I really need a change. How much is housing, or rather, how cheap can housing be, in London? It can be a small place. I don't really care. I just need out of here for a while. I'm thinking of selling off all my stuff to get enough money to get there and live for a few months while I relax and look for a job.
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How much would it cost to move to the UK?
- Thread starter Seth C
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London's pretty damn expensive, but outside of London you can find some bargains. I remember reading a couple of months back that the average house price there (in London) is £250k, or about $460k. I'm sure you can buy cheaper than that, though. I don't live in London, so I'll leave someone else to offer some more specific advice...
Jill Sandwich
the turds of Optimus Prime
God knows why you want to live in a miserable, stinky, overpriced, overcrowded terrorism target, but a lot of people love it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3931277.stm
http://channel4.com/4homes/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3931277.stm
http://channel4.com/4homes/
radioheadrule83
Banned
I live in Liverpool. My complaints aren't that its grubby, or overpriced or anything like that... it's that its full of degenerate townies in tracksuits. Everywhere has yobs I guess.
Other than that, it's got a nice skyline, great architecture, and they've won the 2008 European Capital of Culture bid so there's loads of renovation and building work going on at the moment. I don't live in the inner city, but I think house prices here range anywhere between £150k-£400 depending on what you want. The British housing scene is hell for most young couples today, but I'm not sure if it'd be so bad coming from a place with such a high GNP/wage average.
Other than that, it's got a nice skyline, great architecture, and they've won the 2008 European Capital of Culture bid so there's loads of renovation and building work going on at the moment. I don't live in the inner city, but I think house prices here range anywhere between £150k-£400 depending on what you want. The British housing scene is hell for most young couples today, but I'm not sure if it'd be so bad coming from a place with such a high GNP/wage average.
I'm reluctanty visiting Britan (near Cambridge or something) sometime next year. Tell me something nice about the country or area so I won't end up hating my stay there. What's the nightlife like? Are the people friendly? Are the girls pretty? What are my chances of hooking up with a Melanie Brown/Scary Spice lookalike??
Oh and ESPN, does UK have ESPN? I can't function w/o ESPN.
Oh and ESPN, does UK have ESPN? I can't function w/o ESPN.
V
Vennt
Unconfirmed Member
Edinburgh is expensive. (Far too fashionable for house prices to remain low.) - £250k for a 2 bedroom flat.
London is Ultra-expensive. You not going to get much more than a 1 bedroomed bedsit for £300k, Look to spending at least £500-600k on a house/apartment.
Most other places are cheap/fair enough.
Expect to pay $ for £ prices for technology over here, this makes shit expensive for us. (i.e a $1000 TV would cost you £1000, regardless of the exchange rate difference)
Food & general living expenses however are generally cheap.
London is Ultra-expensive. You not going to get much more than a 1 bedroomed bedsit for £300k, Look to spending at least £500-600k on a house/apartment.
Most other places are cheap/fair enough.
Expect to pay $ for £ prices for technology over here, this makes shit expensive for us. (i.e a $1000 TV would cost you £1000, regardless of the exchange rate difference)
Food & general living expenses however are generally cheap.
I live in London and I love it.
For reference, here are some of my expenses:
Rent - £1100/month (~$2000; a nice, clean, 3-bedroom apartment in South London. Almost no one lives alone. It's too expensive.)
Transport - £95/month (~$180; the Tube is terrible, but it's better than owning a car)
Food - £180/month (~$300; food isn't too expensive, if you don't overdo it)
London is definitely not a cheap place to live, but I think it's worth it. Especially if you're not actually from England but just living here for a while.
For reference, here are some of my expenses:
Rent - £1100/month (~$2000; a nice, clean, 3-bedroom apartment in South London. Almost no one lives alone. It's too expensive.)
Transport - £95/month (~$180; the Tube is terrible, but it's better than owning a car)
Food - £180/month (~$300; food isn't too expensive, if you don't overdo it)
London is definitely not a cheap place to live, but I think it's worth it. Especially if you're not actually from England but just living here for a while.
V
Vennt
Unconfirmed Member
Dagon said:
OMG, £180 a month on food???
I hope you're feeding a family of 5 or so on that, either that or you live entirely on take-out food, I guess cost-of-living has gone up a bit down south
My food budget is about £150 a month, and thats for a family of 3!
MrPing1000
Member
To ensure good health, if anyone asks say your Canadian.
Come to Northern Ireland the ugly ginger haired step child of the UK!
Come to Northern Ireland the ugly ginger haired step child of the UK!
Freeburn said:OMG, £180 a month on food???
I hope you're feeding a family of 5 or so on that, either that or you live entirely on take-out food, I guess cost-of-living has gone up a bit down south
My food budget is about £150 a month, and thats for a family of 3!
Well, I suppose I was overestimating a little. But I didn't want to lie to the guy and tell him it was too low. I spend about £60-70 on groceries a month and then other sundry items (the occasional soda, drink, lunch at work, etc.) pushes it up to about £100 or so.
