Submitted by an expat woman living in London, United Kingdom

London is big, cosmopolitan and exciting. It is full of grey buildings and lacks colour, but do not be dismayed by this as the city has far more to offer. It gets quite cold in winter, but not as cold as the rest of the country because the city is densely populated and busy.

Housing can be arranged by the company or yourself. We arranged our own. Rent in London and most of the UK is calculated on a weekly basis. A three-bedroom apartment or house can cost from £300pw. It also depends greatly on where you live. I prefer west and south west London because it is more convenient and generally safer. The more central you go, the higher your rent becomes.

Then there is the council tax to consider. There are ways of getting this reduced once you have lived here a while. You will have to contact the council and find out how you can reduce yours. But it goes up depending on the number of adults living in the household. Council tax is paid per month or annually.

The best places to live in London: Central London: Kensington to Hyde Park; In South West London: Brompton, Richmond, Clapham, Wimbledon, Merton, Rayners Park, and Epsom; South East London: Canary Wharf and places in zone 4 if you look at the London Underground tube map.

It is safer to contact a real estate agency for accommodation than a private landlord as there are many who will not return your deposit, and some may be renting council property that they are not permitted to sublet.

Au pairs are available, mostly Polish speaking but they can do a great job even with the language barrier. Cleaners are available, look on Gumtree. They are usually £8 per hr and work flexible days or hours. There are some who do live in when required. Gumtree and The Lady magazine is the best source for nannies and maids.

BT is the easiest and fastest to connect with. They have reasonable packages that include cable TV, unlimited high speed internet and fixed line rental. You can get a good package from £40m. There are many other companies, like Virgin, Three, T Mobile and Orange. They also offer wireless internet connection. The best so far in prepaid wireless internet is Three. You have to buy the dongle from them and top up about £15 a month, depending on how much downloading you do. Newspapers (in any language) are available at newsagent shops, in almost every street corner (the local newsagent will tend to know a lot about the area as well). Newspapers are delivered as well, including a lot of free ones. We have a "No Junk" sign at our door, so it saves us all the unrecyclable junk each week. There are also free papers like London Lite and Metro, given for free in station entrances and on the street in Central London. They can be a nuisance though. Expat newspapers for each country are available at Embassies and at certain points around the city. I know South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Zimbabwe have free ones. Royal Mail is quite good with sending and receiving mail within the country and abroad. Sending packages to some countries may be a problem as they use Parcelforce, which is not a good service. There is also DHL and UPS and many other courier companies around which are very good.

The local language is English. The accent varies depending on which part of the city you are in. The East London accent is not very easy to understand. Londoners all around tend to not pronounce their Ts. There are many language schools, especially in central London. Some of them are not trustworthy. If you would like some lessons, try http://www.oxfordhousecollege.co.uk/

Water is safe to drink, but people tend to buy it bottled. We have a filter in our taps. It is paid monthly. Gas and electricity are the most expensive of the utilities. Most of the year is cold and requires the house to be kept warm. Look for property with double glazed windows as this will save you tons on heating bills! Gas is paid monthly or annually, your choice. It varies by use, but you should monitor your bill every month.

There are many headhunters in central London. Some tend to be forceful. There is employment depending on your field and preferences. There are many international companies and head offices in London. Look for work on http://www.monster.co.uk/, at agencies, in newspapers like the Telegraph, or approach individual companies directly.

It is said that opening a bank account in England is not easy. If you have proof of address, passport with a valid work, resident or study permit, and a letter from a prospective employer, then it can be quite easy. The high street banks are HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Barclays, and Natwest. There are building societies as well which are smaller but accessible all over the world. The currency is the pound or sterling. Though the UK is part of the EU, Euros are not accepted in shops and most locals do not even know what they look like. There are many ways of sending money out of the country, mainly through your bank, moneygram or western union.

To register with the NHS, you must consult your local primary care trust. There are many, depending on which part of London you live in (you cannot register with a GP outside of your local area). You must bring your proof of address, passport and must have lived in the country for 6 months (this rule might change). You have to book in advance to see a GP, except in emergencies. I usually go to a walk-in clinic that is closer to work as anyone including tourists can go there, and get seen by a GP or registered consulting nurse immediately with no pre-booking. Prescriptions are ranked on cost but subsidized by the government.

The NHS may have a bad reputation, but they can still do a good job. Dental care is expensive and is available through the NHS, if you qualify. Otherwise, dental offices can charge exorbitant rates. If you travel out of the country often, get your dental work done out of the UK. Hospitals have a record of being unclean, hence the spread of germs and superbugs like C-difficile and MRSA which are deadly. There is Bupa, which provides private medical care, but I find it useless compared to other private medical aid or insurances in South Africa and the US.

Schooling from grade 1 to 12, including O and A levels, is free. The UK school year starts in August or early September and ends in July. Check with the local council to find out which schools are good and bad. The good schools usually have a waiting list, with some parents using relatives' addresses to get their children into schools outside of their neighbourhoods. There are special schools for children with learning disabilities. If your child has an LD, insist that he/she gets into a good school with small classes. They are available. Children walk to school or take the London buses for free. Students 16 and above have to have an "Oyster Card" with their picture on it for free travel on the bus. There are many universities and colleges around London. The University of London is quite good, accessible and reputable.

London Transport is really good and safe to use. I have lived in the US, South Africa and Mozambique; and been around the UK a lot, London has the best transport out of all these.

The London Underground is efficient, except when it is snowing, and London Buses are plenty and run 24 hours a day with night buses operating extended routes at night. Black Cabs are reasonable. Be careful not to get into an unregistered cab. Ladies have reportedly been robbed and sexually assaulted in these before. If you ever find yourself lost, GO INTO CENTRAL LONDON and work your way home, it is easier, quicker and safer. Overland Trains are great, a bit slower but not bad at all. It is preferable in summer when the underground gets hot and congested with tourists. The Overland Train has many different train lines and companies: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/. The London transport website is also great and easy to use: http://www.tfl.gov.uk. There is a journey planner that will show you all modes of transport that will take you to your destination and give you estimated travel times as well.

Cost: The Underground is most expensive, followed by the Overland Trains. The buses are quite reasonable. Get an Oyster Card, even if you do not believe you will ever use public transport since it may just come in handy (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/oyster). With an Oyster card travel is a little bit cheaper, especially on buses or when you are paying as you travel.

Driving in Central London is not advisable and is costly because of the congestion charge (www.tfl.gov.uk/roaduse/congestioncharging/).
Licences are not as easy to get, however if you already have one, check if your country's driver's licences is admissible, then just swap it for the UK one.

London is one of the shopping capitals of the world. Go to Oxford Street and you will find whatever you need for clothing and international labels. Grocery stores from most expensive to the least expensive are as follows: Waitrose, Marks and Spencer foods, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Tesco, ASDA (Walmart), Somerfield, The CoOperative, Londis, Lidl, Aldi, Netto, Makro, Costco, and Iceland. These are all over London and easily accessible with buses and trains near them. There are niche grocery stores as well, like South African, Indian, Italian, Caribbean and more. Hair dressers are all over the city. I had a hard time finding one as I am African and was living in West London where our hair products are not even sold. I had to go to East, South East or South West London to get my hair done. Many of the hairdressing places are not clean, so opt for the top ones. Manicures, pedicures and massages are easy to get all over London, but preferably West London is best. Avoid Central London since it can be too expensive and too busy.

There are many vets in London. (Other information not supplied.)

There are many vets in London.

http://www.timeout.com/

http://www.visitlondon.com/maps/

http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/