I am an actor originally from the United States, but currently living and working in Madrid, Spain.

I am a member of the Screen Actor?s Guild / AFTRA in the USA.

I have both US and EU citizenship and am bilingual in English and Spanish.

I am interested in moving to London next year and am beginning my research now.

I have only been to London once and would really respect the input from people who are there now and know more about it than me.

I would need to find a fairly reasonable place to live for under 100 pounds a week and some other stuff.

My own studio or room in a shared flat / house or any other type of cost effective student housing would all be okay.

So can anyone here help me or tell me where to post these type of questions?

Thank you
kristopher

Hi, I live near London, and I don't think ?300 per month is enough for decent accommodation in an OK area. I doubt you'd get a studio apartment anywhere for this amount. Even for a room or a room in a shared flat, I think you'd need to budget for at least ?100 per week or more, and even this may be on the low side, unless you really don't mind about the area. Westminster as a place to live, isn't that nice IMO. Take a look at e.g. "upyourstreet.co.uk" - I haven't looked at the site for ages, but I think it gives crime figures, that type of thing. There are some definite no go (and some very plush) areas in London, so if you're finding cheap accommodation advertised, there is usually a reason. If looking for a room in a multi occupied house (as opposed to a flat share), then I believe that landlords will have to have a license. This is because some people are having to live in terrible housing conditions.

A friend who works in space sales (advertising) used to live in the West End around Marble Arch. Apparently a lot of actors also work in advertising sales, as can bring in a lot of commission, but I don't know how you would go about visa aspects. If you visit the pubs around Marble Arch, between there and Edgware Road, I am sure you'd meet up with people of many different nationalities, actors and others, and once you get to know people, perhaps finding accommodation would be a little easier, than trying to organize from a distance. Could you not visit first?

I hope this helps and that I haven't put you off London. I find the place quite safe in comparison to some other European cities, despite what our papers say!
Thanks
moises