V
Vennt
Unconfirmed Member
Sorry XS+ - Don't know much about Cambridge to be honest, execpt for a cool little venue I've worked at there called "The Boathouse" - which rocks in a sawdust-on-the-floor dive kinda way.
People are generally friendly in most parts of the UK, except Mansfield & North Nottinghamshire, where evil rules (Its a timewarp there man, full of 70's style fascists & narrowmindedness), and Northampton just south of me, where people are scary in a "Wicker Man" kind of way
People are generally friendly in most parts of the UK, except Mansfield & North Nottinghamshire, where evil rules (Its a timewarp there man, full of 70's style fascists & narrowmindedness), and Northampton just south of me, where people are scary in a "Wicker Man" kind of way
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
Well if you're moving near Cambridge, there are bound to be pretty girls as there are a lot of students around.
I'm not sure why anyone would just choose move to the UK though (from a good country anyway). It's just so expensive here. We're all packed in pretty close, the climate is poor (though it depends what you like), we get practically everything later than in the States (the vast majority of Europe had broadband before us for example)...don't really see the appeal.
I guess culturally it's pretty great, in some areas, but it's not like you can't find places like that across the world.
I'm not sure why anyone would just choose move to the UK though (from a good country anyway). It's just so expensive here. We're all packed in pretty close, the climate is poor (though it depends what you like), we get practically everything later than in the States (the vast majority of Europe had broadband before us for example)...don't really see the appeal.
I guess culturally it's pretty great, in some areas, but it's not like you can't find places like that across the world.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
Freeburn said:
I dunno, most people will be friendlyish, sure, but not like you see in other countries I've visited. I realise a lot of people are just trying to get you to buy there stuff when they're that friendly in other countires, but I still like it.
The hospitality thing is a big issue for me, glad to hear people are generally friendly.
One more Q: What's the gaming scene like in Europe? Is the PAL signal that much worse than NTSC, or is that a myth? And are arcades as dead there as they are in the US and basically everywhere else?
One more Q: What's the gaming scene like in Europe? Is the PAL signal that much worse than NTSC, or is that a myth? And are arcades as dead there as they are in the US and basically everywhere else?
V
Vennt
Unconfirmed Member
Haha, I used to have a friend that lived around there, Sorry, but you couldn't pay me to live there, the fucking noise! man - horrid, You're either deaf, or have lived there your entire life and know nothing different, but there is a reason that prices are a half/third of the rest of London, and that noise is it
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
XS+ said:
Isn't it the other way round, that PAL is generally seen as better quality (though 50 rather than 60fps?). Or used to be before these new TV formats anyway.
Unless you mean game localisation, which I'm sure is still pretty dodgy sometimes (Nintendo games seem to be fine though).
I don't know about arcades, not in London anyway.
PAL has a higher resolution than NTSC, but a slower refresh rate. You can correct this by getting a 100hz TV, which gives excellent overall quality. We don't have HDTV yet though, I think that's due next year. I dont know about arcades outside London, but the two main venues that I visit in central london are Namco Station and SegaWorld (I refuse to call it Funland or whatever its called now). They have an R-360 machine there!
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Vennt
Unconfirmed Member
Arcades? do we even have any of those any more in the UK?
The Thomas's near me was the last in the city, and now it's a shell of it's former self, with NO games, only Fruit Machines. (Slots for you of American persuasion).
The Thomas's near me was the last in the city, and now it's a shell of it's former self, with NO games, only Fruit Machines. (Slots for you of American persuasion).
V
Vennt
Unconfirmed Member
Heh, I know those hangars, you must literally be on or close to the same street as my mate was on.
That testing noise is that to which I referred, first time I heard it I checked to see if judgement day had come
That testing noise is that to which I referred, first time I heard it I checked to see if judgement day had come
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
The Trafford Centre (near Manchester) has a good arcade I hear, but I've never gone in.
I'm been very negative about the UK, so here are some (all?) things I like:
Football
Fish 'n' Chips
Generally more lenient age restrictions (well, I like it at my age anyway)
Some areas of natural beauty, the few that are left at least
The many styles of comedy
Lack of whooping in audiences
It never get's too hot.
..I'm out.
I'm been very negative about the UK, so here are some (all?) things I like:
Football
Fish 'n' Chips
Generally more lenient age restrictions (well, I like it at my age anyway)
Some areas of natural beauty, the few that are left at least
The many styles of comedy
Lack of whooping in audiences
It never get's too hot.
..I'm out.
XS+ said:
G Loc Air Battle
Freeburn said:Heh, I know those hangars, you must literally be on or close to the same street as my mate was on.
That testing noise is that to which I referred, first time I heard it I checked to see if judgement day had come
He wasn't from the cranford area, was he? That'd be pretty funky.
