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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Cost of living in London

56 replies

BratinghamPalace · 06/06/2013 01:37

Sorry to put this here and I know this has been done before BUT..... we may be moving to London, 3 dcs, 6,4,2. Barnes seems good for schools and distance to office. Desperately need help on cost of living in London? We will earn in dollars but spend in Sterling so I need to figure out if we can afford to move. Any help much appreciated. Time is critical!

OP posts:
DialsMavis · 06/06/2013 10:55

I live in Northfields in Ealing, 3 stops from Hammersmith on the Piccadilly line. It's great for families, if a little to suburby for my liking Wink. Rent on a 3 bed house is going to be £1800-£2000 a month.

Charlesroi · 06/06/2013 13:46

When renting housing you'll need to pay a deposit - typically 6 weeks rent - and probably agents fees(for references, inventory). Maybe your husband's company could help you with that one?
Try to get a property with decent insulation i.e. double glazing and loft insulation and a modern gas combi boiler. It'll save loads on your energy bills (or use the lack of it to haggle down your rent)

Hammersmith is well served with Tube lines and buses, so no problem there. Public transport is very safe to use (many's the time I've come home over refreshed late on my own and never worried about it)

Don't think anyone has mentioned phone/cable/internet? You'll need a TV licence - £146.50 per year, a basic package should cost about £20 per month for free evening and weekend calls plus internet and tv. You can probably get it cheaper if you're not bothered about the tv channels (there are plenty on Freeview)
I'd get a local mobile phone - pay as you go would be £5-£10 per month.

Healthcare - I assume (if you're not paying tax in this country) that you won't be entitled to free treatment on the National Health Service. Hopefully you'll get insurance through work? If you have a minor accident (needing stitches, for example) you will get treated for free at the hospital emergency department. The NHS only start charging when you have to stay in (they treat you and bill later) but you'll have to pay for drugs.

Eating out can be expensive but it's not hard to find 2 for 1 deals and happy hours. Similarly with the cinema(there is one in Hammersmith).

Other great things about London - you can get the train to France in just over two hours, great parks, multi-cultural.

Do come over if you can make the numbers work. You won't regret it.

BratinghamPalace · 06/06/2013 14:23

Well! We first thought we would live in Holland Park and send the DCS to a nice little prep school. Researched this, was admitted to hospital for treatment for shock and got researching a more sane solution! Barnes is a bit more expensive for rent but the primaries are good so we could put a bit more into rent and save on school fees.
It is very good to know what the big spends would be besides fees. I remember hearing complaints about heating costs and was curious about. I did not know you can rent cars, that is a great idea. I think it will be all round more expensive than here but I think we can manage it if smart and I would LOVE it!

OP posts:
AbyCat · 06/06/2013 14:33

We've just moved out of Barnes, it was too expensive to buy a house with a garden there, when you can get so much more for your money 20 mins down the A3.

3 beds in our old mansion block now rent for around £2500-2800 pcm but you can find ones for a lot less away from the river or the common - or try Mortlake/East Sheen as suggested above. Don't even think about Roehampton - there's no train/tube there, and the traffic is appalling.

Excluding rent/mortgage, we managed on around £1200 pcm for bills (council tax was awful, £260 pcm for a 3 bed place, but living in a block of flats rather than a house meant that our heating bills were very low which was great, maybe £120 per quarter), petrol/transport/parking permits, food, going out (family of 3).

The one thing I really miss is the fantastic doctor's surgery in Sheen Lane - try & register there if you can. We were very spoilt there with everything on one site, and always being able to get an appointment on the day or book in advance - I'm now realising what a nightmare other dr's surgeries can be!

QuintessentialOldDear · 06/06/2013 14:34

Grin Holland Park!!!!

Yeah, Id also quite like that!

fridgepants · 06/06/2013 17:55

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