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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask about London and money

306 replies

Maisy313 · 09/10/2015 20:33

How much do you think you need to earn as a working couple to support a family of four (one year old and reception aged child) in London and have a reasonable standard of living? Would just be really interested in your thoughts... Someone told me it was impossibly to survive on less than a joint income of 100k in London which seems exceptionally high to me...

OP posts:
CactusAnnie · 10/10/2015 00:20

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MillionToOneChances · 10/10/2015 00:39

My mate lives in Chiswick. The nicest bit, admittedly. His three bedroom flat is worth £1.8million...

In Acton, Shepherds Bush, Wembley, etc etc I think they might be able to stretch to a house. Or at least a flat. Rightmove is your friend.

Want2bSupermum · 10/10/2015 01:50

cactus great to hear there is still some of the community spirit left. When I came home from work I loved that I had a nicely mixed community. People really helped each other out. When I have gone back its just not the same. Just a small thing but I told a lady nicely that she might get a ticket with her parking in the wrong spot. I got a flick of the hair and a 'I don't give a shit' shrug. Ten years ago they would have said thank you and smiled sweetly.

CactusAnnie · 10/10/2015 02:00

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PrinceHansOfTheTescoAisles · 10/10/2015 08:17

We live near Walthamstow...it hasn't been destroyed by incomers! There is a ton of infighting on a certain issue but there's also some good community stuff going on.

toobreathless · 10/10/2015 08:25

My neighbour commutes to London, he is a senior nurse and shift worker. His wife works too (locally) as a part time teacher. If working long days he uses air BnB.

We have a fast direct train which takes just over 1 hr to kings cross. Schools are excellent and undersubsribed at primary and we have grammars and some really good comps for secondary. Childcare costs are low we were paying £33/day for a nursery place 18 months ago. We live in a 5 double detached house built in 1810 which we bought 1 yr ago for 230k..

I'd think laterally and consider something like this, if one of them has a job where they can work locally so they song both have to commute it seems to work well.

Oh and we are in Lincolnshire.

sparechange · 10/10/2015 08:29

cactus
That isn't true! The middle class Incomers want Victorian houses. They don't want gated communities. I can't even think of a family gated development in either of those places. There are gated flats, but that isn't what the middle class families move to.

I live in a bit of SW that is most definitely a community. And my friends who live all over the city will say the same about their bits. It's what you make of it. When I was renting in my 20s, I had little to no interest in befriending anyone in the neighbourhood beyond the bar staff.
Now I'm older, I make an effort and also notice the others who do.

CactusAnnie · 10/10/2015 08:50

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Elvisrocks · 10/10/2015 09:08

A few years ago our household income was "only" £120k, our mortgage was £2500pcm and we had a baby and toddler. We had limited childcare costs as I wasn't working (so paid for 2 short sessions at nursery each week). We weren't extravagant nor frugal but found we saved nothing. I think unless you are happy being very frugal, I wouldn't consider London on less than £100k a year.

Chippednailvarnish · 10/10/2015 09:27

Spare I live very near Walthamstow and I agree most people I know want the Victorian houses near the ever improving schools.

Applesauce29 · 10/10/2015 09:43

I'm actually considering moving to Bristol / Bath. Even with the cut in income by having to take lower paid jobs, we'd have a much better quality of life. The cost of buying or renting here is crazy, unless you bought a long time ago and have a small mortgage its hard to manage, especially with childcare costs. Also, there is a massive shortage of school places in the capital, and that's only going to get worse in the short term!

AHypnotistCollector · 10/10/2015 10:13

I lived in Chiswick until about 3 years ago. Renting a 2 bed flat on a combined income of about £90k and we literally had no spare cash. DD was born there and nursery fees would have been £1200+ per month. DH got offered a new job and we moved to a different country. Still miss it and would love to live there again but only if we were millionaires!

hooliodancer · 10/10/2015 10:28

This thread is extraordinary! Where are people spending their money if 150k is hard to live on? I have 30k household income. That is tight.

