Moving to London - is it possible?

dave88uk

Just to answer a few queries that have been raised (ignoring the toss of course:D:D).

Someone covered it pretty well earlier up, ultimately you're not going to be able to move into Central London on those figures. However, for some people it is worth looking at the Help to Buy schemes down there, London Metropolitan is one organisation although there are a few smallers ones by Googling "Shared Ownership London" which brings up options on RightMove.

What I maybe didn't make clear in my OP is we have capital to help us, we own another house outright, our house only has 30% mortgage left on it so from a property point of view we have an advantage compared with most other people our age. That obviously has rental income etc. I hope this answers the "How on earth can you get a £240k mortgage on your wage" question. The £240k budget is something we passed with a recommended independant mortgage adviser.

Ultimately I'm going to be looking more towards the Gillingham area of Kent. Someone mentioned above it's about balancing what your perceptions of acceptable travel time is. From door to door I'm looking at 1hr20mins each way, around half an hour more than what I do at the moment. I'm fine with this. From a cost point of view the season ticket will be £3,700. Currently I spend about £2k/year on fuel driving to an from work. This way I'd be able to flog the car as I wouldn't need it (wife would keep hers). Except for fuel that leaves £1.7k left over, but when taking into consideration tax, tyres, repairs, insurance e.t.c it kind of levels out.

Someone mentioned earlier I may be a troll and have recently been on a radio show with the same issue. Erm, no.

Someone also mentioned about state support (benefits, allowances etc). Perhaps, I'm not totally sure, I prefer to support myself. With regards to housing allowance I honestly think this is only for renters and home owners can't apply (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Tax credits might be an option.

It's important to point out that this would only be on a 2 year contract, once people have finished these contracts they are typically found other positions on much higher salaries. It's kind of an investment, again it's a job that I want to do, rather than need to do. By doing that it's possible to work out compromises, concessions etc.

I know a lot of people have used this opportunity to had a dig, question my mental ability etc, as discussed earlier I'm not too phased by that.

With regards to £10k of debt, I think I mentioned in my OP that's 0%, repayment of about £75/month on 0% CC's, for the purchase of a car (where most people take out HP at silly APR). I'm not going to lose sleep over 0% debt, if it was an issue then again I could easily release that money from physical asset.

I hope this helps some people, as discussed it's not for everyone and if other people have found alternative ways then I think you should contribute as it may help the majority of people on this thread that have a genuine interest.

Regards,

Dave

tadgh_99

we own another house outright

You never mentioned that in your original post whatsoever (it was not even hinted at). If you had mentioned that property I'm sure the posts on here would have been slightly more constructive about your options.

When renting that property out be careful about the tax position. I don't think you can just rent it out in your OH name just for tax purposes (check the HMRC website).

But now you've added the fact that you do have a second (mortgage free) property, I can see how you can achieve your goal. Best of luck to you...

lisyloo

It's important to point out that this would only be on a 2 year contract

If this is a temporary place of work then your business should be able to pay the costs of renting.
Buying implies a more permanent move so I'm pretty sure that doesn't work.

We're current renting in London and DH is on a 6 month contract.
His business is paying the rent which is preferable to us paying it out of taxed income.

Something to consider.

benjus

tadgh_99 wrote: »

When renting that property out be careful about the tax position. I don't think you can just rent it out in your OH name just for tax purposes (check the HMRC website).

The division of income/expenses for tax purposes must reflect the ownership of the property (usually 50/50 unless explicitly structured otherwise).

But I can't see where the OP has said that it's rented out in his OH's name... maybe I'm just being slow...

bouicca21

At the risk of sounding spiky, Gillingham isn't London, it's the Medway Towns. It is precisely the sort of commutable area suggested way back in post 6.

tadgh_99

But I can't see where the OP has said that it's rented out in his OH's name... maybe I'm just being slow...

He doesn't state that, Just forewarning them as I know people who have done this and come a cropper.

It's only when you start to consider renting out a joint property that it becomes evident (just done it myself and hadn't realised the rules)

Forewarned is forearmed after all.

AdrianC

bouicca21 wrote: »

At the risk of sounding spiky, Gillingham isn't London, it's the Medway Towns. It is precisely the sort of commutable area suggested way back in post 6.

...whilst post 12 explicitly namechecked Medway...

Running_Horse

One of my workmates lives in Gillingham. It used to be respectable skilled working class. Nowadays the houses get snapped up by BTL landlords to house students, welfare claimants, London overspill, and Eastern Europeans. Not judging any of those people, but that is the modern demographic. They will be your neighbours.

The High Street is dying on its feet, with drug dealers left undisturbed by police. The local primary schools do very well out of the pupil premium, and he no longer allows his kids on school trips because he resents paying more to subsidise the others. The local secondary school has one of the worst reputations in the county.

If you have a reasonable lifestyle where you are, why on earth would you relocate a family to Gillingham? To be near London? You will pay thousands to stand on broken toilet smelly litter-filled trains for an hour and pay the terrible council for a non existent parking space. You sure showed us London could be done on a low budget.

AdrianC

Running_Horse wrote: »

One of my workmates lives in Gillingham. It used to be respectable skilled working class. Nowadays the houses get snapped up by BTL landlords to house students, welfare claimants, London overspill, and Eastern Europeans. Not judging any of those people, but that is the modern demographic. They will be your neighbours.

Umm, he IS (or will be) "London overspill"

Dan-Dan

AdrianC wrote: »

Umm, he IS (or will be) "London overspill"

His mate might have been born in Gillingham?

In any event , he is right , the place is a hole , makes Bedford look like Bath