how are single people supposed to afford the price of rent/housing is increasing?

fitnessguy1

dimbo61 wrote: »

Have a look on easyroommate and spareroom, try gumtree as well.
Many people moving out of London and the south east and looking at other Cities Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds etc Because it is cheaper to rent.

Please do not think all Landlords are ripping people off.

i have thought about renting a room. the only problem i would have with moving is my gf. if she didn't want to leave with me then it would be difficult for me. i know i shouldn't be concerned with that though. she is a hairdresser and has only been hairdressing a short time so i am not sure she could just up and move and comfortably find more work.

MattinLondon

Basically you need to sort your sh*t out and stop making excuses. Sure, I went to Uni, but I moved cities straight after without a job lined up and worked in a bar for 6 months before I got one. I've moved through 3 different countries to get to London. I'm 35 and only just looking to buy a house now (have flat shared since I was 17). I've had to make some tough choices to chase jobs, but I'm doing alright now.

You have to change something to have a chance. You have to find a way of earning more money. If I could do it all again I'd possibly learn a trade - a great way to get a good job and then a chance to run your own business. Don't leave home until you can start making some decent money and getting some savings. First thing is to not take the easy option but do something that's going to push you and give you a chance of having a better outlook.

If you don't do anything you're going to be middle aged, going nowhere and regret it.

Kesstra

You do what most of us Londoners do.
Flat share. It has nothing to do with what type of degree you do or do not have. High paying jobs simply don't cut it anymore. Anyone I know who can afford high rents can afford decent mortgages but need TWO incomes to live. Most people need two incomes or if you are single you flat share.
When I was born, the area I lived in was a crap hole. Sw11. Now it's nappy valley for the rich and famous and after 21 years there I had to move to East London where my partner was born and bred. 8 years later we can't afford it or anwhere in zone 3 or 4. We now live in Zone 5. I much prefer it out here anyway but any more rent hikes and we are out of London with a 2 hour bus journey in.
If I was single I'd be flat sharing. My sister and partner who don't want to compromise on area are in their 30's and flat share.
Everyone I know flat shares in some way, be it with a partner or others.
If you don't have a hope what do you think families do!?

Kesstra

MattinLondon wrote: »

Basically you need to sort your sh*t out and stop making exceses. Sure, I went to Uni, but I moved cities straight after without a job lined up and worked in a bar for 6 months before I got one. I've moved through 3 different countries to get to London. I'm 35 and only just looking to buy a house now (have flat shared since I was 17). I've had to make some tough choices to chase jobs, but I'm doing alright now.

You have to change something to have a chance. You have to find a way of earning more money. If I could do it all again I'd possibly learn a trade - a great way to get a good job and then a chance to run your own business. Don't leave home until you can start making some decent money and getting some savings. First thing is to not take the easy option but do something that's going to push you and give you a chance of having a better outlook.

If you don't do anything you're going to be middle aged, going nowhere and regret it.

A lot of people simply do not have the option of staying at home till 35. No one I know has parents either alive, with the space or close to where their jobs are.

I agree compromise is part of it but the reality is somewhat different in the fact you can bust your gut and still have to accept what you can and cannot afford!

Learning a trade takes a long time and won't pay well until you are good at what you do and earning larger amounts. My plumber is 54 and it's only in the last 10 years he has managed a larger income. However he doesn't live in central London and accepts that he has to cut his cloth to suit.
My sister's partner is in trade and earns a good salary but it won't pay for a house/flat that costs half a million pounds for some tiny rat hole. That is the reality of London.

What are you going to do, wait until you are 60 to start living life and having a family or do what most people do and accept that more money will always be the issue.

I know someone who is very rich. Yes earning more money can get you things in life, BUT the living standard becomes higher and higher and therefore you need to keep earning to keep living.
when does enough money become enough money!?

You can't know what will happen in the future either. You can bust your guts, do everything they say you should do to "make it" and then have a heart attack or lose your job and run out of savings.

The reality is, that, despite many people getting very very good degrees and well paid jobs, the cost of housing in London is such that many successful middle class people cannot keep up with the rising costs.
THAT is the reality and no amount of hard work will change that.

Kesstra

Kesstra wrote: »

A lot of people simply do not have the option of staying at home till 35. No one I know has parents either alive, with the space or close to where their jobs are.

I agree compromise is part of it but the reality is somewhat different in the fact you can bust your gut and still have to accept what you can and cannot afford!

Learning a trade takes a long time and won't pay well until you are good at what you do and earning larger amounts. My plumber is 54 and it's only in the last 10 years he has managed a larger income. However he doesn't live in central London and accepts that he has to cut his cloth to suit.
My sister's partner is in trade and earns a good salary but it won't pay for a house/flat that costs half a million pounds for some tiny rat hole. That is the reality of London.