Anyway. Anywhere with trains going into Waterloo would work for Charing Cross- it's a quick walk over the bridge, or 2 minutes on the train from Waterloo East.

I saw 2 really lovely houses ( in nice areas,3 beds with gardens) in the paper yesterday, within their budget, in Leatherhead- 45 minutes into Waterloo. In not so nice areas (of Leatherhead) you can still get something even cheaper. I was quite surprised, as you couldn't get a house for that in Ashtead, which is 10 minutes walk away!

Leatherhead is a good bet- close to gorgeous countryside, but with Dorking and Guildford close for town-y stuff. And of course, easily commutable.

TriJo · 10/10/2015 11:36

We're in north London, have our first on the way in the spring and are on 75-80k between us. We're paying well below the market rate on our 2 bedroom apartment (£1130/month when others in our building are paying £1400-1500/month, we're in Archway so just about zone 2) and I should take a decent raise (to around 50-60k from 37k because my next jump is to senior roles) the next time I move.

Of course we'd like to be on more, but I'd like to think we can manage with one child on what we have now.

Toughasoldboots · 10/10/2015 11:49

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BabyGanoush · 10/10/2015 11:53

on 100k I'd feel like a millionaire and would bloody well not live in London.

vulgarbunting · 10/10/2015 11:57

Charing cross hospital is not in Charing Cross. It is in Fulham. So trains to Waterloo are not relevant.

Whatthefoxgoingon · 10/10/2015 12:02

I think it's ludicrous to suggest you can't live in London on £100k. You can, with a bit of careful budgeting, live comfortably. Not luxuriously (like paying school fees for three kids) but still well.

hooliodancer · 10/10/2015 12:06

Oh dear... Feel a bit of a knob now!

CactusAnnie · 10/10/2015 12:06

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BabyGanoush · 10/10/2015 12:16

Nursery fees ar a temporary thing (3-4 years or so?), much more so than private school fees (age 3/4-18)!

Also, are nursery fees really round 15k per child per year now?! I guess it could be in London?

Almost all my London friends earn much less than 100k, they live fine. Maybe in a 2 bed flat with 2 kids (like we did, quite happily. yeah, a 3 bed victorian house with a garden in Chiswick would have been nicer I guess).

Some people just don't know they were born!

Chippednailvarnish · 10/10/2015 12:26

Where are people spending their money if 150k is hard to live on?

I don't know many people on £150k, but looking at £100k;

Two people earning £50k each will take home £72.6k.

Assuming a 25% deposit on a £400k house with a mortgage of £300k at 4% will be £19k.

One child in childcare full time, where I live is £15k. After school club is £4k.

A rough guess at council tax, insurance and heating say approximately £4k.

Two zone 1 to 6 travel cards are £4.6k

Running a car, say £4k

That leaves £22k, to spend on food, clothes, repairs, holidays.

You'd be comfortable, but not wealthy. And I would struggle to find a 3 bed house where I live for under £500k.

BabyGanoush · 10/10/2015 12:36

3 bed houses again...

hooliodancer · 10/10/2015 12:39

It's all relative though isn't it? 22k for food, clothes holidays and repairs is a huge amount. I would call that well off. We have 22k after tax for everything!

Even if you spend £250 a week on food, that's 10k left for holidays and clothes. That's loads isn't it?

overthemill · 10/10/2015 12:42

If she works at Charing Cross hospital would she be a medic doing crazy hours or a manager type person? If the latter then she could consider commuting into London. I did that commute for almost 2 years and although tough as I had reasonably crazy hours I coped but was so pleased when I got a job elsewhere. She could therefore look along the train line for a nice place say 40 -60 mins away? I lived 36 minutes to kings cross and generally got to work 20 mins later. But she should think about season tickets as they are expensive but probably cheaper than a London mortgage!