London Living Costs

donny-gal

I don't know where to put this post, so mods please move if necessary, but thought I would start here as I know it is a popular thread.

My DS23 left uni last year and is working away from home in Gloucestershire, his GF just finished uni in June, and comes from London, and the career she is following needs her to be in London. He currently rents a room in a house, more upmarket than the student one, but he is getting fed up with having nothing to call his own, nor no choice on furnishings, decorations etc. They would like to be together, and so he is now applying for positions in the greater London area, but maybe due to the holiday times, or the state of the economy there doesn't seem to be a lot out there atm. Apart from Student Loans they are not in debt, but nothing spare either, as it is being spend on travellng to see each other as often as they can. DS should get between £24-28k which is not a mean salary, he runs a car - necessary where he is at the moment, and it is our old one so no debt on that, neither smoke. The GF is looking for work but the industry she is trying to break into is hard, and they have to do non-paid work experience initially, even after 4 years at uni and the 1st Hons degree:eek: she is doing the work experience atm.

If she could get a paid position, even a £10k sort of starting salary then they feel they could get a 1 bed flat together, but think it would be too difficult on just DS's wage, unless they were to live in a "not very nice" area.

We have no experience of London, prices, areas, or anything else. Can anyone give us any guide lines, ideas, thoughts. He admitted to me last week that he finds it very lonely at times coming back from work, cooking a meal, and then eating it by himself.

Thanks - DG

Buzzbox

I've generally always stayed in South London and I much prefer it to the north, that's just my opinion. We've been staying in a studio flat, they go for anything between £500-£700 excluding utilities and council tax. A lot of people house share in London as it generally includes everything except groceries. As long as they can stay out of zone 1, work wise, they save a fortune on travel costs a month.

beer_tins

Is the GF living with her folks then? Presumably no money coming in anyway unless she works part time?

To answer your question, yes you can live in greater London on that salary, but obviously not in Fulham etc. There are areas in London that are much cheaper to live and many are simply "not fashionable" rather than dodgy. Especially in South, South East and East London, there ARE nice areas that are cheap largely because areas bordering them are not so nice and because South and East London are perceived by many as being less desirable as a whole.

What sort of budget are they looking at and what kind of things are priorities for them?

Horace

Lambeth is nice in parts but not others and they have started to stinge people for parking permits. Wandsworth is a nice area and they have cheaper council tax too (i drive through it everytime I visit my OH and we go out and about). I have noticed that they are building lots of flats in Battersea and in Clapham (sometimes called Clarm by those that think they're posh).

All these places are in South London and south of the Thames.

I think the thing to do is to register with a few agencies and see what they have.

MissShoes

Hi I recommend south london. I live in SE1 which is cheap but I get discounted rent because of my profession. A one bed in south london can be found for £500-550 but it would mean a less nice area. I think £600-700 is a more realistic price. Obviously the further out you go the less expensive it is but the more you pay in travel to get to work in the centre and it takes a much longer time. The south east doesn't have a tube (apaprt from southwark, bermondsey and elephant and castle but the buses are great and there is the DLR. Have a look on findaproperty and gumtree for an idea of flat prices. Council tax will be £130ish at the cheap end. Hope that helps, ask away if you think of anything else!

jo1981_2

I prefer North to south London, but it's individual choice.

Your "daughter in law" could always temp here and there inbetween work experience and can expect around £9-10/hour for basic admin/reception roles if she works in central london, so she could even do it on a part time basis perhaps?

donny-gal

Yes the GF is living with her folks, and luckily has been able to keep working at least one weekendday a week which she did when on holidays from uni. The problem being is it does affect them seeing each other, as he is at work Mon-Fri and her the weekend. Means rather than her travelling to him where they had some space which was possible while she was at uni, he goes there, and they squeeze an extra single in their room which they have to climb over to get in and out of the room, and it's not the same with M&D & siblings about is it. They may have to settle for a studio, but a 1 bed would be better. DS is hoping to be just outside conjestion zone for the car, but maybe get a work loan for a season ticket, he seems to think that is the norm . At least the next work experience she has set up will pay her travelling, so that will help the pennies. He had hoped to buy, though do not think the time is right atm, as he does have a decent deposit courtesy of Grandma & Grandad, which he has not touched all through uni. He does have a £2.5k interest free overdraft on a Graduate account which reduces each year for at least 3 years. So must cover that too.
DG

beer_tins

A lot of votes for South London. Many people prefer North London, but you definitely get more for your money south of the river IMHO.

Here's a place for £630 PCM and that's after recent rent increases: http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=1&pid=2038096&agentid=05328

That area has a wonderful villagey centre with tons of nice bars and restaurants. It has a nice big park nearby (where the Great Exhibition was) and it's in Zone 3 with Transport links to London bridge or Victoria and a bus station. Just an example.

And no, I'm not the owner or estate agent!:rotfl:

OliveOyl_2

I keep getting interrupted by work when I'm trying to post here :rotfl:

here are a couple of links to help your research into prices:
http://uk.easyroommate.com/

http://www.flatmateclick.co.uk/

Jacks_xxx

:wave: Hiya hon, I think your DS is being very sensible in planning ahead this way.

I live about 45 minutes outside London so I'm not going to be much help to you, but I just wanted to suggest that they could draw up a projected SOA to see how much money they'll need to live on.

I'm just guessing at the amounts but you could work it out more accurately with a little research I expect.

A one bed in a cheaper area would be around £700 a month if it's anything like round here (more for a more spacious one, or one in a nice block, or nicer area probably) - with about £300 for gas, electric, water, council tax, internet, landline, Tv Licence & contents insurance etc on top and then maybe another £200-250 for food?

On £28k he'd take home £1750 a month so that would leave him £500+ a month for clothes, social life, travel and everything else.

That sounds pretty doable to me but someone else who is actually doing it might know better!

Love Jacks xxx

donny-gal

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I am putting together a possible SOA and will post it later. I would love to hear from anyone "doing it". I think he would want to consider Sky for he is a sports nut, and then would not be tempted to the pub to watch sport. Bband the norm now, just not sure as to the gas/electric/water costs for two rooms. The place beinerts found sound the sort of thing, he does like a bit of character to a building, but likes modern (ikea) inside, and it had off street parking. Does anyone know the price of a Season Ticket from such an area. Do they cover bus and tube/train? It is hard I know without knowing exact where to and from, but a guide would be appreciated.