Is a 60k salary in London ok to get by?

dimbo61

With the huge number of people looking to rent in London finding any kind of property might be the problem 

london21

It is possible but also depends on a lot of factors 

It depends if you are also contributing pension, pay student loan etc.

It largely depends on your rent.

Without student loan or pension take home pay per month is £ 3,604.72

lookstraightahead

My daughter shares a flat in zone 2 with one friend, lovely area,  finished uni last year. Salary is £40k and pays £1k rent a month (£2k between them). She lives within an hour's walk of work and often walks it, but doesn't have to - she can budget her lifestyle like everyone else in the country and manages perfectly well. Has some great student tricks and often has a night out for under £20, eats her brekkie going in, takes her lunch, makes her own coffee. 

When I lived in zone 5 years ago the most expensive part was commuting, buying food waiting for trains, getting taxis, and hours spent going backwards and forwards. 

She has none of that just a bit more rent, and much cheaper to be closer to work for her age and lifestyle. 

London has its own community that visitors don't really see, if that makes sense. It's built to make money from tourists so you just have to live behind the scenes, like in every city.

I don't think you can beat the experience but you have to live properly and sensibly, which is perfectly do-able. 

lisyloo

dimbo61 said:

With the huge number of people looking to rent in London finding any kind of property might be the problem 

I thought lots of people had moved out during the pandemic or were working from home/hybrid.
Most people with families don't live in London due to the accomodation and live in other counties like Kent, Hertfordshire, Hampshire or Surrey. Much easier now with hybrid working.
I haven't closely followed rents but I'd expect demand to be down on what it was pre-pandemic.
Is that not the case?

JacJac1

lisyloo said:

dimbo61 said:

With the huge number of people looking to rent in London finding any kind of property might be the problem 

I thought lots of people had moved out during the pandemic or were working from home/hybrid.
Most people with families don't live in London due to the accomodation and live in other counties like Kent, Hertfordshire, Hampshire or Surrey. Much easier now with hybrid working.
I haven't closely followed rents but I'd expect demand to be down on what it was pre-pandemic.
Is that not the case?

No, not the case according to my colleagues, renting in London is tough thesedays. Lots of demand, little supply. I can't post links but there are lots of news stories about it on BBC London.

caprikid1

JacJac1 said:

lisyloo said:

dimbo61 said:

With the huge number of people looking to rent in London finding any kind of property might be the problem 

I thought lots of people had moved out during the pandemic or were working from home/hybrid.
Most people with families don't live in London due to the accomodation and live in other counties like Kent, Hertfordshire, Hampshire or Surrey. Much easier now with hybrid working.
I haven't closely followed rents but I'd expect demand to be down on what it was pre-pandemic.
Is that not the case?

No, not the case according to my colleagues, renting in London is tough thesedays. Lots of demand, little supply. I can't post links but there are lots of news stories about it on BBC London.

London property is probably at a peak so lots selling, and Landlords are really getting fed up with all the restrictions and costs of renting property, so people just don't want to do it any more.

It's great having strong laws and restrictions on the rental sector but there has to be a public sector to fill the gap.

Can you have an ok lifestyle in Londoon on 60K ? Yes but you are not going to be saving a huge amount every month. I am a firm believer that London is very good at keeping the money earned within London due to high rent, entertaining costs etc.

I appreciate to many on this thread £60K is a huge salary but with the cost of housing etc in London it really isn't. A 3 bed Semi in a reasonable area in London is likely be more than 10x that of a northern city....

lisyloo

Just from my own experiences and therefore not necessarily the same for everyone.

but I don’t regret one little bit having to spend more money to be in London. We loved it even though we had to compromise on other things (money included).

You need to have enough (defined by your own terms) but after that point money really isn’t everything.

you probably won’t be able to afford it if you have a family, so maybe now is the time to do it as you’ll have to make different compromises if you wish to “settle down”

lookstraightahead

lisyloo said:

Just from my own experiences and therefore not necessarily the same for everyone.

but I don’t regret one little bit having to spend more money to be in London. We loved it even though we had to compromise on other things (money included).

You need to have enough (defined by your own terms) but after that point money really isn’t everything.

you probably won’t be able to afford it if you have a family, so maybe now is the time to do it as you’ll have to make different compromises if you wish to “settle down”

This.

Me too. So pleased my daughter is doing London properly while she's young. I skirted round the edges and it was far more expensive. 

I still love going to London.

kikkime

As a single person living alone in a 1bedroom flat, London £60k is somewhat equivalent to £45k in Southeast, just by comparing that uplift in rent.

Murphybear

sourpuss2021 said:

One person earning £60k in London in a non-WFH job can have a good time living in a shared flat in a pleasant zone 2 neighbourhood where there are a lot of other young professionals.   This might be in Battersea. Clapham, Islington, “posh Peckham”, or Hackney, for example.

But on that budget I think you should  forget about being able to rent your own flat! It’s not enough to be able to do much else.

And you would be competing with couples with greater spending power.  Or living somewhere grotty or distant and dull where  life wouldn’t be much fun.

I would say wait till you’re on £80k or have a partner to move in with, before looking to rent your own flat without having to drastically compromise on much of what you’re looking for.

£60k may sound a lot.  I shared a flat in London zone 3 for 6 years with my BFF.  She was earning £60k but didn’t have a particularly lavish lifestyle.  She was paying a mortgage, not renting and ran an old car.  

This was from 1990 - 1996.  That’s a long time ago.  I can’t imagine £60k would go all that  far today.  

I left London in 1996, haven’t been back since, I can’t believe how high the rents are now