Living in the London-Cambridge axis

[wiggin]

A quick question for all of the Brits here:

I just got back from an interview for a job that would be located either in NYC or London (I'd say I have a reasonably high chance of getting an offer). The advantages of a London posting would be that my wife could probably keep her position (she currently works in the US office of a Cambridge-based company), so it's something I am seriously considering.

I was hoping I could get a sense of how doable such a situation would be - is the commute manageable (either London/Cambridge or from some point in between)? Is reasonably priced housing at all available? How expensive is decent childcare?

Essentially, uprooting the family would need to be worth it, and I suspect the pay will be okay but nothing spectacular. I'm trying to get a sense of whether this would be a reasonable financial and professional move - certainly the job is interesting, but I hear that London isn't cheap, and the distance between the two cities seems a bit daunting for a regular commute. I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts you guys might have.

Also - have any US expats worked in the UK before? Any ideas on how taxation/etc. works out with the US/UK tax treaties? I seem to recall Loki spent some time there, and there might be others...

I should probably look up their extradition treaty as well.

[Loki]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the England option is you working in London and your wife working in Cambridge?

Google says it's a 50 minute commute by train. I wouldn't even try getting there by car (probably 2 hours if you avoid London traffic). To be fair, British trains are pretty nice and reliable. Especially if your point of reference is Amtrak.

London is spectacularly expensive in terms of housing. About 250-300k pounds (whatever that's now worth in real currency) is about the cheapest you can hope for, and that's at the outskirts of London. Speaking of London outskirts, there is a large Jewish community in northern London, if that appeals to you. It's sufficiently outside of central London that housing costs shouldn't be too ridiculous, though probably more than the 300k cited above. Anything closer to the city center and you're looking at upwards of a million pounds.

The other alternative would be to live in Cambridge. You'd have the advantage of being able to drive to the train station there. Getting around London with public transportation is pretty easy and fast. Google says the average house price there is 500k, though I imagine it's cheaper if you live away from the city center. Cambridge also has a more academic atmosphere than any place in London where you could actually afford a house (if that's your thing).

In terms of taxes, British tax rates go pretty damn high, especially as you'd probably be at the top bracket (https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates/...and-allowances). Plus you have to pay the British equivalent to social security. You're looking at 50% tax, easily. Luckily for you, that means you'll likely owe Uncle Sam nothing, since you can deduct (or whatever the term is) any tax you pay abroad from your American liabilities. Since British taxes are higher than American ones, you should pay nothing. But I'm not a tax expert, so you might want to ask someone that to be sure.

Overall, if you have a choice between the US and England, I'd choose the US. England might be ok for visiting/working for a few years, but it's a surprisingly large cultural change, and there are various parts of British culture that might be less than appealing to a Jewish-American.

[wiggin]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the England option is you working in London and your wife working in Cambridge?

Google says it's a 50 minute commute by train. I wouldn't even try getting there by car (probably 2 hours if you avoid London traffic). To be fair, British trains are pretty nice and reliable. Especially if your point of reference is Amtrak.

Yeah, that'd be the plan. Train is definitely the way to go here. Some complications if we live in London, though (see below). The nice thing is that the job itself is right by Kings Cross so training should be relatively straightforward.

London is spectacularly expensive in terms of housing. About 250-300k pounds (whatever that's now worth in real currency) is about the cheapest you can hope for, and that's at the outskirts of London. Speaking of London outskirts, there is a large Jewish community in northern London, if that appeals to you. It's sufficiently outside of central London that housing costs shouldn't be too ridiculous, though probably more than the 300k cited above. Anything closer to the city center and you're looking at upwards of a million pounds.

The other alternative would be to live in Cambridge. You'd have the advantage of being able to drive to the train station there. Getting around London with public transportation is pretty easy and fast. Google says the average house price there is 500k, though I imagine it's cheaper if you live away from the city center. Cambridge also has a more academic atmosphere than any place in London where you could actually afford a house (if that's your thing).

