Just Move to London
London, United Kingdom — your playbook for visa, housing, community, and building from here.
Showing tips specific to London alongside general European resources.
Every link is here because someone building from London would actually use it. Some resources show up on more than one city page because they carry across contexts. Nothing is here just to look complete.
Tags
| (no tag) | Only this city. |
| EU | EU-wide rules, eligibility, or programs. |
| Multi-city | Applies in several cities. |
| All cities | Works everywhere. |
Some links are affiliate links. They support JMTE at no extra cost to you and don't change what gets included.
Europe's largest tech hub by most measures — finance, AI, and deep tech.
Cost
€€€€
Avg Rent
£900–£1,600/mo (~€1,050–€1,950)
Visa
Medium
Ecosystem
Very large
Prices are approximate and vary by neighborhood and season. Rent assumes a room in a shared flat or coliving and may exclude utilities. Snapshot as of 2 May 2026.
If you do nothing else
Sort your visa
Innovator Founder visa requires endorsement
Find your first home
Budget £900–£1,600/mo (~€1,050–€1,950) for a room or coliving.
Register your address & open a bank account
Required in most EU countries within 2 weeks of arrival.
Plug into the community
Luma, Meetup, or local Slack/Telegram — just show up.
Start building
Ship something in your first week. Momentum attracts the right people.
Your First 30 Days in London
Week-by-week playbook with £ tips, local registration, and banking.
Read guide →Visa & Immigration
Hit the official overview first, then dig into the common paths below.
UK is in Europe but not the EU — different visa rules apply.
Start here
Official overview or main portal for visas and residence.
Join a company
Work visas and EU Blue Card for employed roles.
Start a company
Visas for founders and self-employed.
Explore & search
Job-seeker permits, graduate routes, Global Talent, and other exploratory visas.
Hire across borders (EOR platforms)
If an employer doesn't have an entity in your country, these platforms can hire you compliantly on their behalf. Useful to suggest to companies as an operational path.
Housing, Coliving & Workspaces
London is expensive but offers incredible variety, from flatshares in Shoreditch to coliving in Canary Wharf. Budget £900–£1,600/mo (~€1,050–€1,950) for a room in zones 1–3; studios and 1-beds run higher.
Company Setup & Legal
UK Ltd is the standard structure, fast to incorporate via Companies House. SeedLegals handles formation, fundraising docs, option pools, and SEIS/EIS advance assurance. Ledgy for cap table.
Startup Perks
Free credits and discounts from cloud providers, AI platforms, dev tools, and more. Perks apply regardless of where you're based. Start with the directories below.
Communities
London's tech community is massive and runs on meetups, Slack groups, and conferences. Shoreditch and King's Cross are the epicenters.
Events & Meetups
Regular meetups, AI events, and local tech gatherings.
Hackathons
London's hackathon scene is one of Europe's most active — from ETHGlobal crypto weekends to AI sprints and university hack days. Great place to find cofounders.
Conferences
Europe's flagship tech conferences: great for fundraising, recruiting, and visibility. Most are worth traveling to from any city — so we list them Europe-wide.
Vibe Coding
GuideStart with Vibe Coding
AI tools to go from idea to product in hours. No engineering team required.
Read guide →Accelerators & Programs
London has Europe's deepest accelerator scene, from EF to vertical-specific programs in fintech, healthtech, and AI.
Jobs & Talent
London has the deepest startup job market in Europe. Fintech, AI, and healthtech dominate. Salaries are Europe's highest but so is competition.
- cord – Direct messaging with startup hiring teams
- Early Builders Job Board – Generalist roles in early-stage startupsMulti-city
- Decidere – Compare personal income tax & take-home across European citiesTax-advisor-level accuracy. Expat regimes (e.g. NL 30% ruling), canton-level rates. Free & open source.All cities
Fundraising & First Checks
London is Europe's VC capital. EIS/SEIS tax relief makes angel investing uniquely attractive. Most European mega-rounds close here.
Find investors & market data
Databases and directories to discover angels and VCs, plus funding data and ecosystem reports.
Pitch resources & guides
Templates, playbooks, and real pitch deck examples.
Tax incentives for investors
Programs that make angel investing more attractive to backers.
Grants & Non-Dilutive Funding
Government grants, EU programs, and non-dilutive funding sources across Europe.
EU grants apply to EU cities only. London has UKRI, Innovate UK, and other UK-specific programs.
Transit & Travel
The Tube, buses, and Overground make London extremely well-connected. Contactless payment works everywhere. Cycling is growing fast.
Food & Delivery
London's food scene is one of the world's most diverse. Every cuisine is represented, from Michelin-starred restaurants to £5 street food markets.
Cafes & Coworking
London's specialty coffee scene is world-class. Shoreditch, Fitzrovia, and King's Cross have the highest density of great cafes with laptop-friendly vibes.
Culture & Lifestyle
Free museums, world-class theater, live music every night, and parks everywhere. London's cultural offering is unmatched in Europe.
News & Reports
Stay current on European tech, funding rounds, ecosystem shifts, and annual reports.
Podcasts & Video
Founder interviews, VC insights, and European tech stories in audio and video.
People to Follow
Founders, VCs, and ecosystem builders shaping European tech.
Go deeper
In-depth guides for London and Europe-wide topics.
For London
Housing, fundraising, cofounders — local playbooks for your city.
Your First 30 Days in London
Week-by-week playbook: housing, registration, banking, and networking.
Housing in London
Coliving, flat shares, budgets, and the move-in playbook.
Raising Your First Check in London
How European VCs work, local norms, and where to start.
Finding a Cofounder in London
Where ambitious people meet, hackathons, and the local cofounder scene.
Europe-wide
Same content in any city — no local setup required.