In my 30s and in London - what do I do?

newsgroupmonkey_

theoretica said:

rigolith said:

theoretica said:

wildbilljones said:

The majority of adults in London won't earn over 40k. 

The median London salary a year ago was £39.7k  (with about an £8k male/female gap!) so given salary increases over the last year I think you may be out of date there. https://www.plumplot.co.uk/London-salary-and-unemployment.html 

And the majority of adults who stay in London do find some way of living there...

What increases? And in that time property prices increased by an average of 13%.

"The rate of annual pay growth for total pay was 5.1%"  https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/averageweeklyearningsingreatbritain/latest

Which leads to an estimate of London median wage at around £42k

I see Rigolith's question as being one of "Well, I didn't get a pay rise this year, so no-one else did", when in fact as you say, like many people, I've had the biggest annual pay rise (as opposed to a job-related one) in my career this year of around 5% and I've been working nearly 30 years.

Countrysider

wildbilljones said:

Once again, I'm not blaming the boomers. I'm blaming the governments. A culture of asset stripping, privatisation, property hoarding was encouraged and scant consideration was given to future generations. 

This is very true, however no political party or group seems interested in addressing the issue. This is probably because most mid-income people eventually find a way to buy something (move somewhere cheaper/partner up/shared ownership/inheritance/etc) and they then become invested in maintaining the current system. 

I suspect the number of working people who aspire to own somewhere and never do is actually very small. Far too small for a political policy, given there are many times more people who would lose from efforts to make houses truly affordable. Even 'Generation Rent' doesn't tackle the issue of house buying affordability, instead they focus on making renters life a little more tolerable. 

It isn't fair that you can't do what your parents did and buy a house in London on a modest income, but unfortunately that is the reality. I was in the same situation as you and on a higher salary but I had to leave as i was sick of paying high rent and going to house viewings dominated by landlords and developers. 

[Deleted User]

hazyjo said:

We had first jobbers starting on £30k+ in my last job, and I'm on around £50k as a secretary with tonnes of perks which save money! Also think it's worth looking around, see if you can earn more.

So what's your actual budget if you were to buy? You could prob borrow £160k. What deposit have you saved? Do you have debt/loans? We could recommend areas.

I have a mortgage in principle for £160k plus a 30-40k deposit. 

I am looking around/moving sectors at least temporarily to try and get a pay bump. But public sector, education, charity, arts etc don't pay well. You have to be in managerial/director roles to earn more than £45k. 

hazyjo

Great investment potential here. The new Elizabeth line goes from Shenfield.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117596900#/?channel=RES_BUY

Helplesssheep

[Deleted User] said:

hazyjo said:

We had first jobbers starting on £30k+ in my last job, and I'm on around £50k as a secretary with tonnes of perks which save money! Also think it's worth looking around, see if you can earn more.

So what's your actual budget if you were to buy? You could prob borrow £160k. What deposit have you saved? Do you have debt/loans? We could recommend areas.

I have a mortgage in principle for £160k plus a 30-40k deposit. 

I am looking around/moving sectors at least temporarily to try and get a pay bump. But public sector, education, charity, arts etc don't pay well. You have to be in managerial/director roles to earn more than £45k. 

You should be able to find a 1 bed in budget in Croydon if you want to be south or Edmonton if north. Lots of shared ownership options too though I personally don’t know how that scheme works 

[Deleted User]

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

theoretica said:

rigolith said:

theoretica said:

wildbilljones said:

The majority of adults in London won't earn over 40k. 

The median London salary a year ago was £39.7k  (with about an £8k male/female gap!) so given salary increases over the last year I think you may be out of date there. https://www.plumplot.co.uk/London-salary-and-unemployment.html 

And the majority of adults who stay in London do find some way of living there...

What increases? And in that time property prices increased by an average of 13%.

"The rate of annual pay growth for total pay was 5.1%"  https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/averageweeklyearningsingreatbritain/latest

Which leads to an estimate of London median wage at around £42k

I see Rigolith's question as being one of "Well, I didn't get a pay rise this year, so no-one else did", when in fact as you say, like many people, I've had the biggest annual pay rise (as opposed to a job-related one) in my career this year of around 5% and I've been working nearly 30 years.