300k pounds doesn't sound that unreasonable, but I find it highly unlikely we'd be living in a neighborhood that cheap. We tend to be geographically limited in our choices; in one of the aforementioned neighborhoods in northern London I think the average house price is more like 1.5m. For now, though, we could probably do with an apartment rental or a 2/3BR condo. Even so, it doesn't look cheap. Cambridge is probably cheaper. I'm curious though about the issues with living off of the main train stations in London - would that add a lot of time to a commute to Cambridge? Almost seems like living in Cambridge is a better bet.

In terms of taxes, British tax rates go pretty damn high, especially as you'd probably be at the top bracket (https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates/...and-allowances). Plus you have to pay the British equivalent to social security. You're looking at 50% tax, easily. Luckily for you, that means you'll likely owe Uncle Sam nothing, since you can deduct (or whatever the term is) any tax you pay abroad from your American liabilities. Since British taxes are higher than American ones, you should pay nothing. But I'm not a tax expert, so you might want to ask someone that to be sure.

Charming. Our current marginal rate (payroll+fed+state) is about 38% and even that seems unreasonably high. Oh, well. Any idea how tax-protected retirement savings work?

Overall, if you have a choice between the US and England, I'd choose the US. England might be ok for visiting/working for a few years, but it's a surprisingly large cultural change, and there are various parts of British culture that might be less than appealing to a Jewish-American.

Honestly I have little interest in moving to the UK, even for just a few years. But this is the only way my wife could keep her job (which she likes and is damned good at) if I want to pursue this opportunity. And hey, there are antisemites everywhere.

[Steely Glint]

Can't you find somewhere between Cambridge and London and split the difference? Most villages in the south have a station or are within a 10 minute drive of one

[Aimless]

In terms of time that might be a reasonable idea but the down-side is that you get neither Cambridge nor London, making time outside of work less bearable.

[Steely Glint]

I prefer rural life myself, but I suppose I'm not everyone

[wiggin]

Can't you find somewhere between Cambridge and London and split the difference? Most villages in the south have a station or are within a 10 minute drive of one

For reasons unrelated to commutes or housing costs that is infeasible. Neighborhoods in London or Cambridge are the only viable option.

[Steely Glint]

fair 'nuff

[RandBlade]

Remember that I live in the North West of England so my experiences of the London/Cambridge commute and living costs are about as relevant as asking a Georgian what the Maryland to Washington DC commute is like.

From what I do know I'd recommend if you move here you go to Cambridge. You'd get far more bang for your buck and it would not be the worst commute in the world. Definitely would recommend the train option and just enjoy reading the Kindle etc while commuting.

Unless you're pretty confident you'd be staying for five+ years [standard rule of thumb] you could look at the option of renting but if you're confident you'd expect to stay in the same place for five years then now could be a perfect time to get a property. The (I expect to be temporary) fall in the pound post-Brexit means that you'd again get far more bang for your American buck than you would have a few months ago and when you ultimately look to return to the States you could probably sell the property and convert back to dollars at quite a profit. I don't know about the US situation but there's also no Capital Gains Tax on the sale of your home in the UK.

Professionally it is difficult to give advice as every situation is unique but from what you've written it sounds like this could be best for your wife. On a personal level I would recommend it based on my own experiences as a kid. I grew up in Australia and travelling and growing up in a foreign nation was an exciting opportunity I've never regretted. I'd say the same to a Brit with an option to go to the States in reverse but having a few years to live in and experience another country is fun in a way that no holiday can ever match. If you do come make the most of the opportunity. We made sure in our limited time in Australia to see as much of it as possible, I've probably been to more tourist spots in Victoria than most Victorians. The UK is quite small geographically but with so much to see and do that when you have a weekend off then you can easily eg go on to other destinations like Chester, Stratford, Liverpool, Edinburgh or even Dublin and Paris in a way you'll never realistically get to experience from that side of the Atlantic. It could be a culture shock but I'd prefer to view it as an opportunity. That's my two pence at least.

[Unheard Of]

I'm based in Cambridge and work in one of the out of town science campuses. My wife mostly works in Cambridge but has to commute to London occasionally. We have 2 kids attending nursery, one of which is about to start primary school.

I was hoping I could get a sense of how doable such a situation would be - is the commute manageable (either London/Cambridge or from some point in between)?

