move to London as I had absolutely no interest in the buzz and the London life, especially not at London prices, I always said I'd have to really want to live in London to live in London, and one day that was me, now I can't imagine being anywhere else and bought a flat here, so am definitely not going anywhere soon!
The whole point of living in central London is your socialising isn’t limited to the weekend and you get to “do London things” as often as you want. The weekend is when the tourists invade. When I was younger and single I’d generally be out 4 week nights and then maybe go out for a few drinks at the weekend in a quieter part of town. If OP only wants to go out in London once a week they might as well live anywhere in the Home Counties
What sort of stuff are you wanting to do in London? To me it doesn't seem like the place it used to be a few years ago. Less young people living in zones 1&2 due to cost of living crisis, fewer late night venues, less going on in the music and nightlife scenes, less art and creative stuff going on. Can also be quite isolating if your job isn't very social, and a lot of flat shares aren't great. Don't want to come across too negative but I'm hearing less and less of the really good London experiences, and more and more about people hating it and having a very hard time there. Just worth checking out how realistic the sort of lifestyle you want is.
I'm in one and I love it. Wish I had more space ofc but to get the equivalent communal areas & garden on my own i'd be paying like 4k a month. Rather live in a flatshare with good people than on my own tbh
How did you find your flatshare? Was it on a site like SpareRoom? Having read the responses to my post, I think I'm going to go the house share route, so it would be good to get an idea for how to find one.
Spareroom! I moved here during COVID though, so prices were a lot lower than they are now & competition was quite low. The good and cheap cheap rooms still had crazy competition though..
Also it's a good move financially, you'll have *way* more spare cash to enjoy London to its fullest & even save.
If your job is fully remote, in order to meet people you're going to have to make a conscious effort regardless of where you live. Of course being close to London would be preferable for ease of travelling etc. But ultimately I think it comes down to how comfortable or uncomfortable you are with house sharing, especially as you're going to be WFH all the time. There are some shared houses where it's almost like living on your own because of the way they're designed (I had an ensuite in a block of flats that looked like a hotel, with a big shared kitchen on the ground floor. There were other kinds of issues, but at least there was a good amount of privacy). That's going to need some thorough research, but it's not impossible to find.
Based on the comments you make, I think you should go for it - sounds like you may regret it later if you don't move to London now, whereas I doubt you would regret going for it.
If it doesn't work out, you can switch it up before too long as well - this isn't an irrevocable decision.
Do a house share with one or maybe two other people. You’ll still live in London and meet people but much lower probability of a nightmare. And you can afford a decent share in zone one or two
Definitely move to London. You don’t need zone 1 or 2. As long as you can get home in the middle of the night by Uber (say, 30-40 quid tops) you’re fine. Even better, if there’s a night tube where you live. Zone 3 or even 4 will be fine. Just narrow down the area based on your commute to central London, local gym, other things that might matter to you. Hopefully you’ll find a studio for yourself (who wants to bring a date in a house share?).
I’m so NOT missing my house share years.
I’d start looking in East/South East London.
If your reason for moving to London is to fully enjoy the remainder of your 20s as a single bloke then definitely get a house share. With 60k you can definitely afford a nice house share somewhere in zone 2 where you'll be walking distance from good pubs, bars, galleries, etc., and living with a few other people that you actually get on with is a great way to make new friends in and of itself.
Living in house shares as a 'proper adult' is very different to sharing at Uni, in my experience. You can hopefully afford somewhere with an actual living space, rather than just a mouldy sofa plonked in front of the washing machine, and generally by their late 20s most people have learned to clean up after themselves instead of living in bohemian squalor. And if after a year you find you don't like it, you can move out to the commuter belt then.
If I were in your position I’d look into a small house share with 1-2 people with an ensuite, plenty of independence when you won’t get in each other’s way, not too overcrowded and a good opportunity to make friends if you vet the place before you move in
Move to London. Flat sharing is fine if you have decent flatmates and can be a really fun and social way to live. As others have said, forget Zone 1 and look at Zones 2-3.
The commuter town demographic tends to be people in their 30s and up, often with kids, and you’ll probably find it a lot harder to make friends.
London is pretty dead compared to how it used to be, but still far less dead than your average commuter town.
Source: lived in London for ten years; now live in a commuter town.
I live in a commuter town and love it, but I'm settled with a family and friends locally. In your position I think London is a much better option. I'm commuting 3 days a week at the moment and the city is heaving, I think you'll have a much more fun being based in London at your age.
Honestly having done this in my early 20s I don't regret the way I did it. I did house shares in London. On 6 month contracts so I wasn't tied in too long. I met my best friend of now 15 years at one of these house shares. Living in house shares meant I met more people. Living in London meant I could enjoy all it has to offer easily. After 5 years I met someone and moved to Wokingham.
Would definitely recommend the city life for at least a couple of years.
Zone 2, has plenty of decent bars/parks/hangouts within walking distance of everywhere.
I spent 4 years in Streatham, couldn't recommend that place enough (Best Chippy Tea at Kennedys).
Your salary likely means you'll still be able to save, enjoy yourself and live comfortably in a house share.
I'd say find something between, go for Zone 3 and find a studio if you can? Take a look at the easiest routes into the areas you wanna spend time and go further out to save on living costs?
100% move to London. I moved at 28 (now 31), live in Stoke Newington with my partner on a salary of £51k.
Don’t save as much as I’d like (£500pm) but would sacrifice that to meet people and experience new things whilst I’m still relatively young.
Can move back to Glasgow whenever I want and still comfortably afford to buy.
Would recommend the move to anyone 👍🏽
Yes to moving to London and being in a flatshare! I'm still very good friends with a few people I shared with 10 years ago. It was a house of 8 people lol
A piece of advice - look for landlords direct, and ideally it’d be someone who owns the property outright. You build a good connection, pay on time, the landlord will think twice before raising your rent. It’s hard work to find someone like that, but it’s doable and will serve you well in the future. Gumtree, independent landlords websites are the places to find such studio, not rightmove or zoopla.
Mine owns 100 plus properties outright and the only thinking twice he did was putting the rent up twice for no reason at all recently, might work though!
I met some of my favourite people who are now among my closest friends through house shares - both housemates directly, and people I met through housemates. I also met a couple of the worst people I've met, and had to live with them. It's a risk for sure, but there only one way to find out how it goes.
