lhrsfo

Now that we have budget, I'm going to suggest something like Kentish Town. It's now essentially up and come in terms of safety, it has a vibrant day and night scene but crucially it's really well connected. One stop on the overground to King's Cross where you can get to Gatwick easily (and Heathrow when Crossrail opens). Not far from Liverpool Street for Stansted. Two stops to Euston if you need to get to Luton (Heaven forbid) and only 15 minutes to Victoria if you prefer the Gatwick Express. Where this fails is it's 50 minutes to Gatwick but it's much more the urban one bed flat experience than somewhere south of the river which you'd need for 40 minutes to Gatwick.

FlyerTalker7654

+1 - Good shout! Down the road to Camden if Op wants a night out!

What does rent at these days around Kentish/Camden?

Microwave

OP is still sticking to 40 minutes to work and 40 minutes to either LGW or LHR... Given that, I can't think of any options other than what I suggested upthread. :/ Kentish Town is definitely an option given the budget, but more than 40 minutes by transport to either airport.

bibbju

40 mins to LGW, LHR and work doesn't seem achievable for that budget, especially a 1 bed rather than a studio. I think the OP might have to consider reviewing travel time (or upping the budget).

Microwave

Agree, the budget is doable in greater London, but those travel times aren't realistic if the £££ stay the same.

stut

Well, as someone who used to live in Earlsfield, and later in Clapham (and then Stockwell), I think it's pretty doable - and there's some great areas around there.

Earlsfield's quite a sweet little area - if you want somewhere a little quieter and more affordable than the surrounding areas, it works well, and it's only 10 minutes from Waterloo (3 from Clapham Junction).

Clapham itself is rather livelier (although it's gone slightly tediously upmarket these days), although beware: Clapham Junction isn't actually in Clapham, it's in Battersea (which also has some very interesting places to live).

Clapham Junction to Gatwick is 25 mins. Clapham Junction to Heathrow is a little more awkward - you can travel via Feltham and the bus link, which will take about 50-60 minutes.

rollingdeep

If you think most of your travel would be via LHR I would go for North West (we all know north of the river is better ) heading out on the jubilee/met line towards Finchley Road - if you can afford it St John's wood and Hampstead are fantastic areas to live and the commute into town even to Russel square is not that bad as you can just change once at Green Park although it is a trek you might be better off going to Holborn on the central and changing.

I have abs no knowledge of London prices as I live well in Suburbia so could be way off the mark.

bibbju

Hampstead and St John's Wood are both well over budget for a 1 bed flat as well as failing the 40 min travel time to LGW (although they're doable for LHR if using HEX). OP needs to compromise on either location or property or both.

Swanhunter

You would have to go Willesden Green or beyond on the Jubilee to get something on the OP's budget. SE1 has now got very expensive too.

gspurr

It has been over a decade since I lived in London so I have no idea of rental prices, but wouldn't somewhere on the Picadilly Line about halfway between Russell Square and Heathrow work--perhaps the Hammersmith area? From Hammersmith it doesn't take all that long to get to Victoria where the train can be taken to Gatwick.

Also, with the Heathrow Express out of Paddington being 15 minutes to Heathrow couldn't you have a pretty wide circle where you could live within 20-25 minutes to Paddington and 40 minutes to Russell Square?

bibbju

Hammersmith is over budget. Shepherd's Bush is just about doable as long as the OP doesn't want anything too "nice". But that's based on the assumption that the OP is willing to compromise on 40 mins to LGW as well as 40 mins to LHR and work. LGW is over an hour from Shepherd's Bush / Hammersmith. Basically the OP needs to pick ONE airport and locate between there and work. Two airports and work isn't possible without a hefty budget hike or dropping to a small studio flat.

Microwave

Shepherd's Bush could work for LHR if HEX was an option, and could work for Russell Square too... Silly me, I discounted HEX but using it would open up some options. In fact, Harrow on the Hill may be an option as well, as the fast trains run to Marylebone every 30 minutes, which is two stops from Paddington and the HEX. It might be pushing the 40 minute to Heathrow journey time a bit, but with excellent Met line service to Central London Harrow on the Hill can be a great bang for the buck option. Rents tend to be reasonable right around the station and the necessities are all available. It's not as glamorous as Mayfair but for this budget nothing will be.

ajax

This is extremely sensible advice. I wholeheartedly concur.

wavery83

Not sure if the OP has found somewhere but I would say that budget is limited. London rental prices are obscene. Just to give you some perspective - estate agent said we could let out our 1 bed c. 10 mins slow walk to Ealing Broadway for £1,300. It's 600 sqft on a lovely road with beautiful bay window and Ealing has some great amenities but I'd say you'd be hard pushed to find somewhere nice that ticks all those requirements. You may have to think outside the box I'm afraid.

Raffles

That is a stupid price. I let out probably the nicest one bedder in East London - 1,000 square feet warehouse conversion, furnished with designer items (B&B Italia etc), both bedroom and living room overlooking the Thames with balconies, literally next door to Wapping station and walkable to Canary Wharf and the City, for £2,300.