Can I live off £40,000 a year?

In order for a company to grant you a Tier 2 visa, you have to meet certain minimum salary requirements. Depending on what type of job it is and what position you will hold, you must be earning at least the specified minimum salary for that type of position in order to get the visa.

For example, if you are getting a Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) visa where you will be working for a UK branch of your US company as a Long-Term Staff member, the company must show you will be earning at least a minimum salary of £41,500, or the specified minimum salary for that job, whichever is higher, in order to qualify for the visa. (https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-intracompany-transfer-worker-visa/eligibility [nofollow] )

If you will be getting a Tier 2 General visa where you are being hired as a new employee at a UK company (not transferring with your US employer), then your salary must either be at least £30,000, or the specified minimum salary for that particular job, whichever is higher. (https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general/eligibility [nofollow] ) So, depending on the specific job, the minimum salary you would need to be earning in order to qualify for the visa could be anywhere from £30,000 to £84,507.

I'll be honest, most of the people who have asked on the forum before about living off a particular salary in London were usually being offered a salary in the region of £60,000 - £80,000, sometimes even higher... and most of them were also being given sizeable housing allowances and extra relocation benefits on top of that salary.

Thank you for the information. I was not aware of this. My company is hiring me as a new employee, so I believe I am within the minimum requirements. And they are paying for our Tier 2 visas, with which I am currently waiting to see if I am approved or not.

To be honest, I'm concerned. We have been here before, when we moved from Colorado to Oakland, CA. on a $44k salary and we were able to beat the odds, but this is much further away, and trying to plan while we are still in the US has been interesting.

We are receiving a £5,000 relocation bonus. Is a housing allowance a common thing for those moving to the UK?

It seems really odd to hire foreign staff in a PM role for such a low salary in London, while there are thousands of people with the qualifications to do that type of work here and unemployed.

Usually when people are asked to relocate its because its a senior role with specific needed qualifications, and housing stipends are common because of the increased costs of living in the UK.

Have you been following the handling of Covid-19 in the UK? We had the highest death toll in Europe and they are insisting all kids go back to school next month with no added social distancing or protections, no remote options like many districts in the US have. I feel like we are headed towards disaster in slow motion, with a no deal Brexit just behind.

£40,000 for a project manager sounds quite low for London. 

The only way any of this makes sense is if you can work from home almost all the time.  As that's becoming the new normal, maybe that's what they are thinking.  In that case, everything is completely different  as you can live lots of places that are much, much, cheaper than London and only come to the office once or twice a month. 

I read an article last week that Highlands and Islands property has been surging from Londoners who are now able to move because they can work from home.  Sell up their London house and buy tons of acreage and a huge house here. Man, London salary in the remote Highlands. Your quality of life would be amazing. 

£40,000 for a project manager sounds quite low for London. 

I read an article last week that Highlands and Islands property has been surging from Londoners who are now able to move because they can work from home.  Sell up their London house and buy tons of acreage and a huge house here. Man, London salary in the remote Highlands. Your quality of life would be amazing.

No doubt that would be pretty good, but I think London salaries are dropping pretty quickly just for this reason.   The whole job market is bananas at the moment. 

Hi, thank you for this.

My salary is in the middle of the companies average salary, and about £5k short of the overall average. I am a project manager.

Perhaps the company average is skewed by workers who are not in London.  Or are unskilled workers on very, very low wages. 40k is perfectly reasonable outside London.

Have you nailed down how often you would be expected to come into the office?

Like I say above, the job market is absolutely bananas at the moment and project manager rôles in IT are suffering badly. The one thing that remains constant is the cost of living.   Look at the Reed UK job site as well to get another idea of salaries if IT is not your field.

Margo is right, there’s something really wrong with this whole thing. There’s no reason to bring a generic project manager from the US unless he has niche skills. If he has niche skills, why pay food bank level salary?  Anyway, you’ve heard me so the rest is up to you.

Even in Zone 6? I work in Farringdon. Would a zone 6 commute be too far?