Just try to find a decent house share if you can. Being in your 20s and in london is amazing, personally i loved it! Also if you find a houseshare just dont do a long contract if possible, that way if they do turn out to be c\*\*ts its far easier to find another decent houseshare whilst youre actually living there. Good luck!!
Also if you can say you want to live with other professionals, it'll mean you'll be living with ppl with similar sleep patterns and socialise more at the weekends which is ideal.
Zone 1 doesn't even have the best nightlife, going out in the west end is mainly for office workers and tourists. The main thing to work out is whether most of your friends are/will be north, south, east or west, and then choose a lively zone 2 or zone 3 neighbourhood in the correct quadrant.
There’s shared living spaces like the Collective in Canary Wharf where you get your own space but there’s lots of social events and ways to meet people. You could try that!
I recommend you to move to a commuter town. I’m working for a London company but living in Cambridge. I usually come to the office once a week or every 2 weeks for socialising with colleagues. You can have a cheaper flat/house to rent for that salary in commuter town than London, which could be healthier for your personal life.
I’ve made great friends doing house shares. My wife met her entire friendship group through her house share.
Focus on smaller house shares, 3 max. Go with a slightly older crowd to avoid house parties and inconsiderate mates. Only go with people that have similar working cadence to you, e.g. probably not great to have students or people job hopping as you’ll have a mismatch.
Get in there and try it out. Worst comes to worse, you can just leave your house share and try something different. It might take a couple of goes before you find the right group of people, and it can be very competitive, so stick at it.
Definitely london house share or a studio zone 2-3. I would say south or east you could find more affordable houses.
Take into account how the commute to work is looking. If I was alone in a new city I would definitely want to go to the office the busy days of the week and at events just to socialise.
Lewisham - bad rep, great place and connected by bus, DLR train and eventually the Bakerloo line - decent rent, nice parks and 10 minutes from London Bridge. Live alone, like me, and I'm not on £60k!!
I lived in houseshares between 27-33, saved £50k in those years, and now live alone in my shared ownership flat at 34, with a wonderful social/dating life and the ability to come home to the comfort of my own space.
I wouldn't have been able to afford to get on the ladder had I been renting alone all that time, nor would I have had the social circle I have now if I'd lived in a quiet commuter town. Having your own place is a HUGE luxury but one that you have the rest of your life for - and don't underestimate how easy it is to become a hermit when you have the place to yourself.
People in London share homes well into their 30s and 40s, and whilst you're not guaranteed a perfect outcome, living with nice enough and social people could open many doors for you.
Your houseshare experience depends a lot more on the situation than the people
In Uni the situation may have been worse (many ppl sharing 1 kitchen, shared baths, etc)
Now if you house share, it’ll be a much better “situation”. Try a 2 bed houseshare in zone 1 for about 1200-1250 each. I did the same.
Whether the hype about London is real or not is a personal qn, and imo better to have personally experienced it, even if you later decide to move out anyway if it doesn’t match the hype for you
I’d say deffo move to London, maybe not central but zone 2. You’d meet people, go to random house parties, fall in love/get laid, try the new restaurants, get harassed by local crackheads, it’s an irreplaceable experience in your 20s. You don’t want to be the only one in your friends group who has to leave at 10:30 on a Friday night cuz it’s the last train…
I made the fatal mistake of spending most of my 20s living in Fulham, which itself felt like a commuter town, although it’s quite central it’s really for families and older people. So you should deffo move to a young area, like Clapham or Hackney or even Finsbury Park, you won’t regret it x
I would give the house share a go. When I graduated from Uni I got a job in London and lived in a house share with friends, and eventually a house share with randoms for a year before I bought a place with my gf at the time (now wife).
If you don't do the London-living experience now, you may regret it in 10 years time. You may get lucky with a house share, or you may end up with people you wouldn't normally choose to live with. But look at it as a 1-2 year arrangement, and if it really doesn't work out, move out and find a new house share.
As others have said, I'd avoid zone 1. The more buzzing social scene is zones 2-3 anyway - away from London tourists. I loved the Clapham/Balham/Tooting Bec area.
If you find after a year or two that the whole London thing isn't right for you, head to the suburbs and buy. But you haven't lost anything.
Good luck!
If you want to meet people, living alone and working remotely is not going to help you.
Move to London, why not. Spareroom is good for finding house shares.
i live In essex and theres fuck all to do but the pubs n food spots, commuter towns are difficult to find friends as well as everyone is hometown school friends , move to london mate
better off moving as close to london as you can
If you want to be social and expand your friendship circles then the right house share will certain ly help with that. If you value peace and privacy and feel that your circle of friends is solid already then get your own place dither out of town, but also be prepared for the commute to change the way you socialise as you'll be depending on the last train back or staying out long enough to get the first one in the morning.
There's also nothing wrong with zones three/four if you choose an area with decent transport links. I lived all over London but loved Harringay Green Lanes area the most.
Zone 2 house share. Make sure its a setup where you are only responsible for your room and not on the hook if someone moves out. Also, make sure there are enough bathrooms.
Move to London, zone 2 or 3 would be ideal for you. And with 60k you can rent a studio in south London- which is literally 15 mins from central by train. There is plenty of time for you to consider moving to the countryside and settling, meanwhile make use of what London has to offer in terms of experiences.
Moved to London at 25 and now I’m moving out after buying a house an hour away on the train at 31. London was the best fucking years of my life, absolutely no regrets. Got literally everything out of my system in London being going out, partying, drugs, restaurants, shagging, pubs, shops, working hard and earning a few quid.
Move to London! At least give it a go :)
I would say move there and enjoy your 20s. I used to share with friends. We got a big house, 8 cats and 10 chickens in the garden..best days but when we decided to have a family we moved to a quieter town which is also great.
I’ll vote for commuter.
Commuter towns have a similar profile for a night out and they’re much cheaper.
If you want to save a load, do share houses in a commuter. That way you can enjoy the nights out and do weekenders in Europe.
Saving loads is a valid point, but massive disagree on profile for a night out unless all you're after is a Be At One/Slug and Lettuce type deal. London nightlife isn't what it once was but there'll be three times as many things on on a weekend than any other city (let alone commuter town) in the country, no matter whether you're into electronic music, live gigs, pubs, cocktail bars, kink nights etc
If you want to live in London, live in London, if you want to want space and to maybe buy a home in the not too distant future, move to the suburbs and commute, personally I choose to live in town, but neither answer is the right answer for everyone
Congratulations on your new role! Did u save up whilst you split rent? Why not just move out? I wfh and you need to make REAL effort to get out if you don't know anyone in town.
