Pros and cons of living in London for an expat?

[adelea]

What are the main pros and cons of moving to London as an expat? What are your favorite things? What's less than ideal?

How are things like safety, ease of assimilating and making friends, cost of living compared to earning potential, and so on?

Cheers

[sten]

Hey Adele,
while you get more qualitative first-hand answers from London-based expats, hope you've discovered the London city data pages here on Teleport already? And for your specific questions, there are some sub-pages and tools to dive in:

• Safety in London
• Budget calculation widget

Would love to hear if there is anything you're missing there!

BR
Sten

[Simon5]

Please think TWICE about coming to live in London after the Brexit vote. There are strong anti-foreign and anti-EU attitudes and emotions generally across the whole UK.

If you however have to come here, make sure you have a steady income or work already arranged. The costs of living in London are much higher than in any other European capital.

Of course, it depends on your personal lifestyle, individual circumstances and your needs. Renting a 1-bedroom flat in a good neighbourhood in Zone 2 e.g. Queen's Park, Maida Vale, Kentish Town, Camden Town, West Hampstead is a cost of about £1,800 - £2,500+ per month. Prices are much higher in the best locations in Zone 1, around Kensington, Warwick Avenue, St. John's Wood or Mayfair.

According to a popular show "Location, Location, Location", the cost of buying a property in London is on average 12.6 times of the average annual salary in London. For comparison, this ratio falls to slightly over 2 in areas around Glasgow (Scotland) - it is therefore very difficult for people to acquire a home in London without having been settled here already e.g. through their parents and other family members.

Earning potential is currently high, however this may change after the actual Brexit. Many companies, banks, and organisations based in the City have already announced their relocation plans to Paris and other major cities across Europe.

As to the personal relationships, London is generally a friendly place, it is easy to connect to local communities and people you might be interested in. I have made quite a lot of long-lasting friendships here in London.

As to the safety, I've never experienced any violence towards me in the past 11 years of my life here. I hope this helps.

[James_Heneghan]

Hi Adele,

Please don't listen to Simon's scaremongering about Brexit and the strong anti-foreign/EU attitude. Yes the country voted for Brexit (not London by the way), but that still hasn't changed anything fundamentally.

It is one of the most expensive cities in the world, its also one of the best. It is safe, clean, expensive but good public transport and pretty much anything that you could want to do. You can rent or room share i would say from £800-1500 per month in a decent area.

If you want to do it, then you wont regret doing it. Best of luck

[joesilver]

Please think TWICE about coming to live in London after the Brexit vote.
There are strong anti-foreign and anti-EU attitudes and emotions
generally across the whole UK.

Well, it's not so bad, actually. While the Brexit vote has unleashed some xenophobic sentiments and episodes -- and as a EU national I don't underestimate that -- I wouldn't say that UK has become an hostile country towards foreigners. In any case, these attitudes vary a lot across UK and are much rarer in the biggest cities. London, where 36.7% of population is foreign born, is one of the most diverse city in the world and more welcoming than many other places in Europe, for sure.

There are two things, though.

• In UK, like everywhere in the world, the attitude depends much on the socio-economic status of the migrant. Low skilled workers are more likely to be blamed for pushing down wages and using social welfare. But again, it's very unfair to say that London is worse than any other city in the world.

• The fate of foreign people living and working in UK has been deliberately left uncertain because their rights will be used as a card in the Brexit negotiations. Also, some proposals from members of the government like making a list of all companies hiring foreign workers, or asking new migrants to pay £1000 per year to work and live in UK are, frankly, outrageous, even if they have been immediately withdrawn. On top of that, the economical uncertainty after Brexit is a real concern.

Now, replying to Adele.

My favourite things: the amazing offer of entertainment, cultural and art events. London is full of galleries, concert venues, theatres and, provided that you have a decent income, it's impossible to get bored. The diversity and variety of people living here and their contribution to the city's life is one of its major qualities. The public transportation is quite efficient (apart from occasional strikes...)

The cost of living is surely high but you might want to live in zone 3 or zone 4, preferably near a tube station and commuting rather quickly between work and home.

