Where to live in London as an IT Contractor

[Francko]

Greenwich - great for the wharf, city and west end. Plus you don't have to get on the waterloo and city line.

But only if you work in the City/Central london or Canary Wharf. If you have to commute from Greenwich to Watford or from Greenwich to Surrey the journey is a hell.

I guess there is no such thing as an optimal point for the whole London suburban area, perhaps there is an optimal location only for a specific London area (south west/center/north west/etc.).

[anothercodemonkey]

I'm sure many people were trying to find a good answer for this question so since I'm planning to start contracting early next year myself I wonder if I can get some advice here and perhaps help other people that are looking for the same.

As an IT contractor one will work in different places in London so to not spend ages commuting it's important to choose a good strategic location and of course location with reasonable rents. By good location I really mean being not more than 3-5 minutes away from the station and spend max about 10-15 minutes on the train. I assume that most of companies that take IT contractors are located in the City and Canary Wharf, although some are in West London as well. Based on this premise I made this list of candidates:

- Waterloo (jubilee to wharf, w&c to bank, SW trains, bakerloo to the center, marylebone & paddington, but renting rather expensive)
- London Bridge (jubilee to wharf, northern/walk to bank, trains, renting a bit cheaper than waterloo)
- Stratford (jubilee/DLR to wharf, central to bank/city, renting cheaper but may be a bit dodgy area)
- Canary Wharf (walk to wharf, jubilee to southwark, DLR to bank, reasonably cheap rent when a bit of the main area)
- Surbiton (18 mins by train to waterloo but cheap)

Of course this is just a theory and based on my presumptions which may be false (also because I've never lived in any of those areas). Therefore I will be really glad and I'm sure others will appreciate it as well if people who actually do IT contracting for a long time can contribute with their know-how and experience.

Waterloo and London Bridge will both be pretty expensive for any sort of reasonable place. They are also busy with tourists, workers and commuters.
Canary Wharf is a bit dead at weekends but since commuting to Canary Wharf is a nightmare then being within walking distance of the office is a huge boon.
Surbtion is cheap but boring.

What is your situation? Do you just need this for working during the week or is it going to be your only residence? Do you have a wife and kids or is it just you? What do you like doing outside of work?

I think I would be inclined to wait until you have something lined up and then start looking.

[cojak]

That nickname dates back to the Eighties and early Nineties, when the Northern Line was indeed crap due to antiquated and unreliable rolling stock. Since new stock was introduced in 1995 it's lost its bad reputation, and is in fact one of the most reliable lines on the Tube network.

I've used it a lot between Edgware and central London (mainly Leicester Square) and never encountered any notable problems or delays. I actually like using it, though maybe that's just me

Never tackle the Northern Line from King's Cross St Pancras between 8.45 and 9.30 if you suffer from claustophobia.

[Zippy]

Never tackle the Northern Line from King's Cross St Pancras between 8.45 and 9.30 if you suffer from claustophobia.

And if you don't suffer from claustrophobia you soon will.

[SueEllen]

That nickname dates back to the Eighties and early Nineties, when the Northern Line was indeed crap due to antiquated and unreliable rolling stock. Since new stock was introduced in 1995 it's lost its bad reputation, and is in fact one of the most reliable lines on the Tube network.

I've used it a lot between Edgware and central London (mainly Leicester Square) and never encountered any notable problems or delays. I actually like using it, though maybe that's just me

I grew up along a station on that line.

There were always a few stations where the tube use to stop in the tunnel outside them for at least a minute regardless of the time of day or evening.

It was horrible in summer.

Now it's worse as while the tubes tend to flow, they are more over crowded as London's population has expanded. So now you rarely get an empty tube regardless of the time of day you travel.

[Olly]

Greenwich - great for the wharf, city and west end. Plus you don't have to get on the waterloo and city line.

I'm in a slightly different boat in that I've already got a contract that's currently in the city and moving to Canary Wharf next year for a year plus.

I lived in Limehouse before but like the idea of somewhere more social for the weekends as I intend to stay there 2 or poss 3 weekends a month.

It's a little bit harder as I need somewhere with parking, ideally garage/underground so I can bring my motorbike up.

Top of the list so far is Stratford but a bit worried it's not going to hit the mark when it comes to the weekends/evenings.

Why do you say Greenwich has good transport links? As far as I can see there's the DLR and the overland to London bridge, I imagine the later is scarce outside of peak times and the former not good at all to take you anywhere other than Canary Wharf.

Stratford, whilst being in Zone 3, seems to offer no end of transport options including night buses and late running tubes.

P.S. Hey OP, if you don't know where you'll be working then surely just pick somewhere nice? What are your other links? Need to be near which motorways to see the family etc etc?

I moved 3 times in London when I was last there and within a month or so each time I got contracts closer to where I'd moved from than where I'd relocated to.

[northernrampage]

Never tackle the Northern Line from King's Cross St Pancras between 8.45 and 9.30 if you suffer from claustophobia.

Agreed.

I hate London transport in the rush hour. Went up north for a couple of years and now back at holloway road, two stops from kings cross, which would be great but I work in west london.

So unless I get up early to avoid the rush hour I find I can't get on for 2-3 trains. When you do get on you are pressed against people. Can't stand it.

Am hoping my next role will be central so I don't have to spend 50 minutes on the tube feeling sweaty and annoyed.

If you start work relatively early or late, some lines are fine (central line is hellish though from when I stayed there, too many people live out east in the leafy bits and at liverpool street people literally push each other to get on). After 8am in the morning rush hour or before 6.15 to 6.30pm in the evening rush hour a lot of tube lines aren't great. Find out where you are going to work and suss it out/ask people who live in London or start work early or late (if you can). I've never been an early riser to take advantage of emptier tubes.

If you're chilled-out maybe you'll be fine though... I'm not anymore

[Freamon]

If you start work relatively early or late, some lines are fine (central line is hellish though from when I stayed there, too many people live out east in the leafy bits and at liverpool street people literally push each other to get on). After 8am in the morning rush hour or before 6.15 to 6.30pm in the evening rush hour a lot of tube lines aren't great. Find out where you are going to work and suss it out/ask people who live in London or start work early or late (if you can). I've never been an early riser to take advantage of emptier tubes.

It used to be the case that the tube/train was significantly quieter after 6:30pm, but that doesn't really seem to apply anymore. Trains at 7pm, 7:30 and 8pm are pretty much just as rammed as the ones at 6pm. My own theory is this is down to people having to work longer hours as employers become more demanding, which they can be as now there's a recession on, everyone's scared of losing their job.

[doodab]

So who's looking forwards to the olympics then?

[redgiant]

Never tackle the Northern Line from King's Cross St Pancras between 8.45 and 9.30 if you suffer from claustophobia.

That's the reason why I now go by boat to client site!

If you can do it I would recommend it and if you get a season ticket it's quite reasonable too (£64 p/m for a cross river ticket - Greenwich, Greenland Dock, Canary Wharf only 15mins).