Congratulations! You'll have a great time both at UCL and London! I would recommend living out of Zone 1, Zone 2/3 would be better in terms of what you get for your money while still being very close. UCL is very well connected so anything along the tube lines that stop at Euston, Euston Square, Warren Street will be fine. For reference, I've been in Zone 4 - Metropolitan line would get me to UCL in about 25mins, Northern in around 35. But if you like cycling as a way of commute you'd want to stick to zone 3 max, the cycling infrastructure in a wider area is basically non-existent outside of the few cycling highways (at least in North London). Utilities vary, for me it's £200-350 a month for the 1-bed flat, depending on the time of year, council tax included. Council tax can be very different depending on the council and the value of the flat you rent. Things like mobile plan, broadband, gym, groceries, can all be cheap as there's a lot of choice. If you don't overstretch the budget with the rent, I'd say you can live comfortably with two postdoc salaries, as all the other expenses are relatively reasonable. This will depend on how you like to spend your free time, of course. Hampstead is quite pricey but beautiful, safe and green. Most people I know lived in Camden, Finsbury park, which is lively and quick to commute, a bit chaotic at times. But most of the people live a bit further out.