Image by Ewan-M via Flickr

Author:  Colleen

A relocation to London can be a frightening prospect when even the unseen challenges of moving overseas are an ongoing presence weighing on your mind and heart. Hey, I understand—just like all the London Relocation agents, I’ve been there and done that. My relocation to London from the US was fraught with heartache over what I was leaving behind and sheer fear of what would lie ahead; for as much as you can anticipate in advance, there’s always something lurking in the shadows waiting to leap out at you or prey on your mind in the night as you try to sleep. I’ve lived to tell my horror story and love living in London as a result, but it’s a fact that having a relocation company with the heart and soul of our London Relocation agents on your side is an invaluable resource for exposing any monsters hiding under the bed (i.e., shady landlords, lettings agents, or lease terms) and warding off evil through the goodness of expat empathy and genuine compassion.

The stress of relocating to London shall pass into the annals of your own personal history, but the intrigues of London’s past forever lives on in its present. Even London’s pubs have interesting histories, and as I’ve been describing the last couple days, they bear the emotional baggage of some long-term “tenants” of their own… To continue my series, here’s a few more haunted London pubs to check out:

Morpeth Arms – 58 Millbank, Westminster, SW1P. This pub’s cellar used to hold prisoners before they were shipped to Australia and is now haunted by the ghost of a man who died trying to escape. Pub staff feel presences and see cloaked figures.

The Old Bull & Bush – North End Road, North Hampstead, NW3. This 1721 public house has been haunted by a dark Victorian figure for over a hundred years…and no wonder: a skeleton and Victorian surgical instruments were discovered bricked up behind its cellar wall!

The Old Queen’s Head – 44 Essex Road, Islington, N1. Sir Walter Raleigh used to frequent the pub once standing on this site, but the present-day building is haunted by a Tudor woman and her weeping child. Listen for their footsteps running down passageways and look out for doors opening and closing.

The Rising Sun - 38 Cloth Fair, Smithfield, EC1. A former 18^th century hostelry, this establishment was, according to local legend, a meeting place for body snatchers. Because of its proximity to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, there are tales that these men used to drug and murder pub patrons to sell their cadavers to doctors, but the truth of this is not known. What staff does know, however, is that there are several presences running about, as experienced through such phenomena as tugging on bedsheets and shower curtains, the feel of an icy hand, and the sound of footsteps.

The Spaniards Inn - Spaniards Road, Hampstead,  NW3. 18^th century highwayman Dick Turpin’s father was the landlord of this property, so Dick is believed to haunt its upstairs quarters while his horse, Black Bess, haunts the parking lot. The pub is also graced by the spirit of “Black Dick,” a moneylender who was run down by a coach on the road outside and who’s been reported to tug on patrons’ sleeves.

Scared much? Are you going to have to sleep with your nightlight on tonight? Well, London Relocation’s honest and quality service is why its employees can sleep at night, and they’ll give you sweet dreams, too—by dispelling your worries over the nightmare that can otherwise be an international relocation and giving you a lovely London apartment rental for resting your weary head.

You know what also happens in just ONE DAY? London Relocation Services will find your perfect London apartment.

Author:  Colleen

If you’re making an international relocation to London, you’re likely (hopefully) researching as much about your new home as you can. London Relocation agents, for one, will play a big part in making the unfamiliar familiar to you so your relocation to London is fast and seamless. And they can speak to not just the London property market, but the local lifestyle and culture that will become as much a part of your everyday as your new London apartment. So that takes a lot of pressure off you, giving you more time to just kick and read something for pleasure.

And that’s where I come in. If you’ve read any of my previous “London Literacy” posts, you’ll know that my English teacher/reader/writer self loves any poetry or prose set in this fine literary city, and I often encounter it whether I want to or not! The UK’s just a hub like that, as you’ll find for yourself when you move to London…it’s an interesting intersection of the world. So then, while your London Relocation agent will show you 18-25 properties in just one day, I’m going to tell you about my most recent read, One Day. This has been a Kindle bestseller and is now also known for its new film version starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. It seems to be the usual case where the book is better than the movie where reviews go. I haven’t yet seen the film, but I loooved the book.