While rent is cheaper the further out from central London you are, the counterpoint is that travel expenses will increase since you'll be covering more zones to get in and out of work each day, as will commute time.  So you'll want to balance rent cost and cost of commuting and commute time.  Depending on where you're looking, it is sometimes better to pay more for rent and live closer to work and save on commuting costs (and associated time and stress).

Commuting ease is dependent on the route, but in general, London commuting is not the greatest experience (to put it lightly).  I live in Zone 3 and work in Zone 1, but my commute would typically be 1.5 hours each way due to not having a direct route to work.  I need to take a bus to the station, take a train into central London, take a bus again, and then walk the final leg to my workplace.  The multiple transport methods, and waiting for each one, all add up.  More often than not, I turn up at work already tired and stressed from the commuting process alone. 

I have colleagues who live outside London and some of them have commutes of about 45 minutes each way due to having a fast relatively direct train to a station nearby work without needing to use multiple methods and switching between them.  So that's something to also keep in mind during your planning process.  (but then they pay huge amounts for rail travel cards to use fast/direct lines, so there's that counterpoint again)

With all that said, £40k seems a bit low for a London transfer.  Anywhere else in the UK, I would say £40k would be a fine salary.  But for London's stupidly high living costs?  It's going to be tight, especially if that's the only money coming in.

Can I live off £40k a year?

We couldn't do it 15 years ago, in zone 5, before we had children. We paid  £1k pcm rent back then and the rents are now more like  £1500 for the same properties. A zone 5 to zone 1 commute was, at the time, over an hour door to door and cost  £400 pcm.

I agree that something sounds very off indeed about the whole situation, starting with but not limited to how the company is getting around hiring a domestic candidate and ending with the salary range -- which would be low for even a non-international, unqualified candidate (which you must not be if there's a visa involved.)

I moved to the UK for work 10 years ago.

Not London. Salary over 6 figures, housing allowance lump sum (still in a recession then so the package would have looked MUCH better a year or 2 prior), paid for my visas, air shipment of all of my belongings (not car), relocation of my pets (over $3k), 5 extra days holiday per year on top of the 28 days per year for travelling back home. $2,500 per person for flights back home, and a $20,000 “disruption bonus”.  One month corporate housing and rental car. Services to assist in finding a rental home, schools (if I had had kids), doctor, etc.

And the one item that should ALWAYS be standard, someone to do both your US and UK taxes.

£40k is entry level pay for a project manager.

What is it that makes you want to move?  Not going to lie, living abroad is the same as living at home. Just different things to see and do. But those can easily be seen and done on holiday.

I never planned to live here forever (moves here single, now married with kids).  I really REALLY wish I had family support when it’s been needed. I have wonderful friends. But no one can replace family.

I moved to the UK for work 10 years ago.

Not London. Salary over 6 figures, housing allowance lump sum (still in a recession then so the package would have looked MUCH better a year or 2 prior), paid for my visas, air shipment of all of my belongings (not car), relocation of my pets (over $3k), 5 extra days holiday per year on top of the 28 days per year for travelling back home. $2,500 per person for flights back home, and a $20,000 “disruption bonus”.  One month corporate housing and rental car. Services to assist in finding a rental home, schools (if I had had kids), doctor, etc.

And the one item that should ALWAYS be standard, someone to do both your US and UK taxes.

£40k is entry level pay for a project manager.

What is it that makes you want to move?  Not going to lie, living abroad is the same as living at home. Just different things to see and do. But those can easily be seen and done on holiday.

I never planned to live here forever (moves here single, now married with kids).  I really REALLY wish I had family support when it’s been needed. I have wonderful friends. But no one can replace family.

Thats a good question. What does taxes look like being a US citizen living in the UK? Do you have to pay both? This is a question I have asked my employer, but I have not heard back yet.

Moving over to Europe has always been a goal of ours. We have family scattered across Europe, and we think it would be a good experience for our family. I wish I found this forum sooner. Not that it would have deterred me away from saying yes to the job, but maybe would have helped me negotiate better? 

