Anyone Experienced With London?

[chocmuffins]

I'll be moving to London early next year to work. I think it's a good learning experience, plus I get some sort of "paid vacation" to one of the best destination for urban photographers.

I'm wondering whether anyone have experience with London life, not as a tourist but more as a resident. How to find value accommodation, things to eat, etc.

If anyone here is residing there, we can probably meet up and set up a London branch of CS. :bsmilie:

 

[night86mare]

sure, shoot.

what do you want to know?

i can't help you with things to eat though, i only know chinatown well. i'm sure other members who have been in london for long periods before can help.

in any case, just to note the photography climate in london itself - last i knew, it was perfectly legal and normal for police to stop you and ask for details, if you are shooting in public. it is just a routine check, do not get too worried. the same other photographers' rights apply, they have no legal reason to ask you to delete photographs unless there is explicit statement that you are not allowed to shoot. also, most of europe tends to be paedophile-phobic. so exercise extreme caution when shooting a child on the street. i personally avoid it these days, but if you must, gauge the parents' reaction to having a camera around, and if they aren't too wary, ASK THEM FIRST.

oh cowgirl, where are youuuu

 

[chocmuffins]

How about housing? you know any good letting agency? It doesn't feel like Singapore where letting agents are everywhere!

 

[night86mare]

How about housing? you know any good letting agency? It doesn't feel like Singapore where letting agents are everywhere!

which area will you be working in? what is your housing budget? are you willing to travel? i cannot really help you out if you want too high end.. i am poor student.. :bsmilie:

but there are many, many letting agencies, don't worry about it. most of them are area based though, rather than attempting to capture the whole market. for example, for the south bank area (inclusive of county hall, which is actually a very nice residence) will be one area.

you probably already know that rental prices are killers in london no? you can try findaproperty.co.uk, there will be listings based on areas, and then most of the agents will be reliable. the only difference is their T&C, and sometimes the agreement fees. if you are working here though, i doubt there will be a problem.

 

[chocmuffins]

Haha, I'm looking for cheap cheap one first... and I thought Singapore rent is already sky high.

Thanks for the pointer mate.

 

[flowerpot]

sure, shoot.

what do you want to know?

i can't help you with things to eat though, i only know chinatown well. i'm sure other members who have been in london for long periods before can help.

in any case, just to note the photography climate in london itself - last i knew, it was perfectly legal and normal for police to stop you and ask for details, if you are shooting in public. it is just a routine check, do not get too worried. the same other photographers' rights apply, they have no legal reason to ask you to delete photographs unless there is explicit statement that you are not allowed to shoot. also, most of europe tends to be paedophile-phobic. so exercise extreme caution when shooting a child on the street. i personally avoid it these days, but if you must, gauge the parents' reaction to having a camera around, and if they aren't too wary, ASK THEM FIRST.

oh cowgirl, where are youuuu

so photo taking in London ok ? Heard some stories of the police there about photography... So children cannot ah... how about ppl on the streets ??

will be in London next March for a short trip

 

[cowmera]

oh cowgirl, where are youuuu

Looking for me? :angel:

For housing, try http://www.gumtree.com/ I think it's better to live in zone 1 or 2 if you work in the city as you'll save on transport. Nice places to live in are Canada Waters, Canary Wharf but they are expensive. For starters maybe you can rent a room first and after making some friends, rent an apartment together?

For food, eating out is expensive so you'll save quite a bit by cooking your own. I'll give you some examples...a bowl of ice kacang is £3 and there are no attap chees! (do they still sell that? that m'sian cafe?) A plate of char siew rice is about £6 (still around this price, nai meh?) I can go on and on so TS, what do you want to know more about?

 

[chocmuffins]

Go on... the pressing issue now is flat rent. Can't seem to find a reputable letting agent that's accessible online from Singapore. Well, I'm planning to crash in one of my friends' or B&B for a couple of days until I can get decent flat. But finding one ready before I'm there will be very nice.

But do write anything related to London. I'm also looking at http://singaporeaninlondon.blogspot.com/, nice read.

 

[cowmera]

Go on... the pressing issue now is flat rent. Can't seem to find a reputable letting agent that's accessible online from Singapore. Well, I'm planning to crash in one of my friends' or B&B for a couple of days until I can get decent flat. But finding one ready before I'm there will be very nice.

But do write anything related to London. I'm also looking at http://singaporeaninlondon.blogspot.com/, nice read.