[Christopher_Moore]

Hi Adele,

The pros and cons of London life are many and myriad. I've been here for six years having relocated from Melbourne.
There's not much I don't like about the place, mostly little niggles that get on my nerves from time to time. It's a crowded place, so peace and quiet can be hard to find. The traffic in central London is a nightmare and to be avoided at all costs. This also makes bus travel a tedious experience (but the Underground trains are amazing!).
It's not the friendliest place on earth, but that's to be expected in most huge metropolises.
The weather gets me down a lot, but maybe as a Scandinavian that won't worry you so much.
No doubt, it's an expensive city for a lot of things (like that brilliant public transport, and property/rent prices), but compared to my home the food and drink is a lot cheaper. As a previous commenter suggested, don't be afraid to have a look outside Zones 1&2 if you want to find somewhere to live that's a bit cheaper - there are some very cool places that are often overlooked.

What I love about London cannot be contained here - I could write an essay! The art culture and museums are mind-blowing for me. Tate Modern is a life highlight.
Each area of London has its own character and they are so worth exploring - from Camden and Primrose Hill, the City and Bankside, Soho and Mayfair, Hyde Park to Greenwich, Richmond to Highgate. I never tire of exploring the neighbourhoods.
Dining and drinking in this city is a pleasure, with so many great pubs, bars and restaurants to sample.
The architecture is interesting and occasionally stunning. Did I mention the trains? The Underground is a modern miracle.
And when it all gets too much, London City Airport is just east of central London and an amazing gateway to Europe.

Don't be swayed by talk of post-Brexit anxiety. Sure, there have been a few incidents and a few grumbles, but I have never felt unsafe here like I have in places like NYC and LA. Your status here may change as a result of Brexit negotiations, but who knows what the future holds?

London is an amazing place if you have a decent income and some time to spend.

[Francesco_Durante_Vi]

Hi Adele,

London is an amazing city. You just have to get used to it, like any other place. Find your corner of heaven (there are many in London).
Especially if you are a creative person, London will stimulate and inspire you endlessly.

I have to mention the above underlined Brexit mess, but you can read about that on the news through a basic Google search. Just be aware that things are going to change quite drastically; nobody knows how or exactly when, but it's inevitable...so it seems according to Theresa May's last public speech.

If you look up London on wikipedia, you'll learn that along with New York, it's the most multicultural city of the globe. Yet it retains a very profound and vibrant English identity.

London is a city where you can find whatever you may be looking for, literally. Bare in mind that it is quite expensive and quite demanding in terms of energies, but again, this comes down to who you are, your income and your lifestyle.

You may like a posh and chic neighbourhood like Holland Park, and enjoy the Vintage market in Portobello road, or prefer the hype of Broadway Market, infested by hipsters and creatives of all sorts (even bankers camouflage themselves as hipsters there, just because it's cool to look creative!).

London is the most important financial center after New York. Did you know? you'll hear a lot of money talk.

The NHS has gone to shit...so be ready to pay great amounts for private health care, unless you can afford to loose endless hours of your precious life running around hopelessly to find someone who actually cares about you.

The night life could improve a great deal. Drinking is very expensive, and parties are usually overpriced for what they offer. All the best parties are not that easy to find! DUH!!...

the rave scene has gone legal...so not so many underground parties anymore, rare.
Cult clubs like Fabric or the EGG struggle to keep up with the pressing local administration that would rather send them all out of zone one and speculate with real estate firms.

Anyways...there are a lot of theme parties such as Secret Cinema and others that you'll find asking here and there in Brick Lane (aka Hipster's hangout).

If you like books, you can subscribe to the mighty British Library, one of the most important libraries in the entire world.

Well...I could keep going forever listing all the amazing things that London has to offer. Why don't you just go?
Ok so here is one last thought....once you have spent enough time in London...you kind of need to decide weather that's the place where you are going to settle, or weather you want to leave...
In the first case, well....you will become a Londoner for life, is it good or bad? I can't tell....there is a number of crazies there, that's for sure, but also geniuses and divas and cool cats...
In the second case, London will remain forever in your heart and you'll want to go back to it, again and again...to see the changes and those places you can never forget.

Good luck