Just want to say thank you to all for the feedback. Like I said, not all what I hoped it would be, but the feedback is greatly helpful. It is giving us clarity on the challenges ahead of us.

We have committed to 2 years with the company, and we are not expecting it to be easy. My hope is that the experience outweighs the flaws. Any forum conversation you think would be helpful to tap into for jobs? rent? moving tips? pet relocation?

Anything is helpful.

August

I don't think it's going to be difficult, I think you're going to find it damn near impossible, especially with 2 children.

Expect rent around £1300, council tax to be around £200, and your commute to easily be £400. Your take-home on £40k is roughly £2500. Add to that utilities and living expenses and your lifestyle is going to be limited indeed. £5000 relocation bonus isn't going to go far (and if you have to get pet relocation out of that too, it will be even more stretched) and with no credit in the UK you may have to pay extra deposit, which will eat that right up. Based on my experience in London on £65k I don't think you're making realistic plans but it's up to you how you want to live.

There is a pet relocation forum here; they are subject to quarantine unless you've met DEFRA's quarantine at home guidance. Certain dog breeds can't be imported at all, and some airlines refuse to fly snub-nosed breeds. So how much it will cost will depend on what pets you have, what breeds, and whether they have been chipped and are up to date on vaccination.

Yes, you are subject to double taxation -- however, there are foreign earned income exclusions that may apply. You need a tax professional; it costs us about £500 each year for our straightforward return.

Just want to say thank you to all for the feedback. Like I said, not all what I hoped it would be, but the feedback is greatly helpful. It is giving us clarity on the challenges ahead of us.

We have committed to 2 years with the company, and we are not expecting it to be easy. My hope is that the experience outweighs the flaws. Any forum conversation you think would be helpful to tap into for jobs? rent? moving tips? pet relocation?

Anything is helpful.

August

Moving for 2 years on that low of a salary? It genuinely sounds like a scam. Also know that on a tier 2 general visa you have very little protection and it can be curtailed, and finding a new job in the time allowed with a company that has a COS is very difficult so you could have to move home very quickly.  I would look at the terms of your contract and be very sure this is what you want to do with two kids and pets. Also worth mentioning the UK is no longer part of Europe, and with Covid-19, travelling has also become much more difficult and risky. Its unlikely on that salary you will both be able to afford seeing the continent or that it will be safe to do so any time soon.

margo makes really really good points, everyone makes good points actually but margo's was one I wanted to chime in with. I have seen recent posts on other visa sites mentioning tier 2 visa curtailment recently due to COVID. I'd definitely double and triple look at that contract and really consider every worst-case scenario, as moving only to have to leave the UK again is not a situation you want to find yourself in.

Do you have a bit of savings in case of emergency?

Thats a good question. What does taxes look like being a US citizen living in the UK? Do you have to pay both? This is a question I have asked my employer, but I have not heard back yet.

Moving over to Europe has always been a goal of ours. We have family scattered across Europe, and we think it would be a good experience for our family. I wish I found this forum sooner. Not that it would have deterred me away from saying yes to the job, but maybe would have helped me negotiate better? 

Is it really too late for negotiation?  You can always say that you've done some research and found out that the salary is out of whack with the cost of living.  Any sane employer would be willing to talk with you about what's necessary for this to work.  After all, it's in no one's interest for them to pay 5k for you to move and then have you leave after one month.   It should be obvious, at least to the people in London trying to set this up that this borders on the unworkable.   If your employer is not even willing to have that conversation, then red flags are waving.

There are some web sites that help you to find out where to live based upon all the commuting options, coming up with the balance that Aquila was talking about.  You should be able to find them on Google. 

There are some web sites that help you to find out where to live based upon all the commuting options, coming up with the balance that Aquila was talking about.  You should be able to find them on Google. 

For my area it strictly quotes train time.  Not the 10 minutes to walk to the station, to extra few minutes to be early, or the walk to the office, which can easily be 30-45 minutes depending on which station your train goes into.