What are you going to do, wait until you are 60 to start living life and having a family or do what most people do and accept that more money will always be the issue.

I know someone who is very rich. Yes earning more money can get you things in life, BUT the living standard becomes higher and higher and therefore you need to keep earning to keep living.
when does enough money become enough money!?

You can't know what will happen in the future either. You can bust your guts, do everything they say you should do to "make it" and then have a heart attack or lose your job and run out of savings.

The reality is, that, despite many people getting very very good degrees and well paid jobs, the cost of housing in London is such that many successful middle class people cannot keep up with the rising costs.
THAT is the reality and no amount of hard work will change that.

EDIT: My other sister's older friends are all over the age of 34/35, went to good universities, good degrees, good educated people, went to private school, didn't mess about, studied hard, got married, on the way to having babies and have good incomes. NONE of them are living in the land of luxury. They are living to suit their incomes which yes for some has to now stretch further BUT they are NOT poor, they are comfortable but even they cut their clothes to suit to to speak.
None of them live in large houses, or in very rich areas!

Lizling

fitnessguy1 wrote: »

i was thinking about personal training,[...]

BigAunty wrote: »

Will this give you a 20 to 25k income? If not,forget it.

fitnessguy1 wrote: »

i don't believe so.

I know at least 2 PTs who must be on over £100,000 pa based on what they charge per hour and how many clients I know they have (and their sports cars and houses with swimming pools...). Don't get me wrong though - they're not typical and this is London. They're all very highly qualified guys who got into it via the army.

Hmm. Might the army be an option for you? You're young, fit and in need of some training/qualifications, and accommodation would be taken care of. Obvious down sides like the going to war, of course!

aggypanthus

STU..
Hard to believe
flat in Grangemouth can be as low as 280 mnth! Good area for work.

340is more realistic?

MattinLondon

Kesstra wrote: »

The reality is, that, despite many people getting very very good degrees and well paid jobs, the cost of housing in London is such that many successful middle class people cannot keep up with the rising costs.
THAT is the reality and no amount of hard work will change that.

Yeah, but sitting where this chap is and staying in a dead end job is not going to help one bit. At least if he gets some skills (however long that takes) he's got options.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I'm not sure when those with low-skilled, minimum wage jobs have ever been able to afford to live on their own.

The Open University is a great option, but if you're more interested in a trade, then your local colleges are the place to start.

Living in a flat/house share will cut your outgoings, and you may make more friends. I thought it's what everyone did in their 20s?

egoode

fitnessguy1 wrote: »

i don't believe so. that is the problem. also, there's a saturation of pt's out there at the moment because it's a relatively stable & flexible career choice amongst many people.

i was looking into training for qualifications for other things, but not really sure what there is. i wouldn't mind working in marketing/sales to earn some money and save up. starting a business is another option but it would take a few years for me to save up the money due to my low salary and also make sure i have a good idea.

i don't know really. university is an option but like i said - my education is quite poor and i am not sure how i would cope with it. it is quite frustrating really. like i said it's putting a bit of strain on me and my gf as i am always moaning to her about the situation and she responds with "I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY TO YOU!" :rotfl: and she is right i suppose. i don't want to keep moaning to her as she has her own problems, but it feels like i need to talk about these things.

I feel sorry for your girlfriend as you are the only person that can change your situation and if you keep complaining and not changing anything then if I was her I'd be looking at how much longer I'd be willing to put up with that.

You mention starting a business but then say you can't because of money and also you are interested in marketing and sales. Well get out there and start selling something/anything. Watch the apprentice they often have a task where they need to go to wholesalers and buy items and just start selling them and often the items are not that expensive to buy initially. Start small with £50 or £100 of stock and try and double your money then reinvest it back into the business. Look at online selling options, markets, etc. Start small and do it in your spare time around your current job if it's successful you will find it will eventually pay you a wage and be able to focus on it fulltime.

When I was 12 I started a business with my brother selling swimming accessories, things like goggles, swimming caps, kickboards, etc from a table at our local swimming club. The main reason we started was we discovered you could buy the nose pieces for goggles but most stores didn't sell them as they'd rather you buy a new pair. The wholesaler we found always had heaps sent to them but no one really wanted them so they used to just send them to us for free. We would sell them on to the swimmers in our local club and made $1 per piece and that went on for about 3 years before we started being charged for them but in that time we sold about 400-500 nose pieces. While I never made mega bucks from that business I only had to put about 2 hours work in a week and my initial investment was a couple of hundred dollars 6 years later I took out over $5000 which helped me when I went to Uni.

You can start with very little but the main thing is you need to be the one to make the start. My parents didn't help my brother or me at all. We wrote letters to all the wholesalers, accountants and solicitors for advice and did it all on our own. If we could manage that at 12 and 14 you have no excuse not to start something yourself.