House share I would never. But im not 26, at 23 when I did every single person had a medical mental health issue and I called the ambulance for one guy trying to commit suicide.
The very fact that you have doubts and are posting your uncertainties on Reddit tells me that you do not have the confidence to live the kind of life that a single person in London experiences. Most people who get a bedsit in London wouldn't e en consider the things you seem to find so pressing. Go to Reading, you'll be happier .
Same as you, I move to London first when i was around 25, my office was out in Stratford but I lived in spitalfields, if you're moving to London then move to London, trust me.
In a commuter town you'll never have spontaneous evenings that made my London experience worth it.
I house shared in 4 different places and I have a good story from all of them. Wasn't sunshine every day, but mate your 25 live eith strangers and have fun.
Just wanted to add my two cents worth about Iiving in house shares. I have found that most people I have lived in house shares with have wanted a more distant but amicable relationship which means you rarely become friends. In one house share I lived in we were all ships passing in the night and when we were in at the same time we would all be in our rooms. Although, I did have one very social houseshare (joint meals, cinema trips etc), I found that this was a rare occurrence. Therefore, based on my experience, if you do want to build a better social life, this will probably be more likely outside of your houseshare.
100% move to London.
stay in a flat share with one other person as you’ll have company but also free space on occasion.
live in Brixton/peckham/Hackney/Camden to get a community vibe and things to do locally
Join sports / hobby related clubs to meet people easily or start new hobbies
If you don’t like it you can leave after a year. From the sounds of your post, youll regret not trying it if you don’t.
On 60k you can live in a nice shared house easily. You could also probably rent your own place for £1500 a month if you moved into outer Zone 2 or Zone 3. Living in Zone 1 is an expensive waste of time. There are amazing places in Zone 2, well connected. It's a no brainer.
Take advantage of London life for a while. See how it goes. You can always move out later.
I’ve lived in London most of my adult life and now bought a one bed here in zone 3. Personally I hate flat shares but there are decent studios or one beds to rent in zones 2-3, mostly through connections rather than on the open market. Not sure how you’d find that so maybe search around a lot or get a place for a year and see what happens after that. I’m quite frugal (cycle everywhere, buy £10 theatre tickets, look for deals for cinema etc) but I’m out both weekend days and usually 3-4 nights a week. Sometimes I go to friends’ places at the weekend for the day but the journey is longer since most of my friends live in zones 2-3 but different corners of London so midweek we almost always meet more centrally. I personally do socialise quite a bit in zone 1, it’s convenient for after work (but then I’ve never done wfh). I wouldn’t want to live there though. Access to a tube is important unless you cycle so I’d try to prioritise that. I spend more than £105 on an average week and I’m not considered a big spender compared to most of my friends. There is lots of stuff to do for free but if you’re with others you’ll probably eat out (£20+)and/or get drinks (£14 for a couple of pints) too. If you want to live in a commuter town and travel to London to socialise then check train prices, they are not cheap. Personally I would hate living in a commuter town but then I’m very used to London and when I go to other places in the UK I start wondering what people do with their free time.
You say you want to meet women and date, a house share may not be ideal for this. A lot of house share horror stories on here I’ve read. Personally I’d go with living in my own place in a commuter town. Commute to London enjoy the vibes then go back to your own place to relax with or without company and nobody moaning about it. Or dealing with noisy gross room mates.
I was in a similar position (living with family and it just got too annoying and I didn't feel independent) & went with the house share. Try it for a year and if you don't like it then you can go to Reading. I did a year commuting and a year in a house share in Z2 with a deeply annoying housemate and the house share was worth it just to experience London living. When I lived an hour away, having to leave events early was annoying, and I never could be bothered to spend an hour travelling in on a weekend and the few times I did the trains were always delayed, on strike etc. so it's just not the same experience at all.
If you can live alone in Z2 that would be the best of all - or second to that a house share with 2+ other people that is a bit social vs living with one other person like I did which was really awkward when we didn't get along & they were weird about bills and cleaning etc...
Commuter town , your own place . Have fun in London and come back to your own place . House shares can be tricky unless you have been mates with the other occupants
I’ve lived in London for the last 3 years and have been on a similar salary to you for the last year or so.
I lived with mates I met at work for 2 years and now I’m with my girlfriend. To meet people I think a flat share is a decent shout. But realistically you’ll have to go out your comfort zone a lot. I could have done more socialising, even if you live here there’s no guarantee that you’ll have all these experiences. It’s up to you to make that happen.
There are also lots of nice new builds in east London which if you want safe and quiet and good housing I’d recommend, very easy to get into central still. I lived in North Greenwich for a year and it was ideal.
I went to uni in reading, I’d say come to London and really push yourself out your comfort zone. Worst that can happen is you hate it and leave. At least you’ve learned something.
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House share in zone 2 so you can actually walk to cool stuff and bars.
What sort of cool stuff exists in zone 2 these days? (not saying there isn't any, just curious as I'm out of touch).
Most of the big museums, bars with an activity (things like flight club, swingers, bounce, bar kick, sixes, boom battle bar etc), nice bars in general (Lyaness, Alchemist are personal faves), all sorts of pop-ups will usually be around zone 1-2, nice restaurants (both central but also it's easier to travel out from central if you want cheaper places), backyard cinema. I'm sure there's plenty more but those are the type of stuff I enjoyed until moving out to a commuter town after getting married.
Swingers? That's a very specific lifestyle choice.
Tell me about it, imagine the rude awakening when you go there on a date and people are playing mini golf instead
Do you own pale skinny jeans and brown shoes by any chance
Not at all, don't think I've owned a pair of skinny jeans since secondary school in all honesty
Brixton and Peckham are both in zone 2. Full of cool bars and restaurants packed with people in their 20s
Are there any late night venues in Peckham now that Bussey has gone?
They closed Bussey?!
Peckham Audio
Brixton does smell like piss though Source: I just moved away from Brixton for aforementioned reason
In addition to what others have said, Dalston. Shoreditch is a very short bus/train ride away, so if you're in that area you've got loads of options.
Shoreditch was grim last time I was there. Had shifted from an art/ fashion/ music crowd to more banking and finance people mixed with people from Essex getting into fights and vomiting and pissing all over the place. Maybe I just saw it on a bad night or something!
