Is this do-able for London?

[WitheringTights000]

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice regarding living in London!

I live in the UK (not mainland UK) in quite a small and boring city.

I'm 30, single and want to move somewhere fun and lively! Everyone here is married and having kids....nothing wrong with that of course but I'm not at that stage!

My salary in London would be 45k. I would not be able to share a flat/house as have a bladder condition so it would not work for me. I would need to live alone.

Is it do-able on that salary? I hear conflicting reports. I would probably be able to bring some savings of just under/around 10k.... but im guessing that won't last long in London.

If London isn't do-able does anyone know of any lively/fun cities in the UK I could live in, also where I could get about by foot and not need a car!

Thank you in advance

I work there and have also lived just off of hackney road.
It’s not somewhere I’d want to live; noisy, crowded and I have witnessed/experienced break ins and street robberies/violence, not too mentioned loads of drunk people in the evenings.
Can be very transient too, people move in and out. Plus you’ll be paying loads for the privilege.

There’s nicer, lively areas that aren’t so central but still accessible - London Fields/area around Broadway market, Kentish town, Victoria Park village area. You’ll be paying loads but they’re great areas.
Bit cheaper but still nice areas could be Finsbury Park, Hornsey, Clapton.
You could get more for your money in South London (plenty of good lively neighbourhoods) but if you want to get into central often then you’re going to spend a lot of time on trains.

OP, depending on the area it’s doable to rent a studio on your salary but a huge proportion of your wages would be going on rent.

But just to echo what others have said, the rental market has gone bananas recently and people are bidding on flats (?!), offering more than the advertised rent etc.
Sounds extremely stressful.

I live in London. If it wasn't for my fiancé having a good salary then I would struggle on my nurses salary!
I would definitely pick another city like Manchester, Cardiff, Bristol or Bath. You could have a good quality of life there and be able to save.
Good luck!

You can get studio flats in Brixton for £1,200 pcm or less. Great place to live, lively, friendly, diverse, has a cinema, theatre, park with Lido down the road.

Brixton Village market, full of excellent pop up cafes and bars, and a department store!

Very quick and easy transport routes, is all night tube at weekends and a great bus network night and day.

Head for London and have a ball!

I honestly think you should look at the Midlands- Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham all are easy to get around, great accessibility to London by train & much more affordable … what do you like doing outside of work? What is your idea of socialising? In London, it’s going to be pricey to go pubbing, clubbing and eating out all the time!

There are so many ways to make friends in London. Specific interest groups, WI, board game meet ups, there's clubs and societies and groups, friends of associations, am dram, community gardens, as well as professional association meet ups too. (Obviously these things are available in other cities too.) Lots of people come to London knowing no one. You may have to put the work in at first but I've made many amazing, important friendships in London as a grown up and not related to my childhood friends.

Apart from housing I don’t find London especially expensive. London has so many free activities. There is always something going on. So many galleries, festivals, events, music available free.

And lots of Wetherspoons with beer at 99p a pint where U 25s go!

Salaries outside London in the OP’s sector might be much lower.

London is very expensive for housing. But if you have that covered, go for it! It isn’t an irreversible lifetime decision!

Completely agree with this as a regular visitor to London. Eating out especially is sooo much cheaper, so many free or cheap things to do and while people love to slag off London Transport I find public transport there to be cheap and reliable.

@viques
I shared the same view as @DNBU on Shoreditch. Work nearby. It is not a nice place to live in. Having driven past it for years at night (and stuck in traffic), I have witnessed all sorts. Men taking advantage of drunk girls. Aggressive men punching each other. Once, someone tried to open my car door.
I would stay away from this area after 5pm. It is not safe for solo female. Same age as OP.

The population is too transient to build a community. This area is rift with substandard rental. Flats divided illegally into tiny rooms that don't comply regulations. Despite this, people still want to rent there to say they live in Storeditch.
There are much nicer areas for young people under 35.

My DD moved from London to Leeds and she reckons it is so much easier to make friends in Leeds. It is smaller and most people live nearby so going out doesn't involve a massive schlep across the city. I think London can be difficult if you don't already have friends there. I'm just going by the things both DDs have said about London.