Commuting is possible, plenty of people do it. Commuting from Cambridge to central London is OK, quickest is 45 minutes to Kings Cross. Peak times trains can be full. Trains are expensive, employers may offer loans to help you buy season tickets. The details really matter though - viability depends on where exactly you need to get to. Public transport is poor within Cambridge but cycling good by UK standards.

Is reasonably priced housing at all available?

Not really. There's a housing shortage in Cambridge and surrounding area. Everything is priced to factor in how easy it is to commute to London, and Cambridge is booming in its own right. To give you a sense of it, normal 3 bedroom houses in Cambridge are often advertised for more than £400,000.

How expensive is decent childcare?

Assuming pre-school age, it varies slightly by age of child. We pay £900 - £1000 per month for full time care per child in Cambridge. There are also some free hours for pre-school children over 3 years of age. There may be discounts for a second child.

[Unheard Of]

The other alternative would be to live in Cambridge. You'd have the advantage of being able to drive to the train station there.

Driving to Cambridge station is not great. The car park is small and expensive. Cycling or walking to Cambridge station (or Cambridge North, due to open May 2017) is viable. Driving to Waterbeach or Whittlesford may be viable, if the trains from there go where you need.

[Loki]

Fair enough. I just meant Cambridge traffic is preferable to London traffic.

[Loki]

300k pounds doesn't sound that unreasonable, but I find it highly unlikely we'd be living in a neighborhood that cheap. We tend to be geographically limited in our choices; in one of the aforementioned neighborhoods in northern London I think the average house price is more like 1.5m. For now, though, we could probably do with an apartment rental or a 2/3BR condo. Even so, it doesn't look cheap. Cambridge is probably cheaper. I'm curious though about the issues with living off of the main train stations in London - would that add a lot of time to a commute to Cambridge? Almost seems like living in Cambridge is a better bet.

It depends if you can get a train (subway) to King's Cross (or wherever you get the train to Cambridge) without transferring. Trains are fast and reliable. The one minus is they get ridiculously hot in the summer (no air conditioning). In terms of distance: central London is really compact. Edgware to King's Cross is 30 minutes by train, and the former is at the outer perimeter of London. Travel time does add up if you have 30 minute to the train station and another hour from there. It would be easier to either live in Cambridge or central London.

Charming. Our current marginal rate (payroll+fed+state) is about 38% and even that seems unreasonably high. Oh, well. Any idea how tax-protected retirement savings work?

No idea, sorry. The Brits here should know.

Honestly I have little interest in moving to the UK, even for just a few years. But this is the only way my wife could keep her job (which she likes and is damned good at) if I want to pursue this opportunity. And hey, there are antisemites everywhere.

It's not the anti-Semitism per se. There is a very strongly anti-Israeli and to a lesser extent anti-American attitude from most of the educated classes. It's worse near college campuses. I'm not saying you'll have stuff thrown at you, but you could expect any political conversation to veer in that direction. And you will get general disdain from the chavs who love insulting Americans for some reason. Barring that, customer service is terrible, almost approaching Russian levels. Restaurants are grossly overpriced (the same meal from the same store that cost $20 CAD in Toronto costs over 20 pounds in England). Ditto for electronics. And housing. There's a different attitude towards money and success, unless you're talking to bankers. People you befriend will be friendly enough, but the average man on the street certainly will not be. The general lack of air conditioning gets annoying during the inevitable heat wave each summer. British roads also look terrifying (not even counting the driving on the wrong side part).

[Hazir]

You could not pay me enough to live in the UK.

[wiggin]

From what I do know I'd recommend if you move here you go to Cambridge. You'd get far more bang for your buck and it would not be the worst commute in the world. Definitely would recommend the train option and just enjoy reading the Kindle etc while commuting.

Is it possible to work on the train (a la the Acela in the NE corridor in the US)? I don't want to blow 2 hours a day on vegging out when I could just shorten my workday.

Unless you're pretty confident you'd be staying for five+ years [standard rule of thumb] you could look at the option of renting but if you're confident you'd expect to stay in the same place for five years then now could be a perfect time to get a property. The (I expect to be temporary) fall in the pound post-Brexit means that you'd again get far more bang for your American buck than you would have a few months ago and when you ultimately look to return to the States you could probably sell the property and convert back to dollars at quite a profit. I don't know about the US situation but there's also no Capital Gains Tax on the sale of your home in the UK.

