Hey!

Ok, I’ve started an answer to your question like 5 times! I really want to help but it’s such a difficult one to answer! I lived in the UK for about 3.5 years, but I didn’t live in London, I lived in Surrey which is like an hour out. There are A LOT of neighborhoods in London. Rent is going to be your highest expense. Expect to spend at least 110GBP per week to rent a room with other people in a shared house. London is such an amazing melting pot, so you can never say that people in one area are this way, and people in another are this way….it’s always so different. Keep in mind you’ll need to pay for a TV license, council tax, electricity, gas and water.

Your best bet would be to do an STA Travel-sponsored live abroad package. With those, you get a job and accommodation. You could work in a pub in London, live there, get your meals for free in most cases, still get paid at least minimum wage, and get two days off to spend in the City or around traveling. It’s an excellent way to stay safe and not worry about extra bills.

If you’ve already got something lined up, then the best thing to do is start looking on places like gumtree for shared housing. Google the neighborhoods, read the forums, you’ll get a good idea about what it’s like from people that live there now. If you have any particular neighborhoods in mind and would like to run them by me, feel free. Most of my friends from uni moved to the city and can advise you further.

If you want to inquire about live abroad, then go ahead and give STA Travel a call. 1-800-551-1740 will get you to the live abroad specialists.

Good luck and have fun! Living in the UK was the best time of my life, and I’m so grateful that it will always be a part of me.

I agree with KrystinaD, rent is going to be the most expensive, other than that i lived in Hampstead and Kensington and both of those areas are extreamly expensive so avoid those. Other than that Wood Green is a pretty shady part of London and most of the stops on that part of the picadilly line.

Are you studying there or just living and working? If you are studying there the government heavily subsidies student housing, So you can find a place relatively cheap in nice neighborhoods, like Bloomsbury. I would check out northern Camden, Camden town. I have a friend that lives in Putney Hill which isn’t such a bad area for like 50 quid a week.