Is £28,000 Liveable in London

the89er

Is an annual salary of £28,000 liveable in London, especially if you're renting a place to stay alone?

nicechap

Depends on so many factors. For instance:

Rental costs.
Commute costs.
Social Life costs.
Tax code.

And there will be trade offs between them. Such as where the job is located compared to where you are renting versus quality of accommodation.

My son in law has recently started work in London, did a month sofa surfing and now has a room in a flat share on a salary of @24k (zone 2 flat, zone 1 job).

As to whether its liveable for you, only you know.

username901

Whilst you could survive on that.in London, I don't think you could live on that. Think of your health too, air quality is awful - illegal in some places.

What job is it? If it's something that pays £22k up norf but you only spend £5000 a year on rent and commute as opposed to £12000+ in laaahndan is it worth it?

MEM62

the89er wrote: »

Is an annual salary of £28,000 liveable in London, especially if you're renting a place to stay alone?

In my opinion, no. Or, at least, not with any kind of lifestyle. It guess you could say that you could 'survive' on that salary but not really live on it.

Gavin83

I think you could live on that. You almost certainly wouldn't be able to afford to live alone however, you'd be renting a room in a house share. Rent isn't cheap in London but most other costs are no different to the rest of the country.

How much would this job command in other parts of the country?

Dox

the89er wrote: »

Is an annual salary of £28,000 liveable in London, especially if you're renting a place to stay alone?

An awful lot of people have to manage on that, or less - but the key word is 'manage'.

Getting a place on your own in a half-decent area is unlikely, unless you are prepared to move quite a way out - but then your commuting costs go up.

JohnDorian

Living on your own would make that near impossible. Maybe just about doable to get by but very difficult and probably very far out in the TFL zones. A house/flat share would make it more reasonable.

lisyloo

I too think you’d need to share, but it does depend on your red lines.

Be aware that there are some places in London where you’ll regularly get trouble. Kids chucking fireworks at you, people throwing acid in your face.

It really depends on where your red lines are.

Does the job have promise?

Commuting can be pretty awful in London.
I sometimes have my breasts squashed as that’s how cramped it can be (usually against someone’s back).

Jonathan_Kelvin

If by London you mean anywhere even vaguely central, then no, not for long or if you want any sort of quality of life.

If you mean a shared room where the bed is used in shifts, then possibly.

steampowered

£28k is low for London!

It almost certainly means a flat share. I think you are much much better off with a flat share than a shoebox studio apartment. It probably also means a commute and limited disposable income.

That's all absolutely fine if you are a young person who is finding their feet. Especially if you are getting career advancement opportunities leading to a higher salary or better jobs in future.

It's a bit different if you are a bit older and looking to settle down.

gwynlas

Many NHS workers live in London on this but you would need to flat share or commute long distance. A lot would depend on your job, working hours and the possibility of additional earnings. I would say it is generally worth it for the experience,
I went for six months and stayed twenty five years,