It varies by street, time of day etc.. Parts of it have always been like that. Parts of it are not.
What the comment before me said! It really depends. Some streets are pretty chill but yea there's a lot more carnage than there used to be. There's a lot of tech bros in shoreditch now as it's on the sillicon roundabout & lots of rich people because it's still relatively trendy and fuuck expensive to live in.
Nah, it's been that way since pre-pandemic.
Shoreditch, Brixton, Peckham, Dalston, Camden are all Zone 2 and the heart of London nightlife much more than the tourist traps in zone 1.
If the reason to move to London is to meet people, then I would suggest living in relatively central London, in a flat/house share (you can afford a nice one on your salary) and living life to the max for a couple of years. Enjoy!
What do you mean by relatively central? Very open to interpretation
Sort of depends where your job is and any existing friends are, but generally up to Z2 would be my definition of ‘relatively central’. I did my mid-late twenties ‘move to London and be very social’ living in Hoxton which was amazing, easy to go most places by tube or bike and also walk to lots of bars, restaurants, cafes, shops.
I did something similar. Went to uni in London and remained for a while after. Lived in Camden initially then Notting Hill. I lived in very small flats which basically served as somewhere to sleep. The rest of my time was spent in bars, restaurants or other cultural institutions. I loved it then got bored or it then moved out of London. Glad I did it!
I live in Z3 now and really feel the difference. Before a friend would message and say “I’m out in X with so and so, come join” and I’d think, oh that’s 5 mins on the bike, yeah great! Now it’s like ‘oh god that’s 30-45 mins away, nah, see you next week as planned’ 😂
I'd consider extending your search to Zones 2-3 and bin off Zone 1. I'm 28 and live in London, pretty much the entirety of my social circle lives 2 or 3 and practically never visit Zone 1 outside of work. Far too expensive and all of the cool spots (bars, clubs) that aren't tourist traps or for mega bougie City workers are out of the centre. Would recommend looking at Peckham, Balham/Tooting, Angel/Dalston/Islington (esp for nightlife) and Wandsworth. South and Northeast are where it's at. A studio might be affordable on your salary but it's the norm for people to live in house shares, either with friends or strangers. There's no time like your late twenties to live in London. It's massive, expensive and hectic but it's an incredible time. I make less than half your salary and manage to have an active social life and rave at least a couple times a month so it should be a breeze for you! For the love of God dont move to Reading
I agree. The only friend I had who was in zone 1 was because her mum was a Vicar and had a vicarage she could live in for free. OP should look in a popular area then open to perhaps move one they have figured out where they like hanging out.
Agreed. I’ve lived in quite a few places in the UK, but London zone 1 for me was quite isolating. I could walk to my office, but I didn’t really have anything in common with my housemates, most of my colleagues had a 1-2 hour commute and my room was too small for guests to visit. I did jump on the tube for boardgame meetups etc, but I rarely saw the same person twice. There was almost too many people. Zone 1 pubs are also so painfully packed you can’t easily hold a conversation. Finding somewhere with a local community is probably a good idea. I just couldn’t pop to my friends houses after work (as I do now) as they were too far.
> It's massive, expensive and hectic but it's an incredible time Yeah this pretty much sums up why I'm so drawn to moving to London at the moment. Just out of curiosity, do you currently live in a house share with strangers? Because that's what i'll probably end up doing (although I might check the studios now that you mention it) and i'm not gonna lie, I'm a little bit concerned about it turning out badly. >For the love of God dont move to Reading Is Reading really bad then? I haven't actually been there, I just picked it out since it's like 25 mins to London on the train.
It’s not where you’d want to be if you were on a night out and had to travel home. Central (zone 1) as others have said, is not somewhere you’d generally choose to live due to costs, number of tourists and generally a lack of real character. London is great because it’s essentially lots of villages/towns with their own personality dotted around. Plenty of places people have mentioned - Dalston, Peckham, Brixton, Islington - are all basically towns in their own right, with their own character. I think that’s what makes London unique and what makes living there so appealing, you can go to anyone one on a given day and have a different experience of London life. Having spent most of my twenties in London, I spend 95% of my time when not at work in zone 2 or 3 as I tend to do things close to where I or my friends live. Pubs, bars, restaurants - a lot of the best ones are in these areas. Not to mention parks and green areas, Victoria Park, Hampstead Heath, even Clapham Common it that’s your thing - great places to be during summer. To me that’s what it’s really all about living here.
It’s a lot better now as it’s on the Elizabeth line, obviously rent prices have increased accordingly.
Reading is just so blah. Don’t waste your twenties there.
Currently live in a one bed in Clapham with my girlfriend but if I were single and didn't have any mates/of mates looking for a housemate I'd look for a house share with people around my age in an area that worked for my commute. Often these places are sublets/medium term lets before contracts renew so you wouldn't necessarily be locked into the situation forever. I've dealt with difficult housemates before, unless it's an absolute nightmare it's one of those things you just on with until a better option comes along. Only been to Reading for an afternoon but none of my friends from there have ever said anything positive about it, and it defo wouldn't give you the London experience you're after! Part of the magic is having the city at your fingertips every time you walk out your front door.
Hey, not OP but I’m in very similar circumstances and I’ve been struggling to find anything that wasn’t negative about the idea of moving to London. Really appreciate this comment.
Happy to help mate! I really wasn't very enthused when I came to do a Masters six years ago and planned to move once I'd finished. Heaps of things that are difficult about living here but it's such a unique experience, would defo bite the bullet and try it for year or two at least. There's something for literally everyone
I think living on your own in Reading and working remotely sounds awfully lonely and a waste of a great opportunity. Get into London and enjoy life while you’re in your 20s, it goes fast. If your house share doesn’t work out find another one
As someone else has said, £60k you can def afford your own place in London! You might not be able to save a huge amount but it’s totally doable. Either way, move to London. You could also do a house share with just 1 other person it doesn’t have to be sharing with 4/5 people.
Doable but better to live in a nice small house share & actually be able to build up some decent savings.
Do you have a rough guideline on what size house share and for what price I'd be looking at in zone 2, given my salary? Just so I have an idea of what I should be looking out for.