If I just want to make a currency play I could do that without buying a house. If available, we'd probably start with a 3 BR apartment rental and see how things go. As you say, short term house buying is a mug's game.

Professionally it is difficult to give advice as every situation is unique but from what you've written it sounds like this could be best for your wife. On a personal level I would recommend it based on my own experiences as a kid. I grew up in Australia and travelling and growing up in a foreign nation was an exciting opportunity I've never regretted. I'd say the same to a Brit with an option to go to the States in reverse but having a few years to live in and experience another country is fun in a way that no holiday can ever match. If you do come make the most of the opportunity. We made sure in our limited time in Australia to see as much of it as possible, I've probably been to more tourist spots in Victoria than most Victorians. The UK is quite small geographically but with so much to see and do that when you have a weekend off then you can easily eg go on to other destinations like Chester, Stratford, Liverpool, Edinburgh or even Dublin and Paris in a way you'll never realistically get to experience from that side of the Atlantic. It could be a culture shock but I'd prefer to view it as an opportunity. That's my two pence at least.

Honestly, my wife and I move around enough in the States that we see pretty diverse places. I'm not opposed to living in other countries for a time, but I don't especially value it either.

I'm based in Cambridge and work in one of the out of town science campuses. My wife mostly works in Cambridge but has to commute to London occasionally. We have 2 kids attending nursery, one of which is about to start primary school.

Thanks for your responses below btw, this is very relevant information for us. I believe my wife would be working in the science park near the A10/A14 interchange and if we were to live in Cambridge we'd probably be living somewhere slightly north of the university (southern Arbury or Castle, maybe? Still learning the geography). My very untutored look at prices suggests a 2/3 BR apartment is on the order of 1500-2000 pounds a month and a 3-4 BR home is in the 4-600k+ range. Sound about right?

Commuting is possible, plenty of people do it. Commuting from Cambridge to central London is OK, quickest is 45 minutes to Kings Cross. Peak times trains can be full. Trains are expensive, employers may offer loans to help you buy season tickets. The details really matter though - viability depends on where exactly you need to get to. Public transport is poor within Cambridge but cycling good by UK standards.

How expensive are we talking about? I think viability is doable - the location I point out is just 1-2 mile bike ride to both the train and the science park so that's encouraging. Google and the National Rail website suggest it would cost ~4700 pounds pa, which seems pricey but not crazy given the fact it saves having to own a car. Sound about right?

Not really. There's a housing shortage in Cambridge and surrounding area. Everything is priced to factor in how easy it is to commute to London, and Cambridge is booming in its own right. To give you a sense of it, normal 3 bedroom houses in Cambridge are often advertised for more than £400,000.

Coming from a neighborhood where a 2 BR condo starts at $800k+ it sounds manageable. Even so, good to know that the market is a bit tight.

Assuming pre-school age, it varies slightly by age of child. We pay £900 - £1000 per month for full time care per child in Cambridge. There are also some free hours for pre-school children over 3 years of age. There may be discounts for a second child.

Is it dramatically more expensive for younger kids, or is that the same ballpark? Also, does 'full time' care actually have hours that allow parents a full day of work? For reference, we have a 1.5 year old and are likely to have another one sooner rather than later.

Driving to Cambridge station is not great. The car park is small and expensive. Cycling or walking to Cambridge station (or Cambridge North, due to open May 2017) is viable. Driving to Waterbeach or Whittlesford may be viable, if the trains from there go where you need.

Noted. Biking seems the best bet in Cambridge; everything is so small anyways.

It depends if you can get a train (subway) to King's Cross (or wherever you get the train to Cambridge) without transferring. Trains are fast and reliable. The one minus is they get ridiculously hot in the summer (no air conditioning). In terms of distance: central London is really compact. Edgware to King's Cross is 30 minutes by train, and the former is at the outer perimeter of London. Travel time does add up if you have 30 minute to the train station and another hour from there. It would be easier to either live in Cambridge or central London.

