Hi guys,

You may remember a few weeks ago I asked about the best way to get round London to get to a job interview- well I got the job!

Problem is I need to find somewhere to live now, the job is very close to Canary Wharf and I start in about two weeks time. I have literally no knowledge of london what so ever so I'm wondering where the safest places to live are?

Thanks for any help...

I lived in West Hampstead, it's very safe there, my advice to to find a selection of flats north of the river, west hampstead, camden that sort of area, look for a flat-finding agency, i paid 60 quid and found a really nice studio apartment the same day, made finding a flat take a few hours as opposed to a coupe fo weeks, once you have a base THEN you can start looking for flat shares and you'll get to know the area. Also rememeber that London is fairly safe, don't worry about safety just look for a nice flat for now that's on a tube line to your office, you can always get somewhere new once you get used to the daily commute, enjoy London, it's cool, and totally insane.

Congratulations on the Job
Does the firm offer any help re relocation?

If not – cant remember how far out you live can you commute?

If you want to live in London then a flat / house share is best at the beginning but anywhere on the east side ( Greenwich etc) is OK (and close to Canary Wharf) as there are loads of new flats / houses that way.
In the end its how much you wish to spend
A flat / house share around there is around £140 pw
Your own place around the £200 pw mark but bills on top

I'm a big fan of West & Southwest London (as that's where I live). I'm only 40 mins of so from Canary Wharf by public transport & I live in Kingston.
You can usually live in a nicer area & save money by living a little bit further out

West Hampstead is nice, but I think, for the location where you are working, the East side, like hifidelity2 mentions might be easier...

Living in the west will (probably) increase your commute, although Hampstead Heath is lovely on a sunny evening or weekend.

Had a friend who got a house share in Poplar (literally in the shadow of the HSBC tower) for £300 p/month inc. bills. Not a bad area.

Canary Wharf? Hmmm... if safety is of a particular concern then be ready for a commute or some expensive renting, the area (beyond the employment district of the Docklands) is surrounded on all sides (both North and South of the River) by some really grotty areas (Stepney, Deptford, Rotherhithe, Bow & Woolich) - which, if you're not careful where you look, can end up looking very bleak and "rich" with urban decay and violence.

I don't want to fear monger - but I've never heard of anyone thinking of moving to London putting "safety" so far high up on their list of priorities, so I thought it best I be honest. The areas listed above are rife with the feral underclass and although they all have some character/worth/quality - personally, you couldn't pay me to live there - not because I'm adverse to a little bit of hassle - but because I'm fortunately in a position where I can chose NOT to live with the hassle.

I'm at a loss as to why Chris is championing West Hampstead - the commute will kill you, as would considering further afield like Simon in Kingston - perhaps I'm just a creature-comfort lazy bones who prefers a 10min stroll to work each morning rather than 2 hours of my life wasted each day - not to mention the money - on travelling to work. It's a call I would reccomend you make after testing the journey out once or twice (at commuting times).

So where does that leave you then? Well Grenwich is nice enough, in fact it's very nice; but be warned it to has it's fair share of "fringe areas" (but then where doesn't) - then there's Honor Oak which has a fair amount of quiet terraced-surburbia (although this is touching a little too close on Lewisham, Catford & New Cross for my liking)....then you've got London Bridge, Wapping & Bermondsey, which if you steer clear of the estates, have some nice housing areas... (don't think living closer to Zone 1 makes the rent explode exponentionally - or that living a million miles away lowers it conversely - there are bargains and ripoffs in both options)

Perhaps it's because I'm an EC1 boy that I like, (and would reccomend) Islington, Cannonbury, Stoke Newington, Clapton and the like - as they really do offer (for me) the best mix of "London" IMO.

Yeah, but they're full of twats with challenging haircuts and trust funds.

Indeed. You can't really get much more safe than living in an area surrounded by a bunch of soft, nancy, pretentious dandy's with squiffy hairdos, jeans too-tight-to-jog-in & nail varnish now can you?

The Idiots are winning.

You missed Bethnal Green from your (s)hit list

You could always add Wood Green to the list

Why the hell hasn't Hackney appeared on the [LIFTED] list? I'd avoid Ilford like the plague too.

I'd guess that Snowy only listed the immediate surrounding area to Canary Wharf.

Basically avoid anywhere is Hackney or Tower Hamlets

Or Haringey

I'm sure I've heard some good things about Haringey recently...

Well they were definitely in the news a lot anyway...

hmm...