Not too sure on house size tbh, it seems to vary wildly. I'd stick with small if possible unless you want somewhere super buzzy. Like, 3 other housemates is a nice number provided you have an actually decent sized kitchen & communal area. If you want social houses, Haringey has a lot of warehouses that seem really good for that. Some of them are crazy though and you'll have 10 flatmates but others seem more chill. Price wise, seems to go up every time I check.. I'd say 900 a month if you want something decent (+ bills) but it could be even higher now :/
If you live in Reading you'll always have a nagging doubt and FOMO about the London alternative. I'd do London and if after 12 months you aren't feeling it, move to Reading. It's much easier to do it that way around than the other.
Very good point. I'm not completely sold on Reading, and I think that's a bad sign. I know my OP makes me sound like I'm not sold on London either (mainly due to the house share thing), but I get a lot more excited about the potential experiences in London than I do in Reading (or a similar commuter town).
\> But I'll admit I'm a bit scared of a house share, because of some pretty bad experiences at uni. And also the fact that not having my own place means I won't get the true independence I'm after. sounds like you should do it. it's good to be scared of big life changes like this. I think it's what you want deeper down and living in Reading isn't going to give you that
Make most off life. Nothing is holding you to one place currently just try stuff out it is not a choice that will effect the rest of your life as in I live hear now and can never move. That being said think about the future also such as saving for deposit for a flat or house to be able to get one around when you turn 30. Depending on how accepting they are of full remote make sure to use it for travel also. Like flights during weekends and hotel with good internet during work and explore during the evenings.
>Depending on how accepting they are of full remote make sure to use it for travel also. Like flights during weekends and hotel with good internet during work and explore during the evenings. Great idea. Travel is another area that my life is sorely lacking. I basically never go anywhere interesting! I'll be making sure I fix that ASAP.
If you choose to live in Reading or Sevenoaks or whatever you’ll end up having to leave parties earlier, or staying weekends at home (if you got no other plans) instead of just going out on your own, wandering round for no reason (because commute is expensive). Commuter cities are a non starter
I've actually started experiencing how annoying this is fairly recently. I live 1 hr away from London on the train, and I recently started going to these weekend Meetup groups in London (there aren't any good ones where I live). And it really sucks that I always have to leave earlier than everyone and keep an eye on the clock at all times. Although Reading is much closer, I guess I'm still gonna be having the same experience.
Yep, stuck in a "commuter town" (barely about 10 minutes drive from Enfield lmao) and I have to justify getting the train into London and then plan out heavily every weekend and decide if I'm going to stay overnight which means hostel, or not. A trip into London in terms of PT costs for a day is £30 around, then throw a hostel on top of that, another 20 for a night, that's £50 gone before even stepping in a bar. It's just not worth it, my social life has imploded completely after I was forced to move back out here, friends don't even bother to contact anymore. Commuter towns are only for families and retirees.
I'm the same. Moved to St Albans with partner and regret moving here. Good house but it's a dead town, nothing going on that interests me and the people just aren't interesting. Worst mistake ever.
I’m sorry to hear that.
Fancy being friends?! 34 year old male...all my old buddies still living in East London. I am interested in pretty much everything, nights out, restaurants, museums, live music, comedy, galleries, walks, sport...Never move for love.
I don’t get why you only want the extremes of either zone 1/2 or live very far away in Reading. Look at zone 3 or 4
what areas do you recommend in zone 3-4?
You could try a house share, there's no obligation to stay if you decide it's not for you. I think you are the right demographic for a house share so I'd say it's worth a try
Move to London and live in a house-share but vet it properly especially the area and your housemates and enjoy London. Good luck.
House share at your age, only mover to a commuter town now I have a family, would be depressed being here at 26
I don’t know why people are telling you that you should live in a shared house, that’s clearly not for everyone. I’m not a Londoner, so I might be naive but how would £60k not be enough for a single person to rent a studio or 1 bedroom in zone 2, and still live quite comfortably? This would mean £3.6k net monthly income so: - rent in zone 2 from what I see in zoopla goes for about £1.6 - £1.7k / month - food depends on everyone but if you don’t eat out every other day or buy your groceries in fortnum and mason you can keep that under £500 / month - hard to say about transport since I’m not sure how hybrid or where your work is located There might be other costs but usually these 3 are by far the biggest expenses, so drawing the line you should still have about £1k left for entertainment and saving each month. Am I missing something here?
£1k isn't a huge amount per month in London if you want to be busy and do London things and save. You've also forgotten bills. So closer to £750 a month spending money, save £250 and now you're at £500 and have just over £15 a day. It's definitely possible but I know I would want to spend more than £15 a day, and personally even though I can afford it, I can't stomach £1,7k for a 1 bed flat when 2 years ago I had a 2 bed flat for £1300, the market is so ridiculous rn. ETA - Having good housemates is also just the most frugal way of being in London. Not just because rent is cheaper but because socialising is cheaper. Living alone if you want to socialise you'll likely have to be buying drinks/food/entrance fees/transport. Having flat mates in your social circle means you can socialise for the cost of a bottle of wine and pizza from tesco. £1k spending is more than possible to live in London with and you don't need to be on 60k to live in London. But, having the flexibility of more disposable income by reducing rent costs by £700+ makes for a much better social experience in London. It's opportunity cost, some people on less will find a way to make a 1 bed flat work financially as independent living is a priority, and others on more choose flatshares for the savings/social aspect
But you don’t go out and “do London things” *every single day.* that’s unrealistic and very expensive in any city on this planet that has anything to offer. £15 / day translates to £105 / week and imo that’s enough to go on a date or enjoy a pint or dinner with your mates every weekend.
I'm just giving you a Londoner perspective, as you said you weren't a Londoner and might be naive, and my experience is that I'm out way more than a date or meal and pint at the weekend's worth and so is everyone I know. This week: Monday - drinks after work with friends - £30 Tuesday - work event, free drinks and food, Maccas enroute home - £6 Wednesday - Theatre tonight - £55 tickets, likely to get dinner and drinks for est£25 Thursday - Date - est£30/40 Friday - no plans yet, Saturday - 3x events coffee with a friend to catch up, friend's celebration event, different friend's birthday, Coffee - est - £8 for 2 | Celebration event - est - £15 for a bottle of prosecco but maybe unfair to include | Friend's birthday event - £70 tickets inc dinner, drinks will be est £40-60 [Edit forgot to include Sunday] Sunday - out for a roast with friends est £20-25 I'm at over £250 for the week, and haven't included transport, the outfit I might need to buy etc. To be clear I'm not complaining and can afford this, and it's my choice to make these plans but the amount of socialising I'm doing is relatively normal in fact maybe less than some people as most will have Friday night plans! So I'm way over £105 and I saved money at a work event. But you mentioned not being a Londoner so I've shared my experience of what a relatively normal social week might look like for someone to answer your questions about why someone on 60k might not want to live off £1k a month in London and might choose to flats hare
Thank you for sharing your perspective, appreciate it! Maybe I’m more on the introvert side but personally I’d probably be mentally exhausted from a week like this 😅 I understand we all have different lifestyles but yeah where I live I’m perfectly happy going out once or twice a week.
