Accomodation in London, UK

Hi,

I am planning to come to UK with Tier1 visa in February,2010. Since I will be coming and looking for job, I need some information on reasonable accomodation for 1-2 months. I need to get an idea on how much finance I should have to sustain for 1-2 months without job in London or UK in general.

Thanks,
Gaurav.

I used to live in London when I was studying there. If I remember correctly my monthly expenditures were as follow
Rent 240 (60 per week - a small box in West London. I shared house with 2 girls from France and 2 boys one from India and other from Scotland. All were students.)
Travel - 100
Food - 100
We did not pay for internet. Thanx for our neighbour's wirless system.
Junk Food - 100
You can add mobile phone, nightouts, cloths, calling back home, paying for internet etc etc.

It depends on how much you like to spend. London is one of the most expensive city so you need to be very careful about your spending otherwise you will end up with huge debt. To be honest its not that much costly if you plan according to your budget. You can get standard SGL room in East London area within 50/60 per week that usually includes all bills and internet (check with land lords). Indian foods (grossery and vegetables) are cheaper in East London area. Food cost will be around 60/70 pm (it depends on your food habit). Travel for 2-3 zone monthly ticket will be £64. Mobile rental will be £35-40 pm on contract. Misc. around £100 pm. So If you dont go night clubs and dont spend money in pubs then £700 pm will be enough. And keep in mind that Job market is very tight here so you may have to survive few months without job.

I cant understand people encouraging to steal wifi data...
remember, in this country you are legally allowing someone to prosecute you, despite their carelessness.

So dont sign into unprotected wifi networks. they could also use that data to steal your bank info remember.

70 pounds for food a month??? - funny. it will cost a minimum of 150 if you eat proper food.

travel depends on where you go.

a decent place to live will cost atleast 150 per week. dont go by these dungeons and shady places to stay.

bring a budget of atleast 800 pounds a month to be on the realistic side.

What would be the best and fastest way to go about looking for suitable accommodation? e.g. which websites are reliable?

www.gumtree.com is one of the best for search within london

pyke wrote:What would be the best and fastest way to go about looking for suitable accommodation? e.g. which websites are reliable?

You can try gumtree.com It is one of the popular website to find local accomodation and social networking. You can also try TNT magazine, LOOT sites for local classified.

In Green Street (Upton Park) area there are many Gujrati PG accomodation available (twine/triple sharing). They are very cheap- 50/60 pw including Food. Its pure vegetarian- B/fast and dinner only. Those accomodations are bit congested. Usually 3/4 bedroom house with 2/3 persons in each room. I never been to those houses but heard from many people.

My sincere thanks to all those who have given me such a valuable information. Please continue posting you knowledge so that others can benefit.

Once again!!.
Thanks.

This link might be useful:

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... comodation