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Posted

I had planned to move from Singapore back to Austin in June. However, I have been offered a sweet job in London and have accepted. So, after a quick stop in Austin for some bbq, Barton Springs pool and Lions Muni I will be heading to the UK.

 

Has anyone made the move? What are the things you learned? Any other tips?

 

My job will be in north London near Camden Town.

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Posted
9 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

 

I had planned to move from Singapore back to Austin in June. However, I have been offered a sweet job in London and have accepted. So, after a quick stop in Austin for some bbq, Barton Springs pool and Lions Muni I will be heading to the UK.

 

Has anyone made the move? What are the things you learned? Any other tips?

 

My job will be in north London near Camden Town.

 

anything-to-declare-dont-go.gif

 

Nah, just kidding.  Sounds often.  No advice.  Just envy.

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Posted

Housing ain't cheap.  Find someplace that is on a decent transport line (tube or bus) that gets you to work with a relatively low amount of hassle. E.G., my daughter lives in Hackney - the Mildmay line from Hackney Central to Camden Road will get you there in 25 minutes.

You single?  If so, you've got lots of options for where to live.  But truly, look at bus and tube routes, and then pick your place based on that.  Depending on budget, there are plenty of small flats, or if you're up for a co-living deal (private room and en suite, shared kitchen and common area), there are a lot of those that are plenty nice.

And honestly, once you get out of classic "central London," the rest of London living isn't as expensive as people often think (my daughter bitches about it, but that's because she's young and poor working her first job -- everything's "expensive" when you are making entry-level money).

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Posted
1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

Housing ain't cheap.  Find someplace that is on a decent transport line (tube or bus) that gets you to work with a relatively low amount of hassle. E.G., my daughter lives in Hackney - the Mildmay line from Hackney Central to Camden Road will get you there in 25 minutes.

You single?  If so, you've got lots of options for where to live.  But truly, look at bus and tube routes, and then pick your place based on that.  Depending on budget, there are plenty of small flats, or if you're up for a co-living deal (private room and en suite, shared kitchen and common area), there are a lot of those that are plenty nice.

And honestly, once you get out of classic "central London," the rest of London living isn't as expensive as people often think (my daughter bitches about it, but that's because she's young and poor working her first job -- everything's "expensive" when you are making entry-level money).

Did you miss the part where he’s moving from Singapore? I don’t think housing prices in London will phase him.

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Posted
1 minute ago, royiv said:

Did you miss the part where he’s moving from Singapore? I don’t think housing prices in London will phase him.

Yeah, saw that.  Still, there's a range.   We had a friend living in Singapore for a while, and she lived in a pretty small cube (nice cube....but still small).  Rents in both places (central city) are pretty similar.

Posted
5 minutes ago, royiv said:

Did you miss the part where he’s moving from Singapore? I don’t think housing prices in London will phase him.

From Raising Canes to fish 'n chips.

Posted
9 minutes ago, royiv said:

Did you miss the part where he’s moving from Singapore? I don’t think housing prices in London will phase him.

*faze*

Brain fart.

Posted

You can live in one of those long canal boats.  When crossing streets look right left right or you might get mushed.   They drive on the wrong side of the street often there.  
 

the national dishes are chicken tikka masala, fish and chips, limp bacon, and canned beans for breakfast.  Black pudding is not chocolate.  

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Posted

Good advice so far.

Taxes in Singapore are 12-17%. UK tax hits 45% at the top. You also have to pay council tax as a renter which can be like another £200+ a month.

It will be nice to be able to play golf again. They shut down the “cheap” public courses in Singapore ($150) and Indonesia added a $50 visitor fee for Americans, so golf there isn’t as reasonable.

Posted
2 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

Good advice so far.

Taxes in Singapore are 12-17%. UK tax hits 45% at the top. You also have to pay council tax as a renter which can be like another £200+ a month.

It will be nice to be able to play golf again. They shut down the “cheap” public courses in Singapore ($150) and Indonesia added a $50 visitor fee for Americans, so golf there isn’t as reasonable.

The golf can't be beat. We just joined a club in Scotland for the discounts on other courses for an upcoming trip - annual dues are only $350 and the course is an old Tom Morris design. Just bonkers how affordable golf is there. 

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Posted

Moved to East Anglia when I was younger. I learned the colder it gets, the skimpier the women dress.  Postal addresses seem weird because many things are referenced just by their street or locality names and people seem to have encyclopedic knowledge of them. Other than that it was normal living. 

Great opportunity to rent Caterhams on the weekend and drive around the hill or countryside.

