BootsnAll Travel Community

hey everyone. I'm heading off to London to work for a year (or two if I can sort visas out) and I'm wondering how much money I need to live on before finding a job? I'll probably need accommodation, food etc. I live super cheaply when I'm overseas but having never been to London don't know what to expect! Thanks!

Well it depends really. Do you have a friend based in London where you can crash for a few weeks while you sort yourself out? Would help a lot, otherwise hostel/ hotel fees will soon eat away.

Expect to pay around £400 for a decent houseshare rental (you can get it for less, depends on how far out you want to be really and how many people you're willing to share with)+ often at least a month's deposit. I'd say you'd need £1500 available to you to tide you over until the pay cheques start coming in from temping/ bar work/ whatever type of work you're going to do.

Try Gumtree to give you an idea of rental prices going at the moment for house shares. Also 'Loot'.

Good luck!

Snap, I agree with Welshcake, at least £1500 because London really does have a tendancy to sap us your money in very little time.

Finding a job really wont be a problem as long as you're willing to put the effort in.
You can always scout around beforehand, I recommend using the jobcentreplus website... google it.

Goodluck!

London is a very expensive city. Here's what I did to help pay
for my 6 month holiday in the UK
http://www.livein-jobs.co.uk/
These jobs don't usually pay a lot but they give you room and sometimes meals for free. I don't know how many jobs are available in the city but they probably have something nearby,
and it will help you make it by until you find the job you're looking for.