To ask how much money you need in London.

[Sarahschuster]

Thread on moving to London with a child got me thinking about a single friend who wants to move there. How much do MNetters think you need to live a reasonably comfortable life there as a single person with no dependants? My friend doesn't want to house share. Not sure what to advise her, as I used to live in London but it was a good while ago.

46k is more than enough to live comfortably.

I just had a quick look on Zoopla and they had 1 bed flats for £1k a month in Hammersmith.

I lived in London for a few years - it may well depend on what sector she works in but for me, I found I was able to jump jobs upwardly on a regular basis as there is just so much more work around and more fluidity....I then moved back home (other end of the country) in a position to take up a higher level, better paying job when something came up.....around here, people stay in jobs for years and years so it's harder to climb the ladder, no matter how good you are. I would go for it - if she hates it (London's not for everyone) she will have gained good experience if nothing else.

Yeah I think that's they way she's thinking; much more opportunity etc. but moving up the ladder obviously not guaranteed, and therefore all the people saying you can't live with any level of comfort on less than 60 grand are scaring her!

Who told her she'd need 60k, that's ludicrous. Me and dh together earn about 55k, we have 2 dc, live in SW1 and are very comfortable.

and Richmond and Barnes are not any more expensive than many other parts of London.

Chiswick is lovely and there is stuff for £1250. This one even includes bills. It's a pleasant walk to Hammersmith and you have the river and Chiswick High Road near by. Lots of quick transpot links into Central London.

I have lived in London most of my life and have never earned £46k (i don't know anyone who does). Lots of my friends live in Chiswick/Richmond/Brentford/Isleworth/Hounslow on a lot less than that. 1 friend lives just by Chiswick park station in a massive room in a shared house (double bed, sofa, big telly, fitted wardrobes, wash basin, window overlooking the green, shared bathroom and lovely big kitchen with shared fridge and freezer between 6 people) for £800 a month all inclusive. It is easily doable. I know she doesn't want a share, but flats are available for a little more and after bills she'd still be left with a grand a month.

Yes Richmond could be affordable on that salary. One beds rent from about £1k per month.

We have a one bed flat we rent out and the rent we get is only now on our most recent tenancy as much as it was when we first let it in 2001 - so much for all the media stories about soaring rents!

Great links to Hammersmith too from Richmond.

In my first job in London after living overseas for years, I earned 16K. This was in 2003 so not years and years ago. I managed just about. I rented a teeny tiny room for 300 a month, including bills, from a landlady who also lived in the flat. I didn't have much money for clothes/make-up that kind of thing but I had enough to go out and cinema trips, weekends away. After 18 months in that job I got another job with twice the salary and felt very wealthy indeed!

Your friend will be fine. I live in a naice part of north London and I would be able to afford to live here as a single person on that salary, easily.

She will be fine. It's all relative though. If her idea of living in comfort is living in a 3 bed house, and having a luxury lifestyle with loads of cash left over a month then clearly not.

But she won't struggle if she is happy to live in a one bed flat and has reasonably lifestyle expectations.

She'll have no problem at all, unless she wants lots of luxury.

£46k sounds fine for one person to live on. I would hazard a guess that the people who told her she needed £60k either have very high expectations of comfort or have never lived in London.

Hammersmith is easy to get to from a variety of places given its tube and bus links (I live in extreme NW London but work in Hammersmith occasionally and 10 mins bus plus Piccadilly line gets me there in 40 mins which is slightly faster than my normal commute into central London) and there are plenty of places that are cheaper than Richmond / Barnes (lovely though they are - North of the river is better anyway )

I don't think if be comfortable on anything less than &40k living on my own. A shared house, I'd be happy on £30k.

If she's working in Hammersmith then she could live there or Chiswick/Fulham and walk to work saving fares.

I'd say 46k is pretty do-able. Has she factored in childcare costs? Assuming her Dc isn't at school, she won't have much left to play with at the end of each month.

Great, that's much more encouraging. Will pass it on, and thanks all x.

No kids, Lamu, so just needs to fund herself.

Oh sorry. Well in that case she'll be fine.