The subway isn't air conditioned? Jeez. Looking at the maps and some timetables I'm thinking living in N/NW London and commuting to Cambridge seems somewhere between extremely difficult to infeasible. Throw in the fact that her job would not be near the train station in Cambridge by might is right next to the Kings Cross station...

It's not the anti-Semitism per se. There is a very strongly anti-Israeli and to a lesser extent anti-American attitude from most of the educated classes. It's worse near college campuses. I'm not saying you'll have stuff thrown at you, but you could expect any political conversation to veer in that direction. And you will get general disdain from the chavs who love insulting Americans for some reason. Barring that, customer service is terrible, almost approaching Russian levels. Restaurants are grossly overpriced (the same meal from the same store that cost $20 CAD in Toronto costs over 20 pounds in England). Ditto for electronics. And housing. There's a different attitude towards money and success, unless you're talking to bankers. People you befriend will be friendly enough, but the average man on the street certainly will not be. The general lack of air conditioning gets annoying during the inevitable heat wave each summer. British roads also look terrifying (not even counting the driving on the wrong side part).

Hmm, I wonder if the cultural differences you see are to some extent driven by one's professional and social circle. I'll be spending all of my time with scientists and engineers, and it just doesn't seem to come up at much, whether I'm the US working with mostly foreign (many British) colleagues or whether I'm overseas visiting for conferences/collaborations. I could also be oblivious. The cost of living issues are much more salient to me, and may be the deciding factor here - the salary is probably not in line with some of the other offers I have been given.

You could not pay me enough to live in the UK.

I would imagine you'd say the same thing about the US, so...

[Timbuk2]

You could not pay me enough to live in the UK.

A useful response to someone looking for information on the real prospect of living in the UK.

[Timbuk2]

Not got much to add to the useful stuff Unheard of and Loki have provided ...

I don't want to blow 2 hours a day on vegging out when I could just shorten my workday.

As someone who commutes by bus & train & tube most days of the week, I do occasionally see folk with a laptop out working away, but given the general overcrowdedness of public transport here I wouldn't take it as a given that this is something you could readily do.

My very untutored look at prices suggests a 2/3 BR apartment is on the order of 1500-2000 pounds a month and a 3-4 BR home is in the 4-600k+ range. Sound about right?

Only been to Cambridge a couple of times, but I'd reckon this approximation sounds about right given general rental prices here for that sort of town.

How expensive are we talking about? I think viability is doable - the location I point out is just 1-2 mile bike ride to both the train and the science park so that's encouraging. Google and the National Rail website suggest it would cost ~4700 pounds pa, which seems pricey but not crazy given the fact it saves having to own a car. Sound about right?

Yep.

The subway isn't air conditioned? Jeez.

Latest rolling stock of both trains and tubes has air conditioning.

Hmm, I wonder if the cultural differences you see are to some extent driven by one's professional and social circle. I'll be spending all of my time with scientists and engineers, and it just doesn't seem to come up at much, whether I'm the US working with mostly foreign (many British) colleagues or whether I'm overseas visiting for conferences/collaborations. I could also be oblivious.

I'd imagine the academic/intellectual/professional circles you move in would be much the same wherever in the developed world you were.

Generally though, speaking as a non-native mongrel-child who has lived in many different parts of the world, I find living in the UK currently is ok really. You'll probably find the general demeanour polite but stand-offish. People here don't like to make a fuss nor get involved.

[Flixy]

I've only been to London, but I never experienced the crap attitudes Loki described. Unless you're really into that very American uberfriendliness. A thing to remember though is that the USA seems to have more of a 'customer is king' approach even if the customer is a dick, which is less so in Europe. I.e when I worked in a bar we were friendly and gave good service but if someone was a dick or annoying over a certain point he might get refused drinks or be kicked out. Then again I'm used to dutch service which isn't great.

Oh and in my experience even if it's not crowded on a train you never get much done. Checking your emails, maybe, or read a paper, but never much more. Do British trains also come with wifi? A lot of buses even have that here these days which can be very useful.

[Timbuk2]

To give an idea of commutes, snapped a couple of pics on my way into work this morning.