Posted

I lived in West Hamstead.  London isn't actually a cohesive city, it a collection of numerous closely related cities clustered together.  Be honest with yourself about what you value (hipster coffee shops and restraunts, family friendly, closeness to work, etc.) and pick one accordingly.  Dress for the rain; when people say it rains a lot in the winter, I didn't appreciate what that actually means.  It rains ALL THE TIME.  And not like a Portland drizzle - it downpours.  Avoid renting a basement flat.  All the wind, rain and trash collects on your front doorstep.

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Posted
17 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

Rent Prices are pretty crazy. Even compared to Singapore.

In the plus sudetou won

’t gwt caned for xhwing gum.

Posted

Someone who lived in London used to be a regular on the board. It seems like he disappeared.

I lived there for 2 years although it was roughly 20 years ago. The constant low cloud ceiling bothered me so probably the advice that first comes to mind is if you see the sun shining, go outside because chances are it'll be gone in an hour. 

Posted

London is an awesome city to be on an expense report.

Is this an Ex Pat assignment?  If so, wouldn't your company pick up the tab on rent? Or at least up to a certain budget?

Posted
Someone who lived in London used to be a regular on the board. It seems like he disappeared.
I lived there for 2 years although it was roughly 20 years ago. The constant low cloud ceiling bothered me so probably the advice that first comes to mind is if you see the sun shining, go outside because chances are it'll be gone in an hour. 

Daughter was just sharing the London mixed bag today. Yesterday was beautiful and sunny, she and a friend walked the city, went thrifitng, great day. Today…a damn half marathon through her hood, she went to Stratford, and now has to muscle through 9 million people to get home, packed streets.
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Posted

There is a very active Texas Exes chapter in London. They have game watching parties, even for the super late kicks. Highly recommend that you get involved. 

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Posted

Now I am in the cycle where the new job is asking me to fill out payroll forms. But you can get a UK bank until you have a house and you can't get a house until you have a bank.

I was trying monzo, but ever an online bank wants you to be in the UK with a house. I was able to get a UK phone number at least.

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

Now I am in the cycle where the new job is asking me to fill out payroll forms. But you can get a UK bank until you have a house and you can't get a house until you have a bank.

I was trying monzo, but ever an online bank wants you to be in the UK with a house. I was able to get a UK phone number at least.

My daughter had a hellacious time with that.

I had an HSBC account already (had to open one for the boy going to school there - we needed it in order to buy a flat, so we didn't have a UK address yet).  You CAN open an HSBC account in the UK from the US.  It's a headache, but it can be done.  There are only a couple of banks that will let you do it, but HSBC is one of them.  Or at least, it was.

Posted (edited)
51 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

My daughter had a hellacious time with that.

 

Same. I think it came up in another thread. It took me, as I recall, four in-person bank visits at least. We had a rental and an address we lived at. If you've opened an account at a new bank in the US lately even that's an agonizing hour of paper work, even if you're a citizen. 

Edited by Chopper
Posted
1 hour ago, Fastbreak said:

Now I am in the cycle where the new job is asking me to fill out payroll forms. But you can get a UK bank until you have a house and you can't get a house until you have a bank.

I was trying monzo, but ever an online bank wants you to be in the UK with a house. I was able to get a UK phone number at least.

You may be able to get temporary accommodations and use said address if they'll let you pay with a credit card. I had a relocation service that paid for a temporary place for me for about a month, and I used that temporary address to open my bank account. I had my work write a letter proving my address, role, salary, and permanence of the job and took that to the bank in the UK to get an account. I used Barclay's FWIW.

You probably are well versed in having to transfer money internationally, living overseas, but I used Transferwise (now called Wise I believe) to transfer money between my US and UK banks with minimal transfer fees. There may be better options out there today. 

Posted
Just now, ABZ said:

You may be able to get temporary accommodations and use said address if they'll let you pay with a credit card. I had a relocation service that paid for a temporary place for me for about a month, and I used that temporary address to open my bank account. I had my work write a letter proving my address, role, salary, and permanence of the job and took that to the bank in the UK to get an account. I used Barclay's FWIW.

You probably are well versed in having to transfer money internationally, living overseas, but I used Transferwise (now called Wise I believe) to transfer money between my US and UK banks with minimal transfer fees. There may be better options out there today. 

Wise is the best on fees and exchange rate.  But it acts up sometimes, and tells us "nope, you can't transfer money."  Usually when it's a bigger amount, but we've sent big amounts before with no issues, so we really can't figure out when and why it will give us a hard time.  Bank wire transfer exchange rate SUCKS.

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