I just got a job in London and will be moving from Los Angeles in August. I need tons of info particularly about finding a furnished apartment - one bedroom would be great in Central London and general advice about how to manage this type of transition. Thanks in advance. I'm really excited and overwhelmed.

Your company may offer some relocation help. If not officially, then maybe try e-mailing people like new co-workers, or your new boss, if you're comfortable doing that, in the London office and asking for advice. If they are American, they will definitely understand. If they are British, they will probably want to make you feel comfortable. They may even have a ready-to-go apartment they need to sublet, or know someone who does!

Your employer, up to a point, has an interest in your head being on the work and not on whether you have a place to sleep, so they may, say, have a list of letting agents or a packet for new employees, even if it is 6 years out of date.

If not, don't panic. London is full of furnished apartments for people on business and courses of varying lengths, so you just need to figure out what your budget is and how long you're willing to commute or how many people you're willing to share with to meet that budget. (I don't know what you do, or how much they're paying for, so I'm filling in the blanks with what my own company would pay for. Which is peanuts.)

And airfare is reasonably cheap these days. It may be worth either a trip over to check things out, or going over when you first start work, taking just a few things to some short-term accommodation, then going back in a few weeks when you have a few days off for the rest of your things when you have found a better place.

I'd search Loot and Craigslist for shares and other accommodation.

You can also check out ex-pat sites like uk-yankee.com (for Americans in Britain). They offer advice on relocation, shipping, insurance etc.

At worst you could book a cheap tourist apartment for a few weeks and ask for a discount. Expensive, but better than rushing into a lease or trying to arrange something from halfway across the world.

This is an exciting time! Enjoy it!

Here is a link to the Slow Travel page with resource links for Moving to the UK, and here you can read Slow Traveler LisaW's report about moving to and living in London for 6 months.

Just came across a foodie blog I like by a woman living in London: http://eggbeater.typepad.com
Also on Twitter: @shunafish

www.propertyfinder.com is one that I look at for the UK.

May sound a bit obvious but I would suggest that you work out exactly where you will be working and then familiarise yourself with the underground and bus services that are most convenient for that location. If you are able to find a suitable flat within walking distance so much the better, but most people spend a fair amount of time and money commuting so I'd suggest you concentrate first on orienting yourself and work from there.

Thanks for the links and good advice everyone. My employer will put me up in a hotel for a week before I have to start work. Is that enough time to find a flat assuming I do a fair amount of online research prior to? My employer - The American School in London - seems to be well-organized and quite helpful. I received a huge packet of relocation stuff today. I am looking to live within 2 miles -oops, guess I need to switch to kilometers - of the school which is in St.Johns Wood. I am a walker and would love to be able to walk to work - good head-clearing time. I definitely plan to travel light - clothing, a few personal items, that's it for the first few months. Anything expats would recommend bringing from home? Also, I'm kind of overwhelmed by the tech stuff - phones, etc. Thanks for all advice.

quote:

oops, guess I need to switch to kilometers

No need - we're lagging behind the rest of Europe, and still use miles here! But we do now weigh food in kilograms, and measure temperature in Celsius, so you will have some adjusting to do

Jonathan

OK. This narrows it down a bit. I didn't know if you were a banker making a huge salary or what.

You'll definitely want to ask people where they live -- that can be some very pricey real estate nearby, but if you're willing to walk, the weather in London is not so horrible that you can't do it much of the year.

I'd wait and get a cell phone there with a local chip for cheap local service. You can check the "technology on the go" forum for some tips on this area.

Your laptop should work there, if you have one. I'm told computers should work with all voltages. I took my laptop over with no problems. Just get a charger adapter. Go to a good computer store. I have a Mac and was told I could just go to the Apple store in London if I was having any problems, tell them I had Applecare and they would sort things out.

You'll also want to look into a VOIP service like Skype so you can call home for virtually nothing. I'm told you can now get it as an app on your iphone or touch, if you have one.

In education settings like this, you often find out that people living in a country for a few years acquire things, then have to leave, and leave things in the care of their colleagues to sell. If you need furniture, a bicycle, sports gear, a phone or something else someone just can't take with them, you might ask around.

