Pros and Cons of Living in London

My thoughts on the pros and cons of living in London. Do you agree or disagree? 🤔

M E N T I O N E D

F I N D M E

G E A R

M U S I C

C H A P T E R S
00:00 intro
01:13 home
05:53 food
09:33 transportation
12:39 healthcare
15:18 job
20:33 finance
22:36 things to do
26:05 random

[charlief]

So interesting hearing your perspective! I am British and moved from London to Toronto so am doing things the other way round. A lot of the things you mention as cons are things I miss most about home haha. The fact that tax is not included in advertised price makes me feel like everything in Canada is SO much more expensive than UK! Plus after 2 years in Canada I still find the tipping culture confusing and always forget that your bill is actually going to be 18% more than you expect. The cost of groceries in Toronto astonishes me every time! In terms of things to do, London will always win over Toronto, but I guess the size of the cities is not really comparable... I miss the museums and galleries and markets and parks. We are often stuck with nothing new to do here, but I'm sure that's partly due to covid. And you are so right that the rental market is much more renter friendly in Toronto. Although it's still pricey here, you feel like you are a bit more protected and not having to pay a deposit is great!

[hothotheat]

Your makeup is PERFECT. You’re so pretty!

For me, I’m fine with London because I like clouds and rain. People call that bad weather and to me, that’s perfect weather. If you’re cool with rain, if you’re a trust fund baby/Powerball winner, and you’re willing to put yourself out there to meet people, you’ll do fine.

[Narcissusknits]

Council tax is rarely included in rent in the UK because council tax is based on both the property value and the tenants. For example students are exempt from council tax. And some councils have discounts for households where there is only one adult eligible to pay council tax. That's why it's not included in the rent - because the amount and whether you pay it at all depends on your circumstances.

[justyrenson]

The practice of first month, last month and security deposit is common in New York City and San Francisco - 2 long term rental cities in my life. I love when you can just pay a month at a time like you can in Costa Rica and Guatemala where I am now

[mariasamper]

I’m a Canadian moving to London in September for my master’s, your videos have been so helpful to prepare!!

[lewisking]

I’d recommend visiting Loon Fung for your asian groceries! idk what area of London you live in but they have huge grocery stores in Alperton, Tottenham and Colindale, and a few other locations😊

[FunkyChild]

Asian food is even bigger in London than where I am from in NYC. From mainstream high street stuff like Itsu, Wagamama, Wasabi, Kim Chee to Go etc to the mom and pop spots in Chinatown, Queensway, Earl's Court etc. They have every variety of Asian food from Malaysian to Thai to Vietnamese. They even have a Din Tai Fung, which we don't have in NYC. Plus Chinatown is probably the busiest part of London. It is always absolutely packed with people. Then they have all of the Asian superstores and grocery stores. I think it will only grow in popularity as people get exposure to Asian food from YouTube, Instagram etc.

[thecat]

I agree about hard water. I felt that my skin was so dry that my favourite moisturiser couldn't keep up with it and teeth got scalded very easily as I never ever did before when I lived in other countries.
Also bedrooms are very tiny if you don't live in a master bedroom - there is room for one bed, night tables, wardrobe and that's it. First place where I lived was cold and damp. Every morning I wake up in a room so humid that when I got dressed I felt like all my clothes were wet. And water runned down from the window. Second place was ok, but it was one of the most expensive flats in that area. They didn't fix the elevator all year when I lived there, the carpets in the hallways were always dirty. Don't put carpet if it is hard to clean. It was a good standard in that apartment, but not the top notch or something compared to what you could get in other countries. I feel like there is not good planning and design for even new and high price apartments. Most of them come without a dishwasher, without a built-in fridge, without warm floors or walk-in showers. That should be standard for every renewed home.

[aduraedosa]

The reason for a lot of Indian food is because there is a very large south Asian community in the UK because of colonisation. Also the UK national dish is Tikka Marsala is a result of this

[StarletOfDavid]

If you want to cool down. Wet some big towels and let them dry overnight beside your bed.

[kevsm]

Just to continue the council tax thing, it's normally not included in rent as the person living in the property is the one who is legally liable to pay it. If it's not paid the council will pursue the occupier for the debt, never the landlord, even if you've paid the landlord on the assumption that he's paying the tax for you. Generally if you see someone advertising "council tax included" then avoid! (Unless it's an HMO, that's a different scenario where the landlord is the one who legally has to pay).

[outfitsbycharlotte]

if you wanna find good Korean food go to new malden! it is kind of far out south west (maybe 10 mins from Wimbledon) but its got the largest Korean population in London, there's a huge Korea foods supermarket there and loads of Korean restaurants (for much cheaper than central too)

there is also a Korean restaurant called bibida in Notting Hill that's new and soooo good and pretty good prices. and the staff are really friendly and sweet

[markchoice]

Thank you Monica. I have started watching your videos today and am finding them very informative. I am moving to London later this year from South Africa and I am enjoying your personal tips and views. It’s been very helpful. Well done and keep on posting your videos. Thank you so much.

[melissaboyne]

I love your videos Monica! I want to move to London next year and your videos have sooo much useful info in them and make me so excited to move!

[kiranreader]

super helpful! i just moved to london from the us and found the apt hunt to be so different from nyc!!

[lk]

This is so accurate and good. This has been exactly my experience moving from Toronto to London about 3 months ago :)

[Chop_Suey]

The term "Drugs" or saying "drugs are cheaper" when you compare to Toronto definitely has a different meaning here :D I would probably use the term "medicine" or "medical products" instead.

[AB-tbbt]

Council tax is paid by the person who lives there by law as opposed to the landlord. Home owners also have to pay council tax themselves.

[margaret]

Sainsbury & Tesco = Loblaws/Sobeys you need to find 1 of the bigger stores not a Tesco metro at the tube station.

[dhanaig]

London also has Whole Foods grocery store you can go check out for more of a variety and if you like to try different types of cultural food, try Greek! There is an Athenian grocery store in London you can go to and shop there. I am not from London or live there but I have been doing so much research of London since I want to move there in a few years!