As the title would imply, One Day by David Nicholls is about one day…but not just one year. It follows its two main characters, Dexter and Emma, over the course of two decades on the anniversary of the same day they first become friends and initiate some major sexual tension. This tension ensues as life takes them on separate paths that converge and diverge while the two friends tread the fine line of platonic and romantic love. The characterization is so well developed; Em and Dex feel very real with all their flaws and virtues and the way their different personalities and intellects bounce off each other. To hate a character like Dexter most of the way through and still have him endear himself in the end is really saying something. And dialogue and narration both are tremendously witty; I don’t think I’ve ever laughed out loud so much reading a novel, so I wasn’t prepared for how much it would then move me as well. Just when it seemed like a light read, it became something very human and touching, and it’s one of those stories that lingered with me long after I’d finished.

And it’s largely set in London. (There it is! This post does have some relevance to this blog!) In addition to being a very fun read, I as a London expat of course got a kick out of recognizing the locations of its settings. Though it starts out in Edinburgh, Scotland, the book eventually features London neighborhoods like Soho, Hampstead, Highgate, Earls Court, Hackney, Richmond and…shoot, I can’t remember them all, but you’ll find out when you read it! It gives more a sense of the real London where people really live versus the big sites where the tourists frolic. And also makes you question: does the NHS still provide hideous, standard-issue eyeglasses like that? You see London from the middle-to-lower class day-to-day, just-gotta-pay-the-bills perspective to the affluent, city-is-your-playground one—and even then, all that glitters is not gold. All around, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it, particularly if you’re making the London move yourself one day!

Living In London – London Neighborhoods – North London- Image via Wikipedia

We’re up to  north again and this area is the choice of many Americans moving to London. North London is a massive area with dozens of postcodes and suburbs. Mostly residential, many people who work in the city have chosen to live in North London for schools, amenities and the feeling of being slightly out of the city, even if you’re right in the thick of things.

North London – Hampstead

Hampstead is one of the greenest suburbs in London. It is also a suburb that has a village atmosphere and quaint shops and streets surrounding the magnificent green area of Hampstead Heath. This atmosphere comes at a price though. A London flat in this neighborhood can cost you anywhere from £1000 -£ 4000 per week. Houses are even more expensive.

Council Information: Hampstead falls under the Council Borough of Camden with annual taxes ranging from £900 – £2700.

Transport: Hampstead Station falls under Transport Zone 2 and is located on the Northern Line of the London Underground. The Hampstead Heath Station serves the overland trains and there are several buses from Hampstead into London, including the N5 night bus right to Trafalgar Square.

Shopping: Hampstead offers a number of excellent grocery stores that offer home delivery like Tesco Express and Waitrose but the real treat of living in Hampstead are the smaller shops that line the streets of this residential neighborhood. Specialty grocery stores and health shops,​ as well as boutiques and excellent restaurants can be found in this area. Hampstead is one of the suburbs in London where being seen out and about is more about celeb spotting than anything else!

Doctors: there are a number of excellent local GP’s in the area as well as the Royal Free Hospital which has an A&E as well as being an excellent maternity hospital. If you’re looking for a pharmacy in the area then you can find Boots on Hampstead high Street which is one of the biggest chains of pharmacies in the country.

Other Amenities: There are a number of excellent schools in the area from kindergartens to post graduate colleges. The borough of Camden has a large number of independent schools and international schools.

Author: Colleen

If you’re planning your move to London, after procuring a job and visa, your next critical task is to find a flat to let in London. My esteemed London Relocation colleague Mat Paramor (our Head of Corporate Services—he’s the guy you want to talk to if you need to transfer your company’s employees to London!) has passed on the latest London property market trends and statistics, so I thought I’d distill the gist of it down for you to enhance your grasp on the current climate here.

London Apartment Supply

As of last summer, London encountered a serious shortage in available apartments for rent due to a few factors:

1) Landlords have increasingly opted to sell rather than let their London flats;
2) The increase in required mortgage deposits has discouraged renters from becoming buyers, so a generally older demographic that would have been looking to purchase a home have remained within the rental pool; and,
3) As the rental market becomes increasingly competitive, there’s less turnover in tenancy as renters renew their leases rather than take their chances in that atmosphere.

This shortage is particularly noted in the London neighborhoods consistently favored by expats: Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill, and Hampstead.

