London Living Costs

beer_tins

donny-gal wrote: »

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.

Well that place is in zone 3 so a zones 1-3 (assuming he will work in zone 1) season ticket is £1,136.00 a year which includes all bus (all zones), tube, train, DLR, and tram. Most employers do a season ticket loan I think (mine does).

wendz86

Me and my bf have just recently got a flat, sharing with my sister in zone 2 in the west, rent is 1200 for whole flat and we have to pay council tax etc on top! :eek: I was originally trying to look for one bed flats, most were about 800 a month. We pay about 700 for room in our flat, so almost as much but we obviously split bills three ways which helps.

Maybe living in a studio flat which are cheaper could be cheaper to start then when his gf has more money they could find something bigger?

piglet6

Hi Donny-gal

Another vote for south of the river here. We did what your son is doing and liked the area so much that we stayed. However, this was 12 years ago, so I am afraid my pricing would be way out of date!

2 things I would say are:

- Don't dismiss studio flats until you have seen a few. We lived in one for the first 18 months (until we bought) and it was not nearly as dodgy as they are made out to be. Ours was designed beautifully, with a mezzanine floor, so we went "upstairs" to bed (albeit that bed was a mattress on the floor and there was only 4ft above our heads - but actually at the time it seemed quite fun!). The bed was built above the shower room and kitchen (the kitchen was cleverly built into a cupboard with folding doors, which could be closed and the whole thing shut off). It really was "compact and bijou" and we were very happy there for 18 months, until were we both earning and could afford something bigger.

- Don't dismiss the "rougher" areas. There are rough ends of nice places and nice ends of rough places (if you get my drift!) and lots of places in London are "up and coming". When we announced to people where we were going to be living, people sympathised...(gee thanks, guys!! ). Personally, I always felt very happy and safe in my area but 12 years on, our area has undergone so much re-generation that property prices have increased through the roof, and we are now in a lucky position of owning something which has gone up significantly in value. This is still happening all over London, so I would say its worth considering. For what its worth, I would suggest coming down to London and walking around an area - there are "posh" areas of London that I would not want to walk alone in after dark, but other areas which are surprisingly friendly and "safe"-feeling. Its a matter of personal choice...

For flats, there is often very little which offers off-street parking, and this will certainly be something that bumps the price up.

Also, I don't want to put a dampener on the season ticket loan, but I have worked for several companies over the last 12 years, and some do and some don't - in my experience, the larger blue-chip companies do offer (I don't know what area you son is looking in) but smaller companies don't always offer as standard. However, he might still be able to negotiate it as part of his package at interview/offer stage...

As an aside, it is generally cheaper to live in areas that don't have tube stations nearby, and you can get a bus pass rather than a season ticket (which obviously only allows you on buses, but is significantly cheaper). For personal preference, I walk as often as possible (its often quicker for shorter journeys!) but, if I do need to take public transport, I prefer to get a bus and hardly ever take a tube. Worth considering if money really is an issue. www.tfl.gov.uk will help you work out buses/tubes in various areas, and also tell you prices for travel.

Sorry I can't help more on the prices...I hope they find something suitable!

Piglet

Bone_Idle

I lived in the suburbs SW London (Zones 5 & 6)for 6 years until moving to the green delights of Cornwall (read: rainy) last summer. Most of the time I was in flat shares and got by on what was a fairly low salary (by London standards), but in the last year I rented a small 1-bed flat in Surbiton on my own (my OH was flat-sharing nearby) - managed ok though money was tight sometimes, despite by then earning nearer 30k.

I think if they were willing to go for slightly less 'fashionable' areas (which usually means sacrificing distance from the Tube or overground rail network), they'd manage fine for 6 months on your DS's salary alone. But make sure his GF's employers pay her travel expenses, even if she doesn't get a salary, because that can be a huge chunk of money!

I'd echo what Jacks says - I think they're being very sensible to plan ahead.