Your are both wrong. House prices rose on average by 13% over the year according to the Halifax. How many people got a 13% raise?

A lot of people did get nothing. Public servants like librarians have had nothing for many years. Nurses got a pay cut last time around, accounting for inflation.

Houses are getting less affordable and people need to get big pay rises just to stand still.

sugarfree

Hi Wild Bill

I think you need to live up to your moniker and go abroad in search of adventure.  
I'm 58 now and the bits of my life I regret most are the times I played it too safe.

As for having to leave family and friends in search of a better life, well, you're hardly the first. Generations before you have done this and many people are still doing it, the world over. 
I left family and friends in Belfast and moved to England in my early 20s because I couldn't find well paid employment in my field. Seven years later I moved again, leaving friends in England to take up a better job in France. There's no point trying to cling on to the old friends - when you move you must make new ones.  It's entirely feasible. 

You've got me worried about Norwich. We're considering moving to the UK in a few years and Norwich struck me as a possibility. I bumped into a couple of lively Brazilians in their 30s recently (who were on holiday here in France) and they were telling me how much they liked living there. Apparently even the climate is quite good.  What's so terrible about it?

jonnydeppiwish!

pinkshoes said:

Ultimately what you want and what is affordable are NOT the same thing so something needs to change.

You are never going to settle elsewhere if you keep thinking about you want.

If you WANT London then you are going to have to change career or take steps to earn much more! Even teachers in London earn more than you!

If you like your job then stop thinking about London life and get involved where you are now. If you look hard enough for people your age with common interests you will find then.

Try kick boxing - lots of men in their 30s in my class. Joint a local sports group - casual footy or something??

A location is what you make of it, but if you don't give it a proper chance you will never settle.

I've lived in 10 different areas, and always managed to meet people. The loneliest place I found was living in a city!

As Pinkshoes says, if you can’t afford to live in London, then YOU need to do something about it. You have to change your career prospects, no somebody else doing it for you.

You have a degree - well done, join the rest of us who have one and post graduate degrees. 

You’ve not made any friends so you say that there’s only people with 21 or 65 - look into different hobbies/exercise groups. Pretty sure someone has already mentioned Parkrun or gym classes.

What do you expect to gain from going to another country? As a charity worker, are there any feasible roles overseas for you? What are you expect the government to do for you? You earn a good wage, can afford to house feed yourself.

I’m a also a big believer in people making the most of where they are, regardless of who lives close or not. Life can be as hard as you make it, or as easy as you want it to be.

[Deleted User]

sugarfree said:

Hi Wild Bill

I think you need to live up to your moniker and go abroad in search of adventure.  
I'm 58 now and the bits of my life I regret most are the times I played it too safe.

As for having to leave family and friends in search of a better life, well, you're hardly the first. Generations before you have done this and many people are still doing it, the world over. 
I left family and friends in Belfast and moved to England in my early 20s because I couldn't find well paid employment in my field. Seven years later I moved again, leaving friends in England to take up a better job in France. There's no point trying to cling on to the old friends - when you move you must make new ones.  It's entirely feasible. 

You've got me worried about Norwich. We're considering moving to the UK in a few years and Norwich struck me as a possibility. I bumped into a couple of lively Brazilians in their 30s recently (who were on holiday here in France) and they were telling me how much they liked living there. Apparently even the climate is quite good.  What's so terrible about it?

My grandparents moved from Ireland to England for a better life. I think this is different though. They moved because there were no jobs in Ireland. My grandmother's sister came over from the West of Ireland, worked as a caterer and bought a house in Harlesden in the 1940s. Fast forward 70 years and it was sold for £1.4m. 

I think in 2022, there should be more housing options in and around London for people who earn less than £50k (a huge amount of people). 

Norwich is lovely. But there is very little work there. The train to London costs over £70. It can be less if you book ahead but that's not always practical. The travelling back and forth has drained me and my bank balance. 

[Deleted User]

hazyjo said:

Great investment potential here. The new Elizabeth line goes from Shenfield.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117596900#/?channel=RES_BUY

Thank you for the tip. I'll certainly look into this.