London Apartment Rent

How does this impact you if you’re relocating to London and need to rent a London flat? Time now for an Econ 101 lesson: Supply & Demand and their impact on Price. The impact of scarcity in supply is clear as far as being more limited in your options at your price level. It also means expectations of where to set that price level may need to adjust:

If you’re not familiar with the economic concept of supply and demand, I’ll break it down. Basically, when supply of a product decreases, the demand for it increases. So if there are fewer available London apartments out there, that many more people will be clamoring over each one of them. This makes it very easy for landlords to then place a premium on their property for rent, to take advantage of the increase in demand. If people out there will pay it, why not charge it, right? Now, generally, as the price of a product increases, demand for that product goes down—who wants to pay more for something, you know? So the graph at the left shows us the theoretical state of equilibrium when price is aligned with the demand for a product as well as the available supply of it.

I’ve now manipulated the graph above to produce this next one, which shows how the market seeks out a new level of equilibrium when that Supply line is shifted to the left (to reflect the decreased quantity of available properties in London) and Demand concurrently shifts to the right (to reflect the increasing number of tenants looking to rent in London). As you see, those two lines now intersect at a higher price-point.

The London lettings agencies with whom we collaborate are forecasting average rent increases of 7-8% in prime London locations for 2011 over last year (whereas sales are predicted to rise only about 1% in price). Stick around for my follow-up post on what you can do to conquer this market and rent a London apartment that you’ll love to live in after your London UK move.

Living in London – Out and About- Image via Wikipedia

Author: Belinda

London is considered to be one of the best and most beautiful capital cities in the world. Given the history and the advanced engineered structure of the city, even Julius Caesar wanted to relocate to London in 55 BC, its small wonder that people from all over the world are attracted to it.

There are various tales from the pages of history about the city of London and it is a centre point of tourist’s attraction as it has almost 2000 years of history. Every time you visit London, you will find something new, rewarding and interesting that will inspire you to visit London sights repeatedly. There are beautiful streets, various museums and historical monuments in London that are to be seen. Young or old, first time visitor or seasoned Londoner: the city has a new treasure for you to discover every day.

London is also a paradise and a world-class destination for food-lovers having multi-storied restaurants, marvelous pubs and bars along with nightclubs that provide wholesome entertainment. The choices are staggering but there really is something to suit all tastes. The Lord Mayor building which is situated next to the Hay Galleria is an architect’s wonder. The building is in the shape of a golf ball and you are able to view the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge from the top.

Hampstead is another mesmerizing place located in North London, with its lush greenery it is a peaceful and relaxed spot to visit in London. Belsize Park and Primrose Hill are far-flung from the hustle and bustle of the city and have become a visitor’s paradise. Many historical monuments as well as breathtaking view sites are found in Hampstead and one should not miss this area when getting out and about.

London is continually changing every day and you will never want for something to do, somewhere to go and some place to see. Living in London is like living in the world’s biggest playground, so get out of your new London rental and discover your world.

The weather is SO gorgeous outside, my recommended day-touring on a day like this would be to head North.  Catch the Northern Line to either Archway or Highgate tube stations and catch the afternoon tour at Highgate Cemetery.  You can tour the East cemetery on your own for £3, seeing notable graves such as that of Karl Marx, then partake in the guided tour of the cemetery’s atmospherically overgrown West cemetery, also the resting place of reputable people such as the Rossetti family.  Under the shade of the immense trees (a few of which are Redwoods from America’s West coast), you’ll meander through the lush vegetation and look on the chipped and eroded outcroppings of Victorian-style gravestones; perhaps the most unexpected part of this tour is the “Egyptian Avenue,” crypts fashioned after ancient Egyptian burials, which was the vogue thing to do in 19th-century England, evidently.

From Highgate Cemetery, you are in walking distance of the nearly 800 green acres of Hampstead Heath.  Tour this immense park at your leisure, hiking the hills, sitting by the duck ponds, or even swimming in the designated human ponds   A great pub located just outside the Northwest edge of the heath is the Spaniards Inn, where you don’t yet have to forego the outdoors when you seat yourself in the sunshine of their beergarden.  Otherwise, make your way to the high street for any assortment of sidewalk cafes and boutiques.  From here, you can hop the tube at either Hampstead or Belsize Park stations.

