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 moved from small town NI, to Belfast and then to London, and had an absolute ball! This was was in the 90s though, and I know its a lot more expensive now. For context we had a one-bedroomed garden flat in Earlsfield that we paid 850 a month for. You don't need to be in Zone one or two, most people live further out. As others have said you should look for a flat share with an en-suite, its cheaper and a good way to meet people. Although I never found London lonely I know some people do struggle, but you just have to put yourself out there and accept all invitations. I left in 2003, but have fantastic memories, good luck!

@alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 - I am from NI also! It deffo has a village feel to it and I'm feeling so restless at the moment.

Why did you leave in 2003 if you don't mind me asking? Was it due to London getting more costly as it had been in the 90's for example!

I'm also coming 31 so thinking maybe I'm too old to make a move at this age lol , you were probably younger than me when you moved!

If you weren’t heading for a U.K. city, I imagine HR in Dublin tech sector would yield a good salary (and health insurance)?

London can be excoriatingly lonely and vibrant in equal measure.

@CliffsofMohair - I love Dublin! Like really love it! But the cost of living etc is phenomenal, I actually think it's worse than London now?!

Plus I would really worry about making friends in Dublin at my age as I didn't go there for university etc, everyone probably has their uni friends!

Would London still be lonely if you had a flatmate?

@WitheringTights000 London is not lonely. It's the only place I've ever lived where I know all of my neighbours, and where I can bump into people in the streets I know and have a lovely chat. And I'm an introvert!

Going out in London is cheaper than you think if you actually live here. Rent and groceries are high, but groceries are now high everywhere due to the cost of living.

Look for a bedsit or studio in zone 3. You'll have a grand time here.

London is much, much easier on a decent salary but it is essentially a series of villages spread out over a pretty big distance. Dublin (housing nightmare aside) is home to so many new arrivals so there is a lot to do for people just starting out. I’m told this anyway by my friend at Google! London is fabulous but it can be very hard to establish a social network there.

@bucketloadofcats - thanks for your message. I think I would prefer an en-suite room in a nice flat! Bedsit/studio might be a little small for me!

@CliffsofMohair -

Thanks so much for your message! Do you mean 45k isn't great and London would be easier on higher than that?

Yes the Dublin situation in terms of housing just seems dire. I have actually just read a depressing article on that in the Irish Times.

I would love to live there but I don't know how I could afford it! 😑😩

En-suite room in a nice flat is unlikely to be bigger, but yeah, you need to be looking at a bedsit, studio or flatshare. London accommodation is only expensive when you compare like for like with other cities. It's normal to rent a house with spare rooms in some parts of the country - in London, it's normal to rent a corner of a shoebox. You have to come to terms with this if moving to London.

If you love London though, you have to remember you're coming to London for the experience, so you won't be home very often. You'll be out enjoying the many free/cheap things that London has to offer for its locals. Home is just a place to rest your head.

I left London as I had a baby and wanted to live in a house rather than a flat. Also with a baby we were no longer able to run around London living the high life, and after ten years we were ready for a change. We moved to Cork where my husband's family are from, and stayed there for ten years before moving to Australia. I don't intend to move again! But I feel lucky, all the places I lived after leaving NI were great in different ways! To be honest, if my family weren't in NI I wouldn't go back. Some of it is beautiful, but I'm not really a big fan of the place in general.

I can’t imagine anything more depressing than working from home every day in London in a tiny studio or bedroom in a houseshare. That would be like permanent lockdown.

London is a great place to work if you can do the after work culture - I was in London for uni and after graduating. Incredibly social and easy to meet people. Spilling out of the office straight in to a bar on a warm
evening and staying out- fabulous. But WFH? No way.

I love WFH btw now but I’m older with a young child and live rurally. But if I wanted city social life I’d need to be fully immersed in it to justify the enormous cost.

You definitely need a change @WitheringTights000 but I think you need to rethink what it is you need. If WFH but wanting a busy social then you need to be in the middle of somewhere affordable so you can join in easily, but also be able
to afford somewhere that is actually a nice place to live and work. I’d definitely look North, maybe do a host of city breaks and try places out to see where appeals. You can still visit London frequently. I’m East Mids and it’s so easy to get in to London for a day trip or short break (strikes aside!)

I don’t see how though-if medical needs prevent office working how is the OP going to be able to be out all the time? The place they sleep is also going to be where they work all day too. A room would just be miserable!

@bucketloadofcats - thanks for your reply! Yes I know an en-suite room wouldn't be big but what I mean Is if it's a flat there will also be a kitchen/living area whereas a bedsit is just one tiny room!

