how much would you need to earn to live in London, comfortably?

kingslayer

What kind of salary would one need to live comfortably in london? I am talking about one person renting a flat in say, central london or hampstead. Also, how much would the price differ from outskirts of london?

My friend's cousin lives in brent and he doesn't have a well paid job. He has his own flat, but he also has 2 children (whom neither live with him) so I'm unsure if he would be getting benefits for that. I am just curious to know if it can be done on a salary of say, 16-18 grand pa.

tomtontom

On that salary you'll get a room in a shared house in a not so great area. To rent your own place in a half decent area you'd need to be earning double that.

movilogo

For single person, £30k is ok. For family with 1-2 kids £50k family income is mostly OK.

Realistically, one would struggle to live in central London unless family income (2 parents + 2 kids) is in the region of 70k.

[Deleted User]

£18k is about £1260 after tax a month. The cheapest flats around Hampstead start at about £700ish a month. No one really lives in 'Central' London anyway. Checkout the areas in zone 2-3 for the 'liveable' zones

Expand your search a bit more and you might find them for £500 a month. If you look on flatsharing sites you'll find more information (and it can be more fun/affordable to share)

I started off flat-sharing in London earning £26k - this was plenty and left me with about £300 a month to save.

Cycrow

i live in the outskirts (zone 6), on my own in a flat. And i just about manage with £32k/year. Plus i cycle everywhere so i dont have any transport costs.

Finances arn't tight, but i wouldn't like to live on much less.

if you go for a small studio flat, then it'll be abit cheaper, the one i was in before cost similar in rent to my current one, but also included all the bills.

it depends how comfortable you want to live, and how much disposable income you want available

somethingcorporate

£16-18k not a chance unfortunately.

kingslayer

movilogo wrote: »

For single person, £30k is ok. For family with 1-2 kids £50k family income is mostly OK.

Realistically, one would struggle to live in central London unless family income (2 parents + 2 kids) is in the region of 70k.

When you say 30k for one person; how comfortable are you talking? Is this taking all bills, food and travel costs, and going out costs into consideration? If not, then that would be crazy.

kingslayer

Cycrow wrote: »

i live in the outskirts (zone 6), on my own in a flat. And i just about manage with £32k/year. Plus i cycle everywhere so i dont have any transport costs.

Finances arn't tight, but i wouldn't like to live on much less.

if you go for a small studio flat, then it'll be abit cheaper, the one i was in before cost similar in rent to my current one, but also included all the bills.

it depends how comfortable you want to live, and how much disposable income you want available

You just "manage" on 32k? Jesus! I keep hearing conflicting opinions. On other sites I've been on some people say their siblings or friends manage on the salary I mentioned, whereas others say you need 25k or above. I'm thinking the former opinions may be fibbing slightly or have taken costs into consideration.

166million

I cant even afford to live somewhere where you can get the train in to London!

[Deleted User]

It's all about the area you live in and the conditions you want to live in. £16k isn't a big wage anywhere, let alone in London. It is significantly below the average salary.

To 'get by' on it, you'll need to live in shared rooms in not fabulous areas. You can find flatshares with the bills included for £400-600. On an £18k salary that would leave £600-800 to live on - which is certainly enough for a single person.

theEnd

Single person needs minimum of £30k to live any kind of normal life in London. You could 'get by' on less, but it wouldn't really be living.

That's only around £23k after tax. Rent's a minimum of £10k (unless you share or live somewhere really bad), travel £1.5k, council tax maybe £1k, bills £1k. Food and stuff £3k(?) That leaves just £6.5k for clothes, going out, phone, gadgets, holidays (!!)
... almost impossible.