To think we could live in London on £55k?

[Londonline1]

DH has been offered a job in London on a salary of around £55k. I'm mainly a SAHM; I do some pt work from home earning around 4k a year or so, but we're about to have baby #2 and I've no idea if I'll get back into it / if the work will have dried up etc.

We currently live in the North East and survive comfortably on an income of around £50k (including my earnings and CB). We have a fairly modest lifestyle and put most of our money into our mortgages which we were hoping to pay off early - we don't do holidays other than to visit family elsewhere in the UK; we live in a small house in a cheap area, and we have a flat we rent out in another city (income from that adds towards paying off the mortgage so it's effectively building up a savings pot but I haven't included that in the £50k above).

My question is whether we could realistically relocate to London with a £55k budget. Would expect to have to downsize and rent. Would prefer not a crazy commute for DH (to Battersea). Don't need to live anywhere fancy, but would like to feel safe and have some green space nearby for kids.

Please feel free to tell me it's ludicrous. I genuinely have no idea.

Also, in a vote for London, it's soooo much cheaper to entertain yourself than a lot of places. Between museums, public parks, lovely spaces, you can spend a lovely weekend in London for bugger all money if you've got a travel card and take lunch with you.

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is how bloody beautiful some of London is - Richmond Park, Hampstead Heath, Hyde Park, St James Park, Kensington Gardens, - the Nash houses in Regent’s Park, the white stucco houses with their green squares, the wide tree lined avenues, the palace, the tower, the formal mall, the quaint old mansions of W1, the pubs overlooking the river, the old bridges - Hammersmith and the Albert, our to Hampton Court, Ham House, Kenwood House, Sion Park, Kensington Palace.

You could wander around for free for days and days and still not run out of things to do.

Where else in the world do you find that?

Couldn’t agree more with @TatianaLarina and @Outinthecountry

With planning you can entertain yourself for very little and IME each individual area usually also has its plethora of church playgroups, library rhyme times etc making meeting other mums quite easy.

I just worry that the domestic sacrifices: inside and outside space, length of working day for DH and the lack of just money would mar the pleasurable experience that living in London can be.

Reflecting on the places suggested may I also add New Malden, Raynes Park, even Worcester Park, Sutton and Merton. Don’t discount Croydon either; it has its issues but it truly is on the up.

None of these places serve Battersea but you’ll be on connecting lines. Worth a look if you really really want to make the move but have to work within (extremely for London) tight means.

Again, your DH needs to present a case for getting more £££ to restrict you less and lower the threat of you moving and becoming depressed about pinching every penny.

I’m always baffled on these London threads at all the posters saying don’t ever live in London on less than £100k - when they don’t actually live in London themselves...

I’m a northerner who has lived in London for 20 years - you would never catch me living back up north again, and me and DH (and 2 DC) have never had close to £100k household income.

We have had some luck with housing and family help to get on the ladder - but we’re also pretty open-minded lefties who were prepared to take a chance on unfashionable areas that I’m sure other Mumsnetters would be horrified at.

OP - it’s true that housing is key and on your income you won’t have a huge amount of choice - you certainly won’t be renting in a trendy part of zone 2, but you will be able to manage and get something commutable. Do lots of research. Look at SE London.

I’m always baffled on these London threads at