South West Trains 06:50am into London Waterloo ... pretty rammed even this early in the morning. Certainly no seats, standing room only. Any later in the morning and you'll have your face in someone else's armpit.





Jubilee Line tube East across town to Canary Wharf at around 7:30am. Not too bad - no seats but it's not packed. Does get absolutely heaving as rush hour kicks in, even though trains run every 90 seconds at peak.




~

London trains in from the suburbs are extremely busy though, as is the entire tube network during rush hour. Commuting inter-city would be generally less busy I'd expect.

[Unheard Of]

Thanks for your responses below btw, this is very relevant information for us. I believe my wife would be working in the science park near the A10/A14 interchange and if we were to live in Cambridge we'd probably be living somewhere slightly north of the university (southern Arbury or Castle, maybe? Still learning the geography). My very untutored look at prices suggests a 2/3 BR apartment is on the order of 1500-2000 pounds a month and a 3-4 BR home is in the 4-600k+ range. Sound about right?

I think you could probably get it down to £1000 per month, depending on what's important to you. King's Hedges and Chesterton would be more convenient for the science park and new station, but it's not a big city.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk is a good national site to get a feel for this stuff, mostly used by estate agents and rental agencies.
http://www.brettward.co.uk/canb/index.html is local to Cambridge and intended for use by private landlords.

How expensive are we talking about? I think viability is doable - the location I point out is just 1-2 mile bike ride to both the train and the science park so that's encouraging. Google and the National Rail website suggest it would cost ~4700 pounds pa, which seems pricey but not crazy given the fact it saves having to own a car. Sound about right?

Yes, that's it.

Is it dramatically more expensive for younger kids, or is that the same ballpark? Also, does 'full time' care actually have hours that allow parents a full day of work? For reference, we have a 1.5 year old and are likely to have another one sooner rather than later.

Same ballpark. Full time for us is 8am to 6pm. It's difficult to get back from London for 6pm, but should be fine if your wife is working nearby. There are nurseries that only do something closer to the school day (~9-3), and close for school holidays.

Here's a couple of examples of full time nurseries in the area:

http://www.cambridgedaynursery.co.uk/ (Milton Road)
https://www.brighthorizons.co.uk/our...-and-preschool (Science Park)

Noted. Biking seems the best bet in Cambridge; everything is so small anyways.

Google does a reasonable job of suggesting bike routes, but this can be more useful - https://cambridge.cyclestreets.net/

Throw in the fact that her job would not be near the train station in Cambridge by might is right next to the Kings Cross station...

This will change in May 2017. There is a new station under construction walking distance from the science park. It's on the main line to London Kings Cross. It will be here:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/...352!4d0.158065

Hmm, I wonder if the cultural differences you see are to some extent driven by one's professional and social circle. I'll be spending all of my time with scientists and engineers, and it just doesn't seem to come up at much, whether I'm the US working with mostly foreign (many British) colleagues or whether I'm overseas visiting for conferences/collaborations. I could also be oblivious.

Israel/Palestine has never come up in my professional circles. It has come up in our socially as some of the congregation at my wife's church run a pro-palestinian charity. It hasn't come up apart from that.

[Spawnie]

I can be of some small help here as i now live almost exactly equidistant between Cambridge and London.

Ill do it in bullets for speed:

- Trains are mad expensive, approx £5k per year for me, would be more for you. You sound like a high earner though so might not be a problem.

- Commute time will probably be longer than you expect. You didnt say whereabouts in london your office was but you need to factor in that time as well. my longest commute was London - Brighton for a few months (Not because we wanted to. Had to move rapido as one of our housemates threatened to kill my wife) and it wasnt great. Journey time should have been 60-70. Instead it was regularly 90-110 mins and i have to say life did become a bit crap - wake up, get train, work, get train, eat dinner, go straight to bed, wake up. Hopefully yours wont be quite so long. From where i am its about 45 mins to Oxford Circus where i work, which is very reasonable.

- Id second the idea above that you get a house/flat somewhere on the route so that you can train to work and your other half can drive into cambridge.

