how do ppl afford...?

OK I have been reading some of the older posts to get some feel for costs in London. I have a husband and 2 kids (2yrs and 4wks) and 2 small dogs. I have a job offer for a job in central london (oxford circus stn) that has a gross salary of 35K. My husband may also transfer (we work at the same place) but lets just assume he won't have a job yet.  I read that 35K is above average but also that its about the average household salary? How do ppl afford to rent anything? that would take just about all of the takehome pay, right? I mean I'm not seeing anything cheaper than 225-300 per week for a 3 bedroom apartment around london. We do have a nest egg of cash saved up but we'd like to try to live within our means as much as possible and not dip into that unless necessary.

Any suggestions/comments on a family on this salary (for short term)? I assume if my husband finds a job, with his skills he'll be making 50K or thereabouts. give or take a bit. I guess that would make a lot of difference. anyway, i digress... any thoughts on salaries and how ppl are affording to rent houses/flats around london?

Are the rents you are looking at ones in central london?  If you are working near oxford circus station then you will be able to get to work relatively easily from areas in outer london and even the home counties which will be considerably cheaper for renting.

Remember that london is one of the most expensive cities to live in, especially for housing costs.  The closer in to central london and the nice neighborhoods, the much higher the rents are going to be.

You might know about the Transport for london website, http://www.tfl.gov.uk/.  Oxford Circus station is on the bakerloo, victoria and central lines so there are lots of places from which you can catch one of these underground lines or a national rail to one of them.

If you husband does find a job and makes roughly equivalent of what you think you will really have no problem affording a 3 bedroom even close to central london.

Are you talking about 35K in pounds or dollars? That would make a huge difference.

Are you talking about 35K in pounds or dollars? That would make a huge difference.

pounds

Are the rents you are looking at ones in central london?  If you are working near oxford circus station then you will be able to get to work relatively easily from areas in outer london and even the home counties which will be considerably cheaper for renting.

Remember that london is one of the most expensive cities to live in, especially for housing costs.  The closer in to central london and the nice neighborhoods, the much higher the rents are going to be.

i'm not necessarily familiar with where the delineation between central and outer london, or what is considered the home counties yet, but these rents look similar for zones 3-6 and possibly farther out. But, i've only been looking online for a couple of days so I'm sure I don't know the best areas to check out. I'll post some questions over on the housing forum. I was just wondering how people afforded the rent on the salaries they supposedly are making. I can't imagine there are too many families sharing flats/houses.

Many, many people commute from towns that are outside London.  My brother in law commutes from Salisbury (which is insane, but...), for instance, and the train is always packed with business types.  Some towns that seem too far away are actually not that far on the train.

 

Another example,  we live in Essex right by a train line.  It takes us 25 mins by train to get into central London when we need to use it.  And our rent is £700 for a 2 bedroom up/down apartment.

pounds

Anyway you slice it £35k is less than $35k when it comes to spending power (how many beans are left at the end of the month, whether its £'s or $'s). Just imagine living on $35k in NYC...it won't take you very far...the same holds true on £35k in London.

That said, £35k doesn't go a long way in most parts of England (London and the SE) unless you are well established. I can't speak for northern England, Wales or Scotland.

The salaries, to me anyway looking at what a teacher would make, seem low for the cost of living. I was surprised when I was looking to see the salary scales.

Anyway you slice it £35k is less than $35k when it comes to spending power (how many beans are left at the end of the month, whether its £'s or $'s). Just imagine living on $35k in NYC...it won't take you very far...the same holds true on £35k in London.

That said, £35k doesn't go a long way in most parts of England (London and the SE) unless you are well established. I can't speak for northern England, Wales or Scotland.

£35k is a good salary in London for a single person or a couple.  Perhaps not so great for a family, but seriously, I could live like a Queen on that!!!

Vicky

I agree, £35k isn't bad for one person, let alone if you have a hubby with £50k coming in! I'd say you'll have a good choice of places to live if you are making that kind of money.

I agree, £35k isn't bad for one person, let alone if you have a hubby with £50k coming in! I'd say you'll have a good choice of places to live if you are making that kind of money.

Thanks, I started figuring how much take home pay I would have and started deducting expected expenses and it seems like I could pay a pretty nice rent, plus council tax, plus utilities including broadband, satellite tv, mobile phone and have a couple hundred pounds left. So, I can cover about 3/4 of the things on my salary so I am content that if hubby makes at least what I make then he could cover childcare plus the rest of the stuff (food, contents insurance, incidentals, savings, etc.) Now, if we were both working just to make £35K we couldn't do it because there's no way we could afford childcare without having access to public funds.

oh and fortunately it looks like DH will be keeping his same job. They are working out the details now. I can't imagine finding a more financially stable opportunity to make a move across the pond. We're very excited. DH has been wanting to move back to Europe for over 5 years now so this is way past due.

That's good news that your husband is sorting out his job details. On a dual salary of 35k plus his, you will do fine in London.

I know that London is more expensive to live in than the rest of the UK, but honestly I think you should be fine money-wise, especially if your husband will be working too.

My parents raised 3 kids on a combined salary of less than £35K (the youngest of us is now 16, the oldest, 23) and they spent a lot of money on our (well, mostly my brothers') sporting activities. One brother is a national gymnast, the other is a badminton player and my parents spent many weekends travelling the length and breadth of the country for tournaments and competitions. We could live comfortably on that salary and still afford the several hundred (possibly thousands of) pounds a year to fund the sports training/competitions/tournaments/travel, although we weren't in London.

Having said that, how much you can live on depends on what you are used to doing in the US. Life in general is more expensive here, so if you're used to going out to eat a lot, for example, you'll find that is it not as easy to do here without spending a fair amount of money. Because of all our other expenses, my family hasn't eaten take-out in about 10 years and we only go out for dinner maybe once a year (for a special occasion such as a birthday) - why spend £100 on a meal for 5 in a restaurant when you can save money and cook at home for £10 ?!