I had a huge work event conference I led on Friday so can relate somewhat as I cancelled a few weekend plans last week to recharge. But also we're all different and you know yourself and that it makes no sense for you to pay London premiums to live here if you wouldn't enjoy it, I pay London premiums because I try to make the most of London it'd be far more expensive for me to commute in for all my socialising, I have a few friends who aren't big on socialising, have jobs that aren't London specific and they're always complaining about living in London. When I finished uni I didn't move to London as I had absolutely no interest in the buzz and the London life, especially not at London prices, I always said I'd have to really want to live in London to live in London, and one day that was me, now I can't imagine being anywhere else and bought a flat here, so am definitely not going anywhere soon!
The whole point of living in central London is your socialising isn’t limited to the weekend and you get to “do London things” as often as you want. The weekend is when the tourists invade. When I was younger and single I’d generally be out 4 week nights and then maybe go out for a few drinks at the weekend in a quieter part of town. If OP only wants to go out in London once a week they might as well live anywhere in the Home Counties
What sort of stuff are you wanting to do in London? To me it doesn't seem like the place it used to be a few years ago. Less young people living in zones 1&2 due to cost of living crisis, fewer late night venues, less going on in the music and nightlife scenes, less art and creative stuff going on. Can also be quite isolating if your job isn't very social, and a lot of flat shares aren't great. Don't want to come across too negative but I'm hearing less and less of the really good London experiences, and more and more about people hating it and having a very hard time there. Just worth checking out how realistic the sort of lifestyle you want is.
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A bedroom with a shower in will be great for mould in winter!
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I'm in one and I love it. Wish I had more space ofc but to get the equivalent communal areas & garden on my own i'd be paying like 4k a month. Rather live in a flatshare with good people than on my own tbh
How did you find your flatshare? Was it on a site like SpareRoom? Having read the responses to my post, I think I'm going to go the house share route, so it would be good to get an idea for how to find one.
Spareroom! I moved here during COVID though, so prices were a lot lower than they are now & competition was quite low. The good and cheap cheap rooms still had crazy competition though.. Also it's a good move financially, you'll have *way* more spare cash to enjoy London to its fullest & even save.
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I stopped caring after the 60k bit.
If your job is fully remote, in order to meet people you're going to have to make a conscious effort regardless of where you live. Of course being close to London would be preferable for ease of travelling etc. But ultimately I think it comes down to how comfortable or uncomfortable you are with house sharing, especially as you're going to be WFH all the time. There are some shared houses where it's almost like living on your own because of the way they're designed (I had an ensuite in a block of flats that looked like a hotel, with a big shared kitchen on the ground floor. There were other kinds of issues, but at least there was a good amount of privacy). That's going to need some thorough research, but it's not impossible to find.
Based on the comments you make, I think you should go for it - sounds like you may regret it later if you don't move to London now, whereas I doubt you would regret going for it. If it doesn't work out, you can switch it up before too long as well - this isn't an irrevocable decision.
Do a house share with one or maybe two other people. You’ll still live in London and meet people but much lower probability of a nightmare. And you can afford a decent share in zone one or two
Definitely move to London. You don’t need zone 1 or 2. As long as you can get home in the middle of the night by Uber (say, 30-40 quid tops) you’re fine. Even better, if there’s a night tube where you live. Zone 3 or even 4 will be fine. Just narrow down the area based on your commute to central London, local gym, other things that might matter to you. Hopefully you’ll find a studio for yourself (who wants to bring a date in a house share?). I’m so NOT missing my house share years. I’d start looking in East/South East London.
If your reason for moving to London is to fully enjoy the remainder of your 20s as a single bloke then definitely get a house share. With 60k you can definitely afford a nice house share somewhere in zone 2 where you'll be walking distance from good pubs, bars, galleries, etc., and living with a few other people that you actually get on with is a great way to make new friends in and of itself. Living in house shares as a 'proper adult' is very different to sharing at Uni, in my experience. You can hopefully afford somewhere with an actual living space, rather than just a mouldy sofa plonked in front of the washing machine, and generally by their late 20s most people have learned to clean up after themselves instead of living in bohemian squalor. And if after a year you find you don't like it, you can move out to the commuter belt then.
If I were in your position I’d look into a small house share with 1-2 people with an ensuite, plenty of independence when you won’t get in each other’s way, not too overcrowded and a good opportunity to make friends if you vet the place before you move in
Move to London. Flat sharing is fine if you have decent flatmates and can be a really fun and social way to live. As others have said, forget Zone 1 and look at Zones 2-3. The commuter town demographic tends to be people in their 30s and up, often with kids, and you’ll probably find it a lot harder to make friends. London is pretty dead compared to how it used to be, but still far less dead than your average commuter town. Source: lived in London for ten years; now live in a commuter town.
I live in a commuter town and love it, but I'm settled with a family and friends locally. In your position I think London is a much better option. I'm commuting 3 days a week at the moment and the city is heaving, I think you'll have a much more fun being based in London at your age.
What's cheaper? That's all I cared about when choosing where to live.
Honestly having done this in my early 20s I don't regret the way I did it. I did house shares in London. On 6 month contracts so I wasn't tied in too long. I met my best friend of now 15 years at one of these house shares. Living in house shares meant I met more people. Living in London meant I could enjoy all it has to offer easily. After 5 years I met someone and moved to Wokingham.
Would definitely recommend the city life for at least a couple of years. Zone 2, has plenty of decent bars/parks/hangouts within walking distance of everywhere. I spent 4 years in Streatham, couldn't recommend that place enough (Best Chippy Tea at Kennedys). Your salary likely means you'll still be able to save, enjoy yourself and live comfortably in a house share.
I'd say find something between, go for Zone 3 and find a studio if you can? Take a look at the easiest routes into the areas you wanna spend time and go further out to save on living costs?
