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 love this one! One flatmate and she's set up a little two person WFH station in the huge living room!

https://m.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/flatshare_detail.pl?flatshare_id=16767464&search_id=1225367061&city_id=&flatshare_type=offered&search_results=%2Fflatshare%2F%3Fsearch_id%3D1225367061%26&

In your position, I would go to London and rent a bedroom with en-suite in zone 2-3. I lived in zone 2 for 6 years and they were some of the best in my life.

I used the website Meetup to meet new people and make friends.

@saraclara - yes that's very true! I'm not an overly confident person so I'm always worrying 'what if it goes wrong' whereas other people just do it and don't overthink lol....

In terms of Leeds or Manchester! I have actually never been to Leeds, but I thought it was pretty small, so assumed it would be just like where I'm from, mostly locals who have their lifelong school friends etc, most people already married at my age etc

I know Manchester is much bigger but again I kind of thought It would be hard to make friends

@saraclara - and aww that looks so cute ☺️ I have signed up to that website and there is the option to 'buddy up' with people!

@Redlorryyellowlorryblue - did you live alone or in a flatshare?

Oh very good, I have to say I haven't tried meet-up! Is it a wide variety of type events ( I'm not athletic so couldn't go to sporty ones lol)

...Leeds, but I thought it was pretty small,

Small? It's the third largest city in the country! Manchester is only bigger if you count the outlying towns like Preston as part of it (which some do).

Leeds is a great city, really friendly, loads of culture and fun, easy access to countryside, etc I went to uni there, and would have stayed there after graduating (like many of my fellow students) had I been able to get a job there. It's a very popular city.

Edinburgh because it is a great city and the Scots and Irish are of a similar mindset.

@SaxSick - is Edinburgh not pretty small though? Like not many outsiders?

@Redlorryyellowlorryblue - can I also ask what age you were when you lived in London?

And what was your reason for leaving if you don't mind me asking?

I arrived at 28 and left when pregnant as we wanted a garden and more space.

I lived in a house share with 3 others.

as long as you find somewhere reasonable to rent you are going to be ok )) in my area (Hackney) rents went up by around £800/ month and there are not that many flats abound. that's the only (huge) issue, really!

if you are really serious and have some savings, I would look at getting a Shared Ownership place.

I live in Edinburgh. There are many "outsiders" here from all over the world, it's very diverse. It's hell on earth in the city centre in August though!

My two cents as an almost-34 year old who’s lived in London for 10 years and has no plans to leave.

YOU ARE NOT TOO OLD!!!! London is a place where you don’t have to follow the “expected” life trajectory of being settled, married, having kids. Many, many 30+ year olds are flat sharing, probably more than are living alone because it’s so expensive. I actually bought a one bed flat in zone 4 on 45k with a 10% deposit of 20k but I don’t think that would be doable now with interest rate rises. The community where I live though is wonderful, lots of 30-40y/o single people with dogs and we’ve all made friends, go to each other’s houses for dinner, to the pub etc.

obviously having a dog isn’t doable or even appealing for everyone but there are lots of other ways to make friends - there’s a Facebook group precisely for women like you called London New Girl and another called the Lonely London Girls Club, for women who want to make friends. Then of course there are hobby groups, yoga or sport classes, the gym, industry related meetups and networking events…most things are online so I would recommend FB groups for friends, Meetup as well although I haven’t used it for a while, and LinkedIn for work stuff.

I house shared for my first 6 years in London in various places and yes, housemates do provide a social life but they also have their own lives and some like to stay in their rooms so don’t rely too heavily on that - you also see people’s annoying/bad sides when you live together in close quarters. My best house sharing experience was a flat with one other person so I think you’re right to look for that.

Dating personally I found pretty awful lol - I met my partner 2 years ago on hinge but before that it was filtering through a lot of people who wanted casual stuff only or would mess you about. And many, many people who I just didn’t fancy! Dating is almost like a second part time job if you really want to meet someone. But I would say prioritise making friends first and you might meet someone organically through that, also friends will be there if you have a breakup and many friends outlast boy/girlfriends.

I feel really settled and happy here on the whole and I have no plans to leave - most of my friends are childfree and sociable and don’t fall off the face of the earth if/when they get a partner so I do think it is easier to make friends on the whole as there are more people looking for it and open to living in different ways. That said, anywhere will be lonely at first if you don’t know anyone and it can take a while to establish a reliable network - the first few years in London for me did feel quite unstable and transient socially, but it improved the longer I was here.

I lived in London in my twenties. I honestly think WFH in a bedsit would be terribly depressing. Flat sharing would be a good way of meeting people and you will have a living room to WFH in. I think you will have to really put yourselves out there to make friends if you are WFH, a lot of my friends when I lived there were my colleagues.

Have lived in Leeds too, that's got great nightlife and you would be ok there without a car.

no 😂

I lived in a bedsit in my twenties. Loved it. It made London affordable, but also allowed me to have my own space.

We're all different - some of my friends are people I used to work with, but most of my friends are ones I know from activities. Certainly, my closest friends are the ones I know from volunteering!

Not sure I would.

Most of my friends either own the normal way or rent. The ones I know who went through shared ownership have had a difficult time trying to staircase. Shared ownership is a very strange half-way land...

I know people flat-sharing who are in their 50s.

What would be socially unacceptable in some cities is perfectly normal in London... Honestly, no matter what your age, no one would bat an eyelid down here at you sharing with strangers.

@bucketloadofcats I've nothing against bedsits, in fact I think a bedsit would be ideal IF she wasn't WFH. That's the only reason. 4 walls 24 hours a day would be bad for my mental health, personally

@Catsanfan I guess the other factor worth considering is how fast she needs her internet to be. With a bedsit, you're often sharing. Some WFH arrangements require high speed fibre.

Personally, I'd go for the bedsit and plan to work 'from home' from a co-working space at least one day a week. You can get daily passes and it should still work out as cheaper than renting an entire flat.

I take your point about mental health. I think it depends on the size of the bedsit and if the OP can motivate herself to actually go for a walk during her lunch break to get some air/break up the day, or if she ends up never leaving the bedsit Monday to Friday.

@bucketloadofcats I'm in two minds regarding staircasing but the reality a lot of SO properties are way cheaper than renting - even when owning 25% - by quite a lot. And you are going to keep at least a small amount to yourself (the amount you are buying).

Good point @bucketloadofcats . There must be loads of home working hubs in London and OP would a) be out of the house and b) in a position to make friends! Do people WFH in cafes, as that could be another option? I would hate for the OP to take the plunge and be isolated.

We recently rented our one bed in Brixton for £1250 pcm exc bills and Brixton is super fun.

I know loads of pubs that make themselves workspaces during the day. The National Theatre is set up for lap tops in the day but at 6pm they change the light to my etc. Loads of new desk spaces opening up all over the place.