I haven't read the whole thread, but re being lonely in London: anywhere can be lonely if it's not the right place for you. I sometimes think comments like that about London are just a way of knocking what is a fantastic city. Ditto comments about how people ignore each other, won't make eye contact etc... I've never found that to be the case. There can certainly be a sense of anonymity about daily life in any large place, but people still generally look out for each other and are friendly if you need help in any way. If you crave being part of a close community then maybe that will be tricky to establish, but it sounds as if you'd be willing to make the effort, and with so much choice of things to do etc, I'm sure you'd soon make friends.

@WitheringTights000

If you are open to other places consider Bristol but living just outside, affordable rent places are £890 on my street available from 2nd January for brand new 1 bed flats, fast bus into the city centre

Not about London, although it's a place I wish I'd had the balls to give a try out 15 or so years ago.

Your bladder issue, have you tried intermittent self catheterisation? It doesn't help with the want to go, but you know you are empty and can help you get a better night's sleep. It's stopped me getting as many UTIs and I feel a lot better though not fully healed.

I'm in NI and have seen Dr Lucia Dolan, a uro-gynae both privately and NHS (I'd suggest privately as the waiting list is about 3 years and you'll be elsewhere by then)

Yes, Tudor Close is fairly big, but is made up of lots of identical studio flats; it has a shared swimming pool and garden

Thank you everyone who has responded to this thread.

I have been away but wanted to come back to give a few answers!

@User434357 - I was diagnosed with IC initially but then that was actually incorrect. I have a chronic embedded UTI. Antibiotics just can't shift it. Would you mind advising what helped you? Could you PM me? I'm willing to try anything.

I actually got speaking to my mums friend who lived in the collective that someone sent a link to. She was 50 when she lived there. She said it was okay for 6 months for an experience but she found it difficult because the room was so tiny....also lots of bad reviews online for it. She is now back in N.I.

I am thinking of considering one of the other Co-living spaces, gravity! It gets good reviews. But at the same time I don't know if I want to live like a student again, to me it sort of reminds me of student halls. ( Co-living in general not just that place) I also worry 30 is too old to live in somewhere like that!

I still don't think im any closer to a decision! I think I lack confidence. A few friends have pointed out I'm not confident, one of them said she thought I was 'quiet' when we first met! So im worried I'm not brave enough to make the move...but at the same time extremely bored and fed up!

Does anyone on this thread have any personal experience of Co-living?

I've lived in London, Belfast, and Manchester and London has far more going on than anywhere else in the UK simply due to its size and it being the capital. If you're bored of Belfast (which I love by the way) you're not going to find places like Manchester or Bristol much more enthralling. Look at outer zones of London and go for it. I left London ten years ago and hugely regret it, but now have kids and am outpriced for a family home there.

@VivienneDelacroix - thank you for your reply!

Are you from Belfast? If not, did you find it easy/hard to make friends here?

I think my issue with Belfast is that I feel there is no one left at this age who still wants to go out out and party here....most are married and having families!

I will admit I haven't tried to find anyone new In Belfast to go out with because I've assumed there won't really be any single 30 year olds!

I love the thought of London but the point is building a life somewhere long term, and I just don't know if i can afford it, and wouldn't want to remain in co-living

Coming back to this thread of mine, thanks to all who have me advice

I am currently applying for jobs in London. Some of them would be 40k, I have to prioritise WFH, so some I apply for are a bit less than what I would hope for salary wise....

But I have looked at lots of new build apartments in the Iikes Elephant and Castle, with an en-suite room where I would be sharing with one other person! I think I would be happy to do this for the social aspect etc.

Rent would be around 1400 per month, not including bills.

Would this be do-able on 40k, or would I still struggle?

Thanks in advance

On £40k your take home will be around £2,500per month.

1500 for studio/room

I'd allow:

300 for bills
160 for transport
300 for food

It'd be pretty hard to have a nice time with the money left over.

I really think that a lovely flat in another city would be better than scraping by in London (I've lived in London all my life, it saddens me how cost prohibitive its become).

@Todaynotalways - god it's depressing 😕

I feel like some of the salaries do not match up with cost of living?

That's quite expensive for transport?

I could bring some Savings but no doubt would blow through them quickly!

The thing is I know people who moved to London as graduates and seemed to survive! And their salaries probably weren't great.

Are u fairly central if you don't mind me asking?

@CeeceeBloomingdale and @PhotoDad 👍

@cassiastatham - I think you are on the wrong thread 😝

Bumping for the late night crew

No, I'm not. We get each other 🔥⚡👟😅

Go for London, maybe some 2 or 3. There is so much to do for free!