The place I lived in Mountain View was prime real estate. I was on Castro street, one of the only walkable places outside of San Francisco proper. There is plenty of cheaper real estate in MV.
Similarly in Battersea I live near Clapham Junction. I can get to Heathrow in 40, Gatwick in 30, Soho in 25 and Bright on 50! I can also cycle to Trafalgar Sq in 20 mins if the lights are favorable. Again, there are cheaper places around, but not without worse location or other problems with the property.
Also, the first property on the link you listed is £390 a week. You do realize that that is $2700 / month right? And you do realize that in Mountain View when you rent there is no council tax, and you don't pay estate agents any fees at all. In fact there are no estate agents, and property holders often give you some kind of deal like reduced rent for the first month to get you to sign a lease.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find.html?locati...