Depending on how your day is progressing, you can close it out here or perhaps take advantage of the extended summer daylight hours and make your way to the darling village of Primrose Hill (via tube to Chalk Farm or walking) for dinner and to watch the sunset from Primrose Hill itself, which, like Hampstead Heath, offers an outstanding city view.

This is a trek that not many tourists make, but when you actually move to London, make a point to explore these serene, residential Northern villages.

Aaaahhh…London has been rescuscitated back to life with the onset of real Spring weather.  Hurray!  I honestly have to laugh at myself and how much I comment on the weather here in our blog and on Twitter, Facebook, etc.  Hopefully that’s not a sign of how boring I’m becoming—if it is, then it applies to everyone else I know here.  I think talking about the weather is mandatory for local residents; you’ll see for yourself if and when you’re relocating to London.

The logic is as such:  increasing duration of daylight + higher proportion of that daylight that is sunshine + warmer temperatures = an awakening of the senses, rotation of the wardrobe, and overall higher motivation to get out there and do everything worthwhile doing outdoors.  I, for one, went for a wander yesterday with my husband over to Battersea Park, just south of the Thames from Chelsea.  This substantial bit of green space gets overshadowed by more touristed parks like Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park, and St. James’s Park, so I recommend it as a more local spot of tranquility.  One can rent cycles, paddle boats, and row boats there, visit the children’s zoo and pagoda, play cricket, tennis, and other favorite sports, or just lie about on the flat expanses or little hills and watch the dogs dart about at full speed while the herons stand perfectly still.  Not too far a walk toward the main roundabout is a relaxed pub named The Masons Arms that offers a healthy menu, unlike most pubs, and provides a low-key place to chat or read amid good music and local artwork.  The walk across Albert Bridge in itself is a treat (though mind the construction that is presently diverting motor traffic).

I’m also in the midst of brainstorming our next London Living social, tentatively scheduled for later this month.  Sunshine and ever-greener trees makes me yearn for pints in a proper biergarten, so some possibilities I’ve offered up to our Londonistas are the The Spaniards Inn in Hampstead and Stein’s Bavarian Restaurant in Richmond for a chance to visit non-central areas with great charm.  For something more central, there is Henry J. Bean’s on the Kings Road in Chelsea.  I actually just hung out there on Saturday after the Grand National horse race; while the interior of the venue as well as its menu are blatantly American-inspired, it does have a large and atmospheric beer garden in the back.  Another hot spot you might hit for enjoying your libations out of doors would be the Ice Wharf in Camden, located right on the canal—this one comes highly recommended by my colleague

Whatever meets your fancy outside this Spring, make sure your indoor space does as well by entrusting your London flat-search to London Relocation Ltd.

This semi-sunny, on the cusp of Spring day compels me to recommend a lovely spot in Northern London where you might fancy living if you’re moving to London, or to at least visit:  Hampstead.  Maintaining a village atmosphere, this area experienced population growth during the Victorian age, to which many of its quaint buildings date back.  It is known as an artistic and literary haven, and no doubt Hampstead Heath has provided much of such inspiration over the centuries.  Nearly 800 acres in size, the Heath is an immense bounty of green space to be had in London.  With its wooded trails, open, rolling meadows and ponds, it’s a tranquil retreat from urban life that is easily accessible from the city center.  Even just strolling through the pristine, postcard-perfect residential streets is a calming treat that takes you back to another era.  One particular home of interest in Hampstead is Keats House, where the poet lived from 1818 to 1820 and wrote some his most notable poems, including “Ode to a Nightingale.”  The Spaniards Inn, which Keats himself liked to frequent (as did Lord Byron) alleges that this poem was written in its gardens; whether true or not, I highly recommend this pub as a stop for food and libations.  It has a charming beer garden, and whilst sitting there you can revel in its history–it dates back to the 16th-century and is even mentioned in classic literature like Dickens’s first novel, The Pickwick Papers, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

It’s true that this is a very expensive neighborhood to live in, so if it’s a bit outside of your budget, you can content yourself that London Relocation Ltd. will place you in a lovely locale that meets all your needs and will be close enough to public transport so you can catch the Tube to visit Hampstead whenever you want–take the Northern Line to either Belsize Park or Hampstead stations and step right onto the high street to delight in its cute boutiques and cafes.