They actually blew up one of the hangars a few years back. It was 1am, and the resulting explosion woke me up to the sound of what seemed like Thor smashing my house with a 50ft sledgehammer 3 times
Mama Smurf said:
I dont think he was talking about just games
Alot of things take ages to arrive in the UK. For exmaple the new battery powered Gillete isnt being sold here yet or many of the new TV's here have crippled featuresets (No HDMI, DVI, when the US versions have them etc.). Its a complex situation.
V
Vennt
Unconfirmed Member
The only thing I remember was it was near Harmondsworth, and there was a very old-fashioned / victorian green marble swimming pool nearby, and an ICI building where apparently animal testing was done.
I'm a northerner, so it's all just "London" to me
I'm a northerner, so it's all just "London" to me
reggieandTFE
Member
I can't explain for people in the rest of the US, but I'm from a village that borders Chicago and a lot of my friends and people I know are all always trying to move to Europe. England just happens to be the most obvious place because of the fascination with the accent and the fact that most Americans can barely understand their own language, much less another.
The truth is that where I live may have decent weather (four distinct seasons), lot sizes might be huge (especially the further away from the city you move) and we get all the consumer products Louis the 14th could want first but....most peoples' lives are fucking empty. There is a pervasive sense of anomie that has filtered through to twenty-somethings through the vapid, reality TV culture and crass mass-marketing that assaults from the day of birth. I think there comes a certain point where people, openly or not, make a decision on what they're going to do with themselves. The ones who stick around either throw themselves into some cause (activist groups for those on the left and evangelical groups for those on the right) or just blithely ignore everything in a haze of marriage, booze, drugs, sex, Disneyland vacations, etc.
reggieandTFE said:
And he hit the nail on the head. I can't bcome one of THOSE people, it's just not what's meant for me. Not to say things are any better there than here, but I've been here so long. I think living somewhere completely different will help...open things back up. It's hard to explain. I'm becoming complacent, and that bothers me. I need something new to challenge myself with.
Jill Sandwich
the turds of Optimus Prime
The UK is anything but friendly. Here's a couple more links to try:
http://www.knowhere.co.uk/
http://www.knowhere.co.uk/contents.html
http://www.chavscum.co.uk/
^^ You'll be seeing a lot of these.
http://www.knowhere.co.uk/
http://www.knowhere.co.uk/contents.html
http://www.chavscum.co.uk/
^^ You'll be seeing a lot of these.
Spainkiller
the man who sold the world
Ignore that shitty post above ^^
If you want to get involved with class distinctions then go ahead, however.
edit: aimed at the chavscum link post.
Anyway, London is great. You'll never, ever get bored there - so many museums, parks, theatres, gallaries, bars, buildings... I know people who've lived there for years and not seen everything. At the end of the day it's like any other city - you'll meet great people and you'll meet complete wankers.
My advice would be to invest in some good facewash though The smog will get to you in seconds.
If you want to move to the UK, here are general thoughts:
It's VERY expensive, living here. Everything will cost you at least a third more than you're used to...
Avoid buying any newspapers here, apart from maybe The Guardian. Seriously. They're all shit.
We have 5 terristial TV channels - ignore the third (ITV).
Don't buy a car if you're in the city. You won't need one and they're expensive to run anyway.
The atmosphere is different to America too... people keep themselves to themselves a lot more, if you know what I mean. People are friendly, but not so blatantly.
Ahhh, PM me if you want, I don't visit here much these days
If you want to get involved with class distinctions then go ahead, however.
edit: aimed at the chavscum link post.
Anyway, London is great. You'll never, ever get bored there - so many museums, parks, theatres, gallaries, bars, buildings... I know people who've lived there for years and not seen everything. At the end of the day it's like any other city - you'll meet great people and you'll meet complete wankers.
My advice would be to invest in some good facewash though
The smog will get to you in seconds.If you want to move to the UK, here are general thoughts:
It's VERY expensive, living here. Everything will cost you at least a third more than you're used to...
Avoid buying any newspapers here, apart from maybe The Guardian. Seriously. They're all shit.
We have 5 terristial TV channels - ignore the third (ITV).
Don't buy a car if you're in the city. You won't need one and they're expensive to run anyway.
The atmosphere is different to America too... people keep themselves to themselves a lot more, if you know what I mean. People are friendly, but not so blatantly.
Ahhh, PM me if you want, I don't visit here much these days
Spainkiller
the man who sold the world
XS+ said:
Cambridge is a university town - excellent, cheap nights out full of gorgeous women. It's also reasonably friendly.
You can get ESPN on sky.
edit: Here's where I live...haha
http://www.knowhere.co.uk/77.html
Spainkiller
the man who sold the world
Well it's perfect for me - I love to lose myself in a crowd wtih my walkman sometimes, content in the knowledge that for the next 4 hours NOBODY is going to speak to me, and I won't see a single face I recognise. But for some people it must be awful.
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