I would take a good look at the packet. Some things in England are really similar to the US, but other things are strangely different. My information's a bit out of date, but in the past, occasionally people have had strange trouble with things like opening bank accounts and getting insurance, and they could have made the transition a bit easier by doing things before leaving home, or at least not shutting everything down before they left home and tried to show up in London with all their worldly assets in the form of a check they couldn't deposit anywhere.

If the packet says to contact someone if you have questions -- Do! Make a friend!

Ask them if there are neighborhoods where many people with your job live, or a good place to start looking. There must have been hundreds of people in just your situation through there before.

And enjoy yourself. I did something like this (without a job lined up!) years ago and loved it.

Again, thanks for the great advice. Working on the visa at the moment. And spending endless amounts of time looking at neighborhoods on line. Does anyone have any experience with Canary Wharf? Is it a real neighborhood where one would feel comfortable on weekends or is it basically a financial area that is deserted come Saturday and Sunday? Seems like the apartments - I mean flats - are a bit more spacious and I could maybe make my pound stretch further than in neighborhoods closer to NW8 where I'll be working....

I live near Canary Wharf. The CW estate itself is a purely commercial development, all Montreal-style offices and underground shops (albeit with plenty of bars and restaurants around some old docks), but the surrounding area is now predominantly residential. It does seem a bit quieter at the weekends, but you also have easy access to Greenwich.

But for someone with a job in St John's Wood, it's quite a long commute: to find somewhere to live at a reasonable price in the area, you'll have an extra bus ride to get to the Jubilee Line. You'd need to allow at least an hour to get to work, even when all the public transport's working fine.

Realistically, I think you'd be looking further north along the Jubilee Line, or along one of the bus routes that serves the area:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gett...t.johnswood-2224.pdf

Hi Ms. S,
Just saw this thread here. My children have almost finished their year at the American School. My husband is a teacher in the States and we came here for his sabbatical. You are lucky to be coming here. It is a fabulous place to live.

I would be happy to chat with you about the area and the transportation to and from school. We live in West Hampstead and really love it here. Definitely do not live far away-it takes longer to get to places than you initially think. I'd be happy to help you with the bus routes and such.

I'm sure you have looked at prices-St. John's Wood is quite pricey and a bit "American".

I can also put you in touch with people who are selling furniture, appliances and the like.

Did you say you are looking for a one bedroom? We are leaving our fully furnished sabbatical home at the end of June. Have you thought about looking at sabbatical homes. They are usually well furnished and a bit less pricey.

I could go on and on so....Send me a private message if you'd like to talk more.

Brenda

(Hey Brenda, nice to see you're still around. when do you guys come back)?

Pokey

Hi Brenda,
I've been busy w/graduation etc and just saw your post. Would love to chat w/you regarding the school, flats, neighborhoods, etc etc. I am looking at a sabbatical home at the moment in West Hampstead and while it looks great online, I'm a bit hesitant to rent it sight unseen...and yes, I am looking for a one bedroom.

I would pm you if I could figure out how. I might not have the right membership to have that privilege. Are you going to be @ ASL in the fall? Maybe I'll teach one of your kids!

Anyhow I'd love to get all your insights. I look forward to hearing from you.
Debbie

Hi Debbie,
This is so weird, I think you are looking at our flat!! Our landlady just asked if she could give someone my email to talk about the flat. Maybe it is you. Our flat is in West Hampstead and we are leaving soon. Unfortunately we also have to leave London because my husband was on sabbatical this past year and we are going back to our old school
We have loved it here and would just love to stay!
This is a great location for ASL.
Anyway, I just figured out I could send you a PM so I'll sign off here.

Oh, Pokey, great to see you here. We need to catch up, I've been so busy I haven't been around much!

Best,
Brenda

Wow-I got your other email before this one! I think it is the same flat - that is so wild. Would love to talk to you - yikes - sometimes the universe really makes things easy. Will send you my # offline in case you're still up.
Debbie