Found a place at Bromley-by-Bow

After a tiring week of scouting for apartment, we've finally found a good one at Bromley-by-Bow. But in the process, we've came across quite a number of very dodgy ones. I wouldn't even stay in few of these even if I'm paid for it.

Properties in London are definitely very expensive. A small studio apartment in Zone 3 will cost around £160 - £180 a week. We saw a few in Ealing. Decent but very small. One bedroom flat will cost from £180 to £250 in Zone 2 and 3. Of course not for areas such as South Kensington. One of these one bedroom flats in Elephant and Castle looked quite decent on the website. But upon our visit to the place, we were really shocked. The place was dark and dirty. We had to go up a metal staircase by the side of the 3-storey building right beside a row of small shops. Another place in Fulham was even worse. It's located at a very quiet and rundown part of Fulham. We were greeted by heaps of leaflets strewn on the floor at the entrance, torn and dirty carpets, soiled beds and creaking staircase. It looks like a house in a ghetto.

Anyway, we contacted Base Properties last Tuesday and managed to view two of the one bedroom flats in a place called Wealdon House right next to Bromley-by-Bow tube station. The place is only one-year old and looks really new. The interior is of modern design which is rare in London, unless you are willing to pay a lot more. The ground floor unit was going for £195 a week while the 4th floor one was £210 a week. A student called Thomas was viewing with us and showed immediate interest in the ground floor one. Johanna and I also indicated our interest in the same unit. Our agent Kristjan told us that he'll had to let the landlord decide. In the afternoon, he called and informed us that the landlord had favoured Thomas over us as one person is likely to cause less wear and tear. Hence we have no choice but to settle for the 4th floor unit. Kristjan managed to get it for us at £205 a week, which works out to £888.33 a month. The only complication is we can only move in on 9 October which is few weeks away.

We have been putting up with Johanna's cousin Jonathan for the past few days. Since he's putting his house for sale we've decided to put up with Shazrul while looking for temporary accomodation before moving in to the new place. We've finally settled down at Goodenough College yesterday, subletting from a member there for one month. We only need the place for two weeks though. But this is the best deal we could find. If you've read the previous post, we're suppose to move into Goodenough on 19 October as we've been offered a place here. But upon our visit the the college, we found the apartment big but old. We're also not impressed with the hostel style of accomodation. Being married, I think we should get a place with more privacy. This place is also a long walk from the tube at night as we could not use the short cut due to security reasons. Our new place is just next to the tube. So that'll save us a lot of time walking. But of course there are also downside to it, which is probably why we could get such a new place for such a bargain. To get to Bromley-by-Bow which is at the end of Zone 2, we have to go through areas such as Mile End, Aldgate and Bethnal Green, which are not the best areas in town. Our place is also located right next to the motorway leading to Blackwell Tunnel. There are no shops around except for a giant Tesco.

It's such a huge relief to have found a place. But of course in terms of getting to work and study, it'll be different experience for both of us. I'll only need to take City and Hammersmith line direct to Moorgate, which is 7 stops away, while Johanna will need to take the District line to Fulham Broadway, which is around 20 stops away! Furthermore she'll need to take bus 391 from Fulham Broadway to Laura Ashley's office at Bagley's Lane. Since the properties on the Western part of London is significantly more expensive than the Eastern part, we had no choice.

Anyway below are some photos of a similar unit of the flat that we are moving in soon.