Anyone living in London?

[Waterdrinker]

I saw a job in London for 24,500 pounds.

I haven't applied for the job yet. But, if my salary is 24,500- i will get 1763 pounds. Is that ok to live in London? I am looking for a house very close to my workplace if offered the role.
I was wondering - if I don't apply for it, someone else will apply for this job and the organisation will definitely hire someone else. So, it must be possible to live on that wage, right? I don't really need to be out every weekend. I am someone who prefers staying indoors. So, even if my rent and bills come to 900 pounds a month, I will have over 800 pounds left. Is this not ok?
Currently, I live in the North of England.

For that money you'd be surviving, not thriving.
Think room in a HMO in outer London, 45 minute commute minimum, no spare money to enjoy what the city has to offer.

I'd say no.

I agree with this. There plenty of hospitality jobs around at the moment.

That was my starting salary after uni, now DH was the same, we shared a 1 bed in limehouse and things were tight. Can’t imagine how the hell 1 person would manage on that in this day and age. Also, have you been to Ilford? I was born around there and I’m not sure there’s any amount of money that would convince me to live and work around there these days…

You could live a bit further out East then and a flat share for £900 is possible or you could be a lodger. You won’t have a lot left over to enjoy London as you’ll have food and transport costs on top of that. However, compared to some other cities, London does have cheaper transport and food is the same price everywhere. A lot of London stuff is free - museums,parks etc.

What kind of employer is offering a full time salary of £24k in London? The mind boggles.

Lol, it is a school.

Im currently job hunting in London and I can confirm absolutely loads offer this kind of salary. It's an absolute joke.

The job is only term time. So, that could be a reason for the salary.

Are you a teacher, you may qualify for key worker accommodation, eightmove have house shares in Ilford for your budget. Do you plan to get part time work during the school holidays which would help.

Not a teacher. This is an admin job.

Can you not look for school admin roles in a cheaper part of the country?

Hi op @Waterdrinker 👋🏻

That is below London living wage. The London Living hourly rate is now £13.85 so above 27k based on an average 37.5 hour week.
You need to consider cost of living is higher here, for everything! Food, rent, transport etc.
is the job in East London? You may have to look at the outskirts and travelling in to save money on rent but then you would likely pay more in travel. What job are you looking at? Perhaps there are similar roles with better pay in central london?

Is that definitely the full time salary (just check its not pro-rata'd down any further if its term-time).

I live in Romford, a bit further out, a few stops on the train or a bus ride from Ilford, but I work near Ilford. You should be able to afford a room in a shared house, but that might work well for you as a single woman in a new area, especially if you can share with other women or even lodge with a family?

Just make sure you view any shares in advance; there are good ones and bad ones! I haven't shared for well over a decade now but still remember viewing some real dives (rat droppings on the hob was a highlight, or the "studio flat" that on viewing turned out to be a single room with a hot plate & a toilet in the corner...).

I applied for a lot of admin jobs where I live right now. I do get interviews, but they are not leading to a job offer. I have good admin experience and I enjoy admin a lot.

Do you ever ask for or receive feedback on why you didn’t get the job. That is critical really.

The job is in Ilford in a school in Admin. The hours are term time, so that could be the reason for this salary.

Moving away that far to a low paid job in a shared house needs careful thought, there must be better paid admin jobs, do you particularly want to move to London, do you know anyone there.

It is the salary for term time hours.
Thank you for your suggestions about the flat shares 😊 xx

No no. I really need a job and I am applying everywhere. I do know people in London, but I am not close with them.

If you don't have children I'm not sure why you'd go for a term time job? By all means go for an admin job but if you aren't constrained by childcare issues, I'd be looking at better paid admin roles which are all year round rather than term time only.

I do ask for feedback. Even when they reject me after the interview, I hear positive things from them like they thought I am confident and so on. The feedback I have received so far is that I didn't answer 2-3 questions IN THE WAY THEY WANT TO HEAR.

@Waterdrinker Ilford is barely London.
It's very on the edges so you won't be getting any kind of "London lifestyle" if that is what is appealing to you.
It sounds an odd place to move to if you have no particular link there.
It would be different if you were moving to Notting Hill or Camden (ie very London London) but Ilford is just a suburb.
For that wage the lifestyle you would be leading would unlikely be any different to living in Any Average Town.
For that wage..... I wouldn't.

Please register with recruitment agents such as: Tiger Recruitment, Angela Mortimer and Joyce Guinness to find MUCH better admin jobs even entry level ones will pay more than that in nicer areas of London.

And yes, poorly paid admin roles will get filled but very often you'll find people aren't living totally financially independently on the salary. Many will be taken by those who have a partner in a higher paid job who pays the majority of the bills and for whom it's a nice extra boost to their income. Some will be done by younger adults who still live at home with parents. Some will be done by parents who are on top up benefits from the government because they have children.

Hello 😊

Thank you for your reply. 😊

This is not the first job I have seen in London for this salary. The lowest I have seen in London for a job is 24,000 and this was just a few months back. Maybe like a previous poster said the people getting hired in these jobs in London might have family to support them financially.