Try : http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=26972057516

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14407340316

 

[chocmuffins]

Mm... the Facebook groups are very resourceful. Thanks a lot!

 

[night86mare]

so photo taking in London ok ? Heard some stories of the police there about photography... So children cannot ah... how about ppl on the streets ??

will be in London next March for a short trip

no problem with people on the street

though the same unwritten social rules apply..

 

[night86mare]

Looking for me? :angel:

For housing, try http://www.gumtree.com/ I think it's better to live in zone 1 or 2 if you work in the city as you'll save on transport. Nice places to live in are Canada Waters, Canary Wharf but they are expensive. For starters maybe you can rent a room first and after making some friends, rent an apartment together?

For food, eating out is expensive so you'll save quite a bit by cooking your own. I'll give you some examples...a bowl of ice kacang is £3 and there are no attap chees! (do they still sell that? that m'sian cafe?) A plate of char siew rice is about £6 (still around this price, nai meh?) I can go on and on so TS, what do you want to know more about?

please be very careful if you use gumtree. these are either small agents, or landlords themselves. i agree with cowmera that gumtree can be cheaper than findaproperty or through other means, but.. just be cautious and tread lightly. there have been cases where the agent either disappears after the booking deposit (you put down a week's deposit to hold the property before signing contract and giving LARGE deposit).. or the agent just disappears somewhere in the course of time.. even landlord also don't know what happen. some of my seniors have lost money that way.

6 week's deposit is no joke.. :sweat:

 

[cowmera]

please be very careful if you use gumtree. these are either small agents, or landlords themselves. i agree with cowmera that gumtree can be cheaper than findaproperty or through other means, but.. just be cautious and tread lightly. there have been cases where the agent either disappears after the booking deposit (you put down a week's deposit to hold the property before signing contract and giving LARGE deposit).. or the agent just disappears somewhere in the course of time.. even landlord also don't know what happen. some of my seniors have lost money that way.

6 week's deposit is no joke.. :sweat:

Oh i didnt know that gumtree is rather unsafe. :embrass: It's popular though.

Okok...how about http://www.londonluxuryproperty.co.uk/

Or

http://www.sothebyshomes.com/london :bsmilie: :bsmilie:

 

[night86mare]

Oh i didnt know that gumtree is rather unsafe. :embrass: It's popular though.

Okok...how about http://www.londonluxuryproperty.co.uk/

Or

http://www.sothebyshomes.com/london :bsmilie: :bsmilie:

you win liao :thumbsup:

no luh, even the findaproperty agents also run away one. just giving general caution. there is less regulation on gumtree than findaproperty. my friend pays his rent to the agent ( i have no idea got such arrangement, mine is deal direct with landlord as we got our flat through a school website).. then the agent run away with last 3 month's rent + deposit gg.

just always be alert. like even though we did ours through a school website, and the guy had been registered for 10 years, we checked with the school people, we checked the title deed, we checked out his office, obtained photocopy of his driver's license etc. he was very amused but not irritated thankfully. :bsmilie:

better be kiasu rather than end up being emo cos no money.

i wish i could stay at county hall, is a very nice place. but prices rocketed through the roof this year because everyone is selling houses and renting.

 

[chocmuffins]

Time to buy then? Haha...

But I heard the price is really2 going down... sadly they require 25% upfront payment. Don't have that much money yet...

I'm also scouring through craigslist. This one is even scarier than gumtree/findaproperty. Is there any sure fire way of validating an ad? I come across something called Energy Performance Certificate. Said that any landlord must present this to a tenant before renting. I may use this to validate property ownership (instead of checking to the registry which costs 2 pounds).

Haiz... moving is troublesome.

 

[night86mare]

Time to buy then? Haha...

But I heard the price is really2 going down... sadly they require 25% upfront payment. Don't have that much money yet...

I'm also scouring through craigslist. This one is even scarier than gumtree/findaproperty. Is there any sure fire way of validating an ad? I come across something called Energy Performance Certificate. Said that any landlord must present this to a tenant before renting. I may use this to validate property ownership (instead of checking to the registry which costs 2 pounds).

Haiz... moving is troublesome.

2 pounds cheap cheap luh, plus you can save the pdf file and print out :thumbsup:

lol, if you have the money buy lor.. hahaha.

i don't think EPC is a must, but gas safety cert is. also a tenancy deposit protection thingy.

for gumtree and craiglist, i don't think so.

 

[frametology]

i wish i had a chance to stay in london for an extended period of time

nightmare, where and what are you studying?