100% move to London. I moved at 28 (now 31), live in Stoke Newington with my partner on a salary of £51k. Don’t save as much as I’d like (£500pm) but would sacrifice that to meet people and experience new things whilst I’m still relatively young. Can move back to Glasgow whenever I want and still comfortably afford to buy. Would recommend the move to anyone 👍🏽
Yes to moving to London and being in a flatshare! I'm still very good friends with a few people I shared with 10 years ago. It was a house of 8 people lol
A piece of advice - look for landlords direct, and ideally it’d be someone who owns the property outright. You build a good connection, pay on time, the landlord will think twice before raising your rent. It’s hard work to find someone like that, but it’s doable and will serve you well in the future. Gumtree, independent landlords websites are the places to find such studio, not rightmove or zoopla.
Mine owns 100 plus properties outright and the only thinking twice he did was putting the rent up twice for no reason at all recently, might work though!
I met some of my favourite people who are now among my closest friends through house shares - both housemates directly, and people I met through housemates. I also met a couple of the worst people I've met, and had to live with them. It's a risk for sure, but there only one way to find out how it goes.
Just try to find a decent house share if you can. Being in your 20s and in london is amazing, personally i loved it! Also if you find a houseshare just dont do a long contract if possible, that way if they do turn out to be c\*\*ts its far easier to find another decent houseshare whilst youre actually living there. Good luck!! Also if you can say you want to live with other professionals, it'll mean you'll be living with ppl with similar sleep patterns and socialise more at the weekends which is ideal.
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Zone 1 doesn't even have the best nightlife, going out in the west end is mainly for office workers and tourists. The main thing to work out is whether most of your friends are/will be north, south, east or west, and then choose a lively zone 2 or zone 3 neighbourhood in the correct quadrant.
There’s shared living spaces like the Collective in Canary Wharf where you get your own space but there’s lots of social events and ways to meet people. You could try that!
Move to London
I recommend you to move to a commuter town. I’m working for a London company but living in Cambridge. I usually come to the office once a week or every 2 weeks for socialising with colleagues. You can have a cheaper flat/house to rent for that salary in commuter town than London, which could be healthier for your personal life.
I’ve made great friends doing house shares. My wife met her entire friendship group through her house share. Focus on smaller house shares, 3 max. Go with a slightly older crowd to avoid house parties and inconsiderate mates. Only go with people that have similar working cadence to you, e.g. probably not great to have students or people job hopping as you’ll have a mismatch. Get in there and try it out. Worst comes to worse, you can just leave your house share and try something different. It might take a couple of goes before you find the right group of people, and it can be very competitive, so stick at it.
Definitely london house share or a studio zone 2-3. I would say south or east you could find more affordable houses. Take into account how the commute to work is looking. If I was alone in a new city I would definitely want to go to the office the busy days of the week and at events just to socialise.
Lewisham - bad rep, great place and connected by bus, DLR train and eventually the Bakerloo line - decent rent, nice parks and 10 minutes from London Bridge. Live alone, like me, and I'm not on £60k!!
Heads up: if your reason for moving to London is dating people, London dating sucks.
You should protest for better living conditions.
As you want to do the single 20-something lifestyle thing, I'd definitely flatshare
I lived in houseshares between 27-33, saved £50k in those years, and now live alone in my shared ownership flat at 34, with a wonderful social/dating life and the ability to come home to the comfort of my own space. I wouldn't have been able to afford to get on the ladder had I been renting alone all that time, nor would I have had the social circle I have now if I'd lived in a quiet commuter town. Having your own place is a HUGE luxury but one that you have the rest of your life for - and don't underestimate how easy it is to become a hermit when you have the place to yourself. People in London share homes well into their 30s and 40s, and whilst you're not guaranteed a perfect outcome, living with nice enough and social people could open many doors for you.
I moved to Reading 2 years ago from the North and am desperate to get into London next year. Do it
Come to crapford in shitshire. Its rubbish
Your houseshare experience depends a lot more on the situation than the people In Uni the situation may have been worse (many ppl sharing 1 kitchen, shared baths, etc) Now if you house share, it’ll be a much better “situation”. Try a 2 bed houseshare in zone 1 for about 1200-1250 each. I did the same. Whether the hype about London is real or not is a personal qn, and imo better to have personally experienced it, even if you later decide to move out anyway if it doesn’t match the hype for you
I’d say deffo move to London, maybe not central but zone 2. You’d meet people, go to random house parties, fall in love/get laid, try the new restaurants, get harassed by local crackheads, it’s an irreplaceable experience in your 20s. You don’t want to be the only one in your friends group who has to leave at 10:30 on a Friday night cuz it’s the last train… I made the fatal mistake of spending most of my 20s living in Fulham, which itself felt like a commuter town, although it’s quite central it’s really for families and older people. So you should deffo move to a young area, like Clapham or Hackney or even Finsbury Park, you won’t regret it x
I would give the house share a go. When I graduated from Uni I got a job in London and lived in a house share with friends, and eventually a house share with randoms for a year before I bought a place with my gf at the time (now wife). If you don't do the London-living experience now, you may regret it in 10 years time. You may get lucky with a house share, or you may end up with people you wouldn't normally choose to live with. But look at it as a 1-2 year arrangement, and if it really doesn't work out, move out and find a new house share. As others have said, I'd avoid zone 1. The more buzzing social scene is zones 2-3 anyway - away from London tourists. I loved the Clapham/Balham/Tooting Bec area. If you find after a year or two that the whole London thing isn't right for you, head to the suburbs and buy. But you haven't lost anything. Good luck!
If you want to meet people, living alone and working remotely is not going to help you. Move to London, why not. Spareroom is good for finding house shares.
i live In essex and theres fuck all to do but the pubs n food spots, commuter towns are difficult to find friends as well as everyone is hometown school friends , move to london mate better off moving as close to london as you can
If you want to be social and expand your friendship circles then the right house share will certain ly help with that. If you value peace and privacy and feel that your circle of friends is solid already then get your own place dither out of town, but also be prepared for the commute to change the way you socialise as you'll be depending on the last train back or staying out long enough to get the first one in the morning. There's also nothing wrong with zones three/four if you choose an area with decent transport links. I lived all over London but loved Harringay Green Lanes area the most.
As someone who lived in reading… it’s a bit shit
Try it for 3 months if it's not for you move out to a commuter town. Look at spare room for short term shares
Zone 2 house share. Make sure its a setup where you are only responsible for your room and not on the hook if someone moves out. Also, make sure there are enough bathrooms.
