B1K3R Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Hi :smile: I'll be returning to Europe, guess around this coming September since wife was not feeling well and she went back home with our 5 year old princess. Tough, since we had just settled and I'm loving it here...but that's life. So, I'm planning my next move...London....my mate is currently contracting there, he's an IT Architect. I'm a senior developer and currently working with MVC 3, nHibernate, jQuery, SQL etc. It's fun Anyway, he said that the average rate is around 400 pounds a day, can be less or more, depending on the role. According to http://www.jobserve.co.uk, there is plenty of work in IT, but I'm not sure how up to date this site is. I also have a few agents contacts in London, will give them a buzz. I'm hoping to go there contracting for a couple of months, purely to make some money and come on my feet after spending it all to come here. So, I'll be looking at 1 room share/flat and he said I'd have to pay around 700 to 1000 pounds a month. I'll fly home once/twice a month and they can come to visit me too. Nowadays its cheap with ryan air/easyjet etc. From your knowledge..... 1. I'm surprised to find lots of roles on job serve with an average of $350 to $500 a day...is this accurate? 2. Is the 700/1000 a month realistic for 1 room etc in London? 3. Which are the best areas to stay? All I care about are areas with good public transport, safe and not run down. All info and ideas welcome!!! Cheers B!K3R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Ropey HOFF Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Best of luck buddy, good to see your thinking really positive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B1K3R Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 Thanks mate, now I'm planning Plan B :wink: Cheers B!KeR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marta Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Hi :smile: I'll be returning to Europe, guess around this coming September since wife was not feeling well and she went back home with our 5 year old princess. Tough, since we had just settled and I'm loving it here...but that's life. So, I'm planning my next move...London....my mate is currently contracting there, he's an IT Architect. I'm a senior developer and currently working with MVC 3, nHibernate, jQuery, SQL etc. It's fun Anyway, he said that the average rate is around 400 pounds a day, can be less or more, depending on the role. According to http://www.jobserve.co.uk, there is plenty of work in IT, but I'm not sure how up to date this site is. I also have a few agents contacts in London, will give them a buzz. I'm hoping to go there contracting for a couple of months, purely to make some money and come on my feet after spending it all to come here. So, I'll be looking at 1 room share/flat and he said I'd have to pay around 700 to 1000 pounds a month. I'll fly home once/twice a month and they can come to visit me too. Nowadays its cheap with ryan air/easyjet etc. From your knowledge..... 1. I'm surprised to find lots of roles on job serve with an average of $350 to $500 a day...is this accurate? 2. Is the 700/1000 a month realistic for 1 room etc in London? 3. Which are the best areas to stay? All I care about are areas with good public transport, safe and not run down. All info and ideas welcome!!! Cheers B!K3R Sorry to hear your wife is not well. Hope everything will get better and that you will find a job soon in London. I lived in London for a while (and loved it). As to your questions: 1. I am not an expert but I don't think that's realistic even if you have (and you sound like it) very good IT knowledge and experience. Always remember that London is a city of 13 million people, and a lot of them are also very qualified and some of them might be looking for the same jobs you are looking for. But maybe you are lucky and find some well paid job in the City, for example in a bank, who knows. Just try it out. 2. Yes, for a smallish studio flat (however, not in SW, NW or W or Central), including bills and council tax. Depending on the area and size you might also find 1 bed flats in that price range but ex bills and council tax. -We lived in a 1 bed flat in New Cross (rubbishy area but still quite cheap) and paid 800 ex bills. Remember flat hunting might take up to three months in London. 3. Depends on where your job would be located. Not doable will be Central because of cost of living so zone 2 and 3 might be more realistic. Even though most of London is well connected by busses and the tube it will usually take some time to get to work especially in rush hour. I worked near Marylebone and lived in New Cross, so it took me an hour each way to get to work. But also here you might get lucky and find a good place to live near your work place. I would not recommend certain spots in SE, S and N because they might be a bit dodgy. The area we lived in was dodgy indeed but we could not afford to rent anywhere else and I just did not go outside on my own after 8pm. Anyway. I hope it will be fine for you in the end. Wishing you and your family the best of luck.:wubclub: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest siamsusie Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Hi Biker, My son has bought his 2 x 2 in Bow opposite Victoria Park which is 10 mins from the city. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-29989018.html....325GDP pm http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-30273025.html 275 GDP pm They do rent a proportion of them.. and parking can come with the property. Good bus and tube routes. Hope you are well, missed seeing your posts. Susie xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Har00n Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Hi B1ker, Im an It contractor as well, am in testing. Was contracting all over London last year, so hopefully i can help. 1. £350 - £500 is accurate per day, i'd say. This would be in and around london city. I actually know people who're contracting in investment banks that earn close to 1k a day... so dont see why you shouldn't be able to earn £350-500 a day. Bear in mind this is before tax etc, you will have to setup either yoru own ltd company, or use an umbrella company. Umbrella companies take away the hassle of accountitng, but if you get yourself a good accountant, you should be able to retain more than using an umbrella company. 2. Is the 700/1000 a month realistic for 1 room etc in London? Depends where in London really. A friend of mine was paying £1100 for a tiny one bed basement flat in knightsbridge... i decided to stay further out, and managed to get an huge 2 bed flat for £800 a month. I stayed outside london, in Crawley and East grinstead, close to the train line, and it took me just about an hour to get into london. Once in london, the undergrounds will get you where you need to go. If your just looking for a room, sites like easyroommate.com or gumtree might help you find just a room, which will cost you less. 3. Best Places to stay... Like Marta said, really depends... Every place has its good and bad areas. you'll hear about places like south croydon/streatham/tooting being rough, but i know people who stay in these areas and have no problems at all. Places like aldgate and tower hamlets are also in the news, but again, ive stayed in aldgate without issues, and have friends in tower hamlets who've not got problems... its all relative really. With regards to transportm if your living IN london, you have to get yourself an oyster card. Makes travel by train/tube/bus very easy. You pay a small deposit, but it will save you money. Also, get yourself one of the Underground apps for your smartphone (if you have a smartphone...) they are invaluable as they let you know fastest routes between stations. I also used the national rail apps to help me from station to station, and can honostly say i didn't have many major problems... apart from at clapham common. During rush hour, Its a nightmare here, you have to make sure your first on the train, and even then your squeezing in and packed like sardines! Forget about finding a seat, and just be thankful you've managed to get on a train!! Anyways, hope the above helps. If your CV's up to date, and on jobserve, and your profiles up-to-date on linked in, you should find contracting is pretty easy in London. If you have any problems, give me a shout. (i'll be in australia starting a perm job for the first time in 7 years or so, but i'll help out where i can!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graemsay Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I'd probably try to get £400 / day as a minimum in London. It's possible to get £350 or so in Leeds or Manchester where the living costs are a lot cheaper. The big money is in the financial sector, but it can be tricky to get in as they generally want prior experience within banks before they'll hire. I don't know how good the market is at present. It was tight in the first part of the year, but seems better now. I'm getting a lot of calls off agents, but not that many seem to turn into interviews, so I'm a bit sceptical. Rents can be very high. A room in a shared house will typically be around £800 / month, and a one bedroom flat will be £1200 or £1300 for somewhere decent. In terms of locations, I like Kew, Richmond and round there, but it's not cheap. Putney and Wimbledon are good, and Southfields (which nestles between them) is a relative bargain. If you want to go a bit further afield, I like Windsor and the surrounding areas. It's a bit cheaper than London, and relatively quick to get into town. Since you're a biker, bear in mind that you will get robbed blind by insurance companies if you want to keep a bike in London and don't have a garage. I know this from Bitter Personal Experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirra Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Hi Im an IT contractor in London. Im on > £500 per day so your estimate is fair. Im in finance. If you are going to earn over £400 per day you should operate under your own Ltd Co so you can nett more. send me a mail and Ill be happy to share my exp of setting up a Ltd Co if you like. You can net around 80% of your daily rate this way I have noticed there is more work out there and alot have work from hm/hot desk policies so make sure you get a good internet speed at hm! Will also mean you can wfh up home. I think your rental budget is fine. As previous posts mentioned you would need to factor in your bills on top where to live? Id see where my new office is and get somewhere thats easy to get to it. also, if you plan on flying hm so often think about what airport you will mainly use and live somewhere with good links to that. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B1K3R Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 Thank you all for the great info, much appreciated!!! Will do some research on what you guys have said....now back to the drawing board, I'm sure it's gonna take a while to plan, but I'll get there! :smile: Cheers B!KER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.