Moving from London can be a bit of a culture shock – especially in terms of how much money you’ll have to spend.
That’s still the case if you’re coming from another major city.
The cost of renting can vary pretty wildly, and what you spent in your hometown might not get you as much in your new location.
To get a better sense of what’s normal, our weekly series What I Rent takes you inside people’s rented properties, to show what they’re getting for how much they pay.
This week we’re hanging out with Masters student Alanna, 26, and consultant Michelle, 24. They’re both originally from New York, so know big city life, but still had to adjust when they moved to London. They now share a two-bedroom flat in St Paul’s.
Hey, Michelle! How much do you pay for this place?
Total rent for the flat is £2380 per month [so around £1,190 each].
I’m not entirely sure on bills as it varies, and some of our bills are quarterly (gas and electric) or every six months (water, I think) so it tends to come out in large chunks. If I had to guess I’d say maybe £200-300 per month. And it was much higher in the winter due to heating costs.
Do you have a good deal?
It’s decent enough for where we live but I definitely wouldn’t call it a good deal. I’d say it’s pretty on par for what we’ve got in our location. And the flat is nice looking so that adds to the value.
What do you get for what you pay?
Two bedrooms, two bathrooms. Alanna’s room is an en suite and I use the family bathroom.
How did you find the flat?
Alanna and I connected on Spareroom and decided to look for a place together. We wanted somewhere with at least two bedrooms and two bathrooms (we were open to having a third person join us) and looked at Rightmove and Zoopla and visited a couple options on there.
I found a nice place in this area on either Zoopla or Rightmove (I can’t recall which) and contacted the agency to ask about it but they said it had just gone off the market that morning.
But they said they had this flat instead nearby if we wanted to take a look so we did and loved the location and the high ceilings. We put an offer on it that day.
We’ve lived here for a year but the total lease is for 18 months.
Are you happy where you live?
The overall area is great. I can walk to work and Alanna can walk to school and there’s a lot of good transport links and conveniences in the area.
It can be a bit quiet on the weekend with not many shops open, but it’s a short walk to Bankside or Covent Garden which is nice.
However the street we’re on has several pubs so it can get quite noisy sometimes. And since we’re in the City most of the grocery stores are the small ‘express’ kind so it’s sometimes hard to find a good variety of food. We often order groceries online.
Do you feel like you have enough space?
Yeah, it’s not super large but it’s definitely enough space for us and our needs. The two bathrooms really helps to add to the spaciousness, especially as we’re both expats and sometimes have guests stay with us. It helps us to not feel guilty having people over as we might if we shared a bathroom.
We do sometimes wish the flat had a hallway closet or something, but we’ve managed to find a lot of great storage solutions, such as under-bed storage or buying kits to put together cabinets for under our bathroom sinks (although Alanna’s bathroom was redone last month and they added a true under-sink cabinet).
What’s it like living together?
We’ve definitely hit it off. We’re both pretty chill people to live with, I’d say, so overall it’s been a really good living situation.
And as I mentioned before, having two bathrooms really helps because it means everyone feels like they have enough of their own space and privacy.
How have you made the flat feel like home?
The biggest feeling of ‘home’ comes from having my cat Jasper in the flat. He came with me from New York and he’s the piece of familiarity that makes any place feel like home.
In terms of the flat itself, we’ve added a lot of our own touches like all of decor pieces throughout the living room.
A lot of the little things, like the coasters and bronze tray and crystals came from various places I’ve travelled to.
We also added the comfy armchairs and rug all the pieces on the mantle and shelves. And the picture frames on the wall originally had a boring photo and a poster so we added the pretty watercolour paintings we found in Brixton market over top of them to make the space a bit more feminine.
As you can see in our bedrooms, we’ve both definitely added our own touches to make the space feel cosy and more in line with our aesthetics. I’ve hung up some more items from travelling in my bedroom, and then I made my own crystal drawer knobs for the dresser. And we both love the cosiness of multiple throw pillows and blankets.
Are there any problems with the flat?
The flat is above several pubs so it gets extremely noisy, and there’s no secondary glazing (the landlord won’t add it) so it’s sometimes a bit unbearable. Most obviously at night time when people line the streets drinking, but also in the mornings when the pubs have their keg deliveries.
A couple of the pubs keep having kegs delivered at extremely unsociable times in the morning (sometimes as early as 4am or 5 am), despite it being against council rules. I’m not sure if you’ve ever felt or heard the sound of a keg delivery, but it feels pretty similar to a small earthquake and sounds like extremely loud thunder. And we deal with that multiple times a week.
Do you have plans to move again?
The location and beauty of the apartment make me want to stay but the noise is the only thing that might drive me away.
I’d probably stick to a similar area or somewhere in Zone 1 or West London, and I’d be looking for something of a similar quality but a lot quieter.
And what about buying a place?
I would consider buying in the next few years, but I have to think about whether I plan to live in London long term or if I’d prefer to move back to New York eventually.
Shall we have a look around?
What I Rent is a weekly series that’s out every Tuesday at 10am. Check back next week to have a nose around another rented property in London.
How to get involved in What I Rent
What I Rent is Metro.co.uk’s weekly series that takes you inside the places in London people are renting, to give us all a better sense of what’s normal and how much we should be paying.
If you fancy taking part, please email [email protected].
You’ll need to have pictures taken of your kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom, plus a few photos of you in your room. Make sure you get permission for your housemates!
You’ll also need to be okay with sharing how much you’re paying for rent, as that’s pretty important.
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