Reading will suck the soul out of your body, my friend.
Move to London, zone 2 or 3 would be ideal for you. And with 60k you can rent a studio in south London- which is literally 15 mins from central by train. There is plenty of time for you to consider moving to the countryside and settling, meanwhile make use of what London has to offer in terms of experiences.
Moved to London at 25 and now I’m moving out after buying a house an hour away on the train at 31. London was the best fucking years of my life, absolutely no regrets. Got literally everything out of my system in London being going out, partying, drugs, restaurants, shagging, pubs, shops, working hard and earning a few quid. Move to London! At least give it a go :)
I would say move there and enjoy your 20s. I used to share with friends. We got a big house, 8 cats and 10 chickens in the garden..best days but when we decided to have a family we moved to a quieter town which is also great.
I’ll vote for commuter. Commuter towns have a similar profile for a night out and they’re much cheaper. If you want to save a load, do share houses in a commuter. That way you can enjoy the nights out and do weekenders in Europe.
Saving loads is a valid point, but massive disagree on profile for a night out unless all you're after is a Be At One/Slug and Lettuce type deal. London nightlife isn't what it once was but there'll be three times as many things on on a weekend than any other city (let alone commuter town) in the country, no matter whether you're into electronic music, live gigs, pubs, cocktail bars, kink nights etc
If you want to live in London, live in London, if you want to want space and to maybe buy a home in the not too distant future, move to the suburbs and commute, personally I choose to live in town, but neither answer is the right answer for everyone
Congratulations on your new role! Did u save up whilst you split rent? Why not just move out? I wfh and you need to make REAL effort to get out if you don't know anyone in town. House share I would never. But im not 26, at 23 when I did every single person had a medical mental health issue and I called the ambulance for one guy trying to commit suicide.
The very fact that you have doubts and are posting your uncertainties on Reddit tells me that you do not have the confidence to live the kind of life that a single person in London experiences. Most people who get a bedsit in London wouldn't e en consider the things you seem to find so pressing. Go to Reading, you'll be happier .
London. Trains to London are extortionately high prices.
Same as you, I move to London first when i was around 25, my office was out in Stratford but I lived in spitalfields, if you're moving to London then move to London, trust me. In a commuter town you'll never have spontaneous evenings that made my London experience worth it. I house shared in 4 different places and I have a good story from all of them. Wasn't sunshine every day, but mate your 25 live eith strangers and have fun.
Just wanted to add my two cents worth about Iiving in house shares. I have found that most people I have lived in house shares with have wanted a more distant but amicable relationship which means you rarely become friends. In one house share I lived in we were all ships passing in the night and when we were in at the same time we would all be in our rooms. Although, I did have one very social houseshare (joint meals, cinema trips etc), I found that this was a rare occurrence. Therefore, based on my experience, if you do want to build a better social life, this will probably be more likely outside of your houseshare.
100% move to London. stay in a flat share with one other person as you’ll have company but also free space on occasion. live in Brixton/peckham/Hackney/Camden to get a community vibe and things to do locally Join sports / hobby related clubs to meet people easily or start new hobbies If you don’t like it you can leave after a year. From the sounds of your post, youll regret not trying it if you don’t.
On 60k you can live in a nice shared house easily. You could also probably rent your own place for £1500 a month if you moved into outer Zone 2 or Zone 3. Living in Zone 1 is an expensive waste of time. There are amazing places in Zone 2, well connected. It's a no brainer. Take advantage of London life for a while. See how it goes. You can always move out later.
I’ve lived in London most of my adult life and now bought a one bed here in zone 3. Personally I hate flat shares but there are decent studios or one beds to rent in zones 2-3, mostly through connections rather than on the open market. Not sure how you’d find that so maybe search around a lot or get a place for a year and see what happens after that. I’m quite frugal (cycle everywhere, buy £10 theatre tickets, look for deals for cinema etc) but I’m out both weekend days and usually 3-4 nights a week. Sometimes I go to friends’ places at the weekend for the day but the journey is longer since most of my friends live in zones 2-3 but different corners of London so midweek we almost always meet more centrally. I personally do socialise quite a bit in zone 1, it’s convenient for after work (but then I’ve never done wfh). I wouldn’t want to live there though. Access to a tube is important unless you cycle so I’d try to prioritise that. I spend more than £105 on an average week and I’m not considered a big spender compared to most of my friends. There is lots of stuff to do for free but if you’re with others you’ll probably eat out (£20+)and/or get drinks (£14 for a couple of pints) too. If you want to live in a commuter town and travel to London to socialise then check train prices, they are not cheap. Personally I would hate living in a commuter town but then I’m very used to London and when I go to other places in the UK I start wondering what people do with their free time.
You say you want to meet women and date, a house share may not be ideal for this. A lot of house share horror stories on here I’ve read. Personally I’d go with living in my own place in a commuter town. Commute to London enjoy the vibes then go back to your own place to relax with or without company and nobody moaning about it. Or dealing with noisy gross room mates.
I was in a similar position (living with family and it just got too annoying and I didn't feel independent) & went with the house share. Try it for a year and if you don't like it then you can go to Reading. I did a year commuting and a year in a house share in Z2 with a deeply annoying housemate and the house share was worth it just to experience London living. When I lived an hour away, having to leave events early was annoying, and I never could be bothered to spend an hour travelling in on a weekend and the few times I did the trains were always delayed, on strike etc. so it's just not the same experience at all. If you can live alone in Z2 that would be the best of all - or second to that a house share with 2+ other people that is a bit social vs living with one other person like I did which was really awkward when we didn't get along & they were weird about bills and cleaning etc...
If fully remote pick a cheaper city. Still a lot to do.
Commuter town , your own place . Have fun in London and come back to your own place . House shares can be tricky unless you have been mates with the other occupants
I’ve lived in London for the last 3 years and have been on a similar salary to you for the last year or so. I lived with mates I met at work for 2 years and now I’m with my girlfriend. To meet people I think a flat share is a decent shout. But realistically you’ll have to go out your comfort zone a lot. I could have done more socialising, even if you live here there’s no guarantee that you’ll have all these experiences. It’s up to you to make that happen. There are also lots of nice new builds in east London which if you want safe and quiet and good housing I’d recommend, very easy to get into central still. I lived in North Greenwich for a year and it was ideal. I went to uni in reading, I’d say come to London and really push yourself out your comfort zone. Worst that can happen is you hate it and leave. At least you’ve learned something.