Lottebear

I would suggest an area like Croydon, areas are ok and reasonable 30 min by train to Victoria, great shopping rents are about £650 starting per month.

mrposhman

I'm living South of the river, just outside wimbledon in colliers wood. Its right on the northern line but costs £825 for a 1 bed flat with off-street parking. You can get on-street parking with parking permits. When I lived in brixton (much cheaper and not as bad as the reputation) the permit was about £10 a month but they were changing it to be based on co2 emissions (not sure why its worse to park a higher polluting car but hey ho).

Like others have said you can usually get season ticket loan but I preferred to pay per month. The alternative is doing what i do not and cycle in. Its not so bad and takes me the same time to get to work but is obviously cheaper and gets me fit.

Like piglet6 says, don't dismiss the less desirable areas. Its generally not far between these areas, for example you can drive to Peckham in less than 5 minutes from Dulwich village and these are complete opposites.

Generally I found that flats are usually cheaper south of the river but thats largely due to reduced transport links.

ally_bally_3

beinerts wrote: »

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:

I live fairly near here in SE23 and me an OH rent a 2 bed flat (with an en suite and main bathroom), 30 secs from station and on a 24 hour bus route to central london. Our flat is £830 per month which is expensive but actually cheap for the size of the property.

South London I would go for every time - its really easy to get into town but you can still get property to rent for fairly decent prices. I really hope they find something soon.

x

badgerbread

I live in south East and I have found that there are some really nice areas here that you would not normally associate with the south east. You can buy a 3 bed property for about £170,000 but obviously this can alter. You do need to be careful which area you pick though the best thing to do is visit the area at different times of the day this way you are seeing the area for yourself and not relying on heresay for example I would go during a normal weekday, an evening and of a weekend when the children are off. But I love the South East and have lived here forever and the district line is quite a good service as well.

Horace

mrposhman wrote: »

I'm living South of the river, just outside wimbledon in colliers wood. Its right on the northern line but costs £825 for a 1 bed flat with off-street parking. You can get on-street parking with parking permits. When I lived in brixton (much cheaper and not as bad as the reputation) the permit was about £10 a month but they were changing it to be based on co2 emissions (not sure why its worse to park a higher polluting car but hey ho).

Lambeth have changed the parking permits now as my OH used to pay £65 and his bill has gone up to £300:eek: Lambeth claimed to have looked at neighbouring boroughs but they only selected Richmond - funny that, Richmond have the highest permit prices:rolleyes:

The bus services are quite good south of the river and I avoid the tube like the plague and use my Oyster card to hop on and off buses. The cost of living I would estimate is similar to what it is in Birmingham City Centre.

Hope DS and GF find something suitable.

donny-gal

Hi again folks
Have used £25k as a salary (though he should get more but until he actual finds a position in London we will not know) and used a program to estimate the take home pay and tried to put a SOA together.

Monthly
Gross Income ...........................................................£2,083.33
Net Take-Home....................................................... £1,480.39

Rent ..........................................................£700.00
Council Tax ................................................£130.00
Gas/Elec/Water ..........................................
Sky/Telephone/Bband ...................................£34.00
Mobile Phone ...............................................£35.00
Travel Season Ticket .....................................£94.67
Home InsuranceFood ..................................£200.00
Going Out.......................................................
Clothes .........................................................
..................................................................................£1,193.67
Car Tax .........................................................£13.75
Car Insurance ................................................£58.33
Petrol ............................................................£15.00
MOT/Car Maintenance ....................................£28.00
.....................................................................................£115.08
Total Outgoings .........................................................£1,238.75
Balance ........................................................................£171.64

There are some items, I do not know, and would welcome suggestions, ie gas/electric/water costs for a 2 room property, Home insurance for same.

How much for clothes and going out would have to be what is left, and holidays may need to be forgotten for a while.

To my mind the car would have to go, and if they are in the right place and can get to work, then that would be no real problem, there are no savings to have had there, the insurance was the best we would get for a larger car (ex ours) and maintenance done by his cousin (mechanic).

I have put not put anything in for GF travelling, as presumed it would be either paid work, when things would considering improve, or travel paid work experience.

It is tight, but not impossible I would agree with you.

Have I missed anything?

Thanks again, DG