- On a more positive note you are going to be in a pretty good location. You will be able to access London and all the things that brings with it, plus access to cambridge which is a hipster paradise (in the nice way), plus surrounded by some really nice countryside. And you are well positioned as a jumping off point to other bits of the UK. If you are interested in really enjoying your time in the UK, you will be in a good place to start.

- Cambridge gets a lot of good bands, has some nice history and architecture, decent shopping, reasonable craft beers and didnt vote brexit so you probably wont be chased with pitchforks.

Finally, must meet for beers if you settle.

[Timbuk2]

It's that late summer time of year when all sorts of weird and wonderful things Spawn in the woods ...

[Steely Glint]

Don't we have a rule of one world forgottener per town? We can't have three in Cambridge.

[Timbuk2]

2 in NY ... at least when Loki isn't playing in the cornfields.
3 in Amsterdam? Hazir part time tho ... and Ziggy smoked a cigarette then went awol so not sure if he counts.

[Hazir]

A useful response to someone looking for information on the real prospect of living in the UK.

Actually it is a useful response, there was no need for me to go into detail about the day to day grind, others were covering that nicely. Though Randblade is wrong on the subject of capital gains taxes; they'd have to pay those in the US if they'd make a profit on buying and selling a house in the UK.

@Wiggin; actually I could imagine living in parts of the USA.

[RandBlade]

Though Randblade is wrong on the subject of capital gains taxes; they'd have to pay those in the US if they'd make a profit on buying and selling a house in the UK.

I know you have a burning desire to criticise everything I say but I specifically said that "I don't know about the situation in the US ..." but that there is no UK based CGT on a sale of your home. If US global taxation rules mean that there is a US tax that doesn't negate what I said.

Is it possible to work on the train (a la the Acela in the NE corridor in the US)? I don't want to blow 2 hours a day on vegging out when I could just shorten my workday.

I very rarely take the train and when I have taken the train to London (Virgin Trains, express Warrington to London or Manchester to London) then yes it is possible to work on that style of train. You can reserve your seats so long as you book in advance and if you book long enough in advance then you can even reserve a seat with a table and a plug socket. WiFi on board too which you could buy as a one off or a season ticket. That though is with a cross-country overground train, with yours being a commuter train it may be different and someone else could advise better. Overground and Underground are completely different. Zero chance of working on the Tube but you may not even need to take the Tube if you can get an overground rail from Cambridge to King's Cross.

Believe it or not, yesterday's top "silly season" politics story was #traingate whereby Labour Leader and reality-denier Jeremy Corbyn was filmed sitting on the floor of a train, claiming he was unable to get a seat in a "rampacked" train only for Virgin to tweet out CCTV of him walking past multiple empty seats and then returning to an empty seat. If you look at the CCTV pictures, this is the type of train I'd take where you can reserve your seating in advance (the cards above the seats show reservations): https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/about...ervice-1530005



Spawnie/Unheard Of: It could be worth clarifying what style of train it is that is available from Cambridge to London. Is it this style with reserved seats or is it more like Timbuk2's tube pictures?

If I just want to make a currency play I could do that without buying a house. If available, we'd probably start with a 3 BR apartment rental and see how things go. As you say, short term house buying is a mug's game.

Indeed. The risk/advantage of a "currency play" in property is of course that your stake is magnified as when you buy a property it is leveraged against a mortgage so will go up or down much more than a standard investment. Most investments are not leveraged like that. If you do move over here then it would be worth speaking to a tax adviser properly and properly researching the UK housing market. Due to our Green Belt laws house prices tend to ratchet ever upwards only and I don't forsee that changing but again it has to be a medium-long term investment not a short term one.

[Hazir]

It doesn't negate what you said but it made it irrelevant to any US citizen.

[RandBlade]

Which is why I said I'm not sure about US tax laws I was only referring to British law, I can't be wrong when I said that ...

[Loki]

I've never seen an overground train in England that looked like the tube ones.

It looks like a daily return trip from/to Cambridge/London is about 38-40 pounds by the way. Not quite sure why so much.

2 in NY ... at least when Loki isn't playing in the cornfields.
3 in Amsterdam? Hazir part time tho ... and Ziggy smoked a cigarette then went awol so not sure if he counts.

Deep South.

[RandBlade]

Supply and demand is the likely explanation of why so much ...