I know so little about London and I need to find somewhere to live sharpish... so... any recommendations? Or places to avoid? Have a reasonable budget, thinking of housesharing to start until I get on my feet, want somewhere fairly quiet - where do postgrads and young professionals live?

And other than gumtree/spareroom/easyroommate, where is good to look for places?

Depends entirely on where you're going to work (assuming you want to keep your commute to <1 hr). Distance and journey time don't necessarily correlate - better to live further out but close to a suitable tube station than to live somewhere 'central' but find you need to take 2-3 buses to get places.

If you don't want to broadcast it PM me with the vague area you're going to work and I will suggest suitable living areas (I am a native Londoner so my knowledge is pretty good).

Also be aware that 'reasonable budget' will not get you as far in London as elsewhere.

my advice would be to look beyond the hype about an area, there are good and not so good areas in every part of London. It is a big place! I agree about the underground stations, it is easy to get around via the tube, and you can wait under cover if it is raining. I would also make sure you have a supermarket within reasonable distance. I used to live near Edgeware road, and Oxford street was my main high street! -although there was a good market etc. nearby too.

yep - I'd live somewhere where its just one tube journey - its cheaper then. I have to use over ground and underground and it adds ££ onto my journey everyday.

This is a good website http://www.commutefrom.com/

Sometimes you can live further out (i.e. cheaper) and it still takes you the same time to get to your destination, so its worth considering

All I'll say is - unless your wrk is in the centre and you simply haveto come in each day, do avoid living anywhere in the centre. For the same rent you'll get nicer places in Zones 2 and 3, and trust me - you dont want to be kept awake at night by the sound of police vehicles, sirens, drunken louts, tourists gone crazy... I've done this and will never do it again. Supermarket - yes yes and yes. There'llbe days when you'll feel too lazy to be bothered to go out proper and a quick trip to stock up is great. Some places in SE are best avoided for crime rates (have done that too and had 17 muggings in my area in 2 years and a stabbing) on the other hand - welcome to London, it's great fun and there's tons to do usually!!

lol - I live in SE london haha. Not had any muggings or stabbings personally though. Actually the area where I live is ok - its reasonably cheap, 10 mins from london bridge, but also close to a rather posh green area - great for dog walking and next to quite a few shops and restaurants. Let me know if you want location DanB!

Oh yes me too not personally - but people in my area reported 17 of them in the 2 yrs I was there!

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It depends on what your values are. If you like parks or shopping or culture or food or markets. I would write a top list then create a spreadsheet to tally which areas meet your needs. I've lived in North London and South. Muswell Hill is awful for travel but great for everything else, so that illustrates the TOP priority in London that of transport.
Or look at somewhere like Woking, it's 25 minutes by train to Waterloo and cheaper rents.