What free activities are good in London?

@alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 - thanks gif your reply!

Do you think at almost 31 I'm too old to move to London? Do a lot of people move out of it by that age?

Sounds like you have lived in a few great places! I would love to live down south but again it's the cost!

A friend has just moved to NZ and keeps saying I should get a visa but she moved as her partner is a kiwi!

Australia looks amazing but I am petrified of spiders 🕷 🥺

Yes I feel the same about NI, some people I know though would never ever leave it!

@AlltheFs - thanks for your reply! I do WFH full time now though so I am used to it!

Why did you end up leaving London? Was it due to having a child etc?

In terms of the health condition, I run to the loo all the time! At least if out, the people I do go out with here know my situation, I don't feel the need to try hide it from them. And obviously people who I would be socialising with in London would be people I am wanting to make friends with in London, so I would mention it to them,

It's a completely different environment in work when you don't know people, work with men and don't want to constantly be seen rushing to the bathroom!

@AlltheFs - meant to add, surely easy enough to meet folk after work for drinks? Like you don't have to necessarily have physically been in the office !

Of course its not too old! There is certainly a lot of people who do leave when they have kids, but London is so vast there are plenty more to replace them. As for Australian spiders, I'm not a massive fan myself, but you hardly see them. I get my house sprayed every year which gets rid of the blighters!

The average journey in London takes an hour & as someone said upthread, you’re unlikely to be able to reach a loo during that time.

You might find that your workplace has some kind of social group - I know mine seems to do quite a lot.

I only did a few years, 3 for university and then 2 working as I wanted to buy a house. I bought a house in the South East about a 35 min fast train North and changed job to one nearer my new house. I was over London by then but I’m not a city person (since moved further North and met my DH and had my DD).

I just can’t see how traveling in for after work drinks would work as you’d arrive a good hour after everyone else. I don’t know, it’s maybe changed a lot since but I can’t quite imagine it, it was a sort of seamless slide from work to bar back then and all the socialising was with colleagues. Of course at weekends etc it would be fine meeting people and they might not be work colleagues anyway.

Age wise I don’t think many people
move out until they are nearer 40 now just due to being later to buy their first house etc. You certainly aren’t too old but I guess you might find that it’s not a long term thing.

If your heart is set on it then why not go for a year and see how you like it? It doesn’t have to be long term.

I work from home too and love it, but have a whole house, large garden and countryside around me. I can’t imagine spending £1.5k a month to spend day and night in a rented bedroom. I don’t think it’s very healthy but if you are fine with it then that’s ok.

I can’t imagine spending £1.5k a month to spend day and night in a rented bedroom. I don’t think it’s very healthy but if you are fine with it then that’s ok.

I went from WFH during Covid in a cramped rented studio to mainly WFH now in my spacious flat & there’s a world of difference. I really wouldn’t discount that.

I had a little flat in Sutton a few years ago, which is on the south west side. Buses to Wimbledon and trains to Victoria and plenty on the local high street. That was £750pcm for a 1 bed flat.

Very green area and not at all 'rough'!

Also recommend Tooting Bec, Clapham, Beckenham, and Bromley.

Kingston, Twickenham, Richmond also REALLY nice as well as Teddington, though more expensive than the others. But people are really friendly and it feels much safer than other parts of London!

I don't live in London but my friend does. WFH has made his life much more lonely. There's no drinks after work any more, because there's no office for them to leave together, nor the kind of physically working together that facilitates the idea.
Leaving the office together and going to the pub two minutes away is feasible. All leaving your homes and traveling to a pub that could be 40 minutes away on the tube? No-one can be bothered. It takes organisation and time.

His post Covid social life is much the poorer since Covid and the general move to wfh. And added to that he only has a small space to wfh in and no delineation between working space and relaxing space. If he was outside London he'd have a house, and a garden

There are a lot of cities that aren’t London where your money would go further. What about Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow or somewhere like that? I think it can be hard to make friends in London because people live so spread out.

OP you won’t be on 45K for long on fintech HR
Working in london is how you max your earnings as other have said.
Do work in the office not remote, do share a flat with an en suite, and do live somewhere near a tube or overground train. Sign up to everything you can find that covers your interests and join groups for everything.
London is friendly. My only caveat: Don’t sign up for OLD until you have solid friendships around you in London. Nothing more likely to make you feel jaded IME! Just be your own best friend, look outwards like you are doing and more will come to you.

I think you should go for it - I moved to London when my youngest went to uni - I was 44!

We are having the best times of our lives here

Rent a studio very close to where you need to be and walk or get the bus at £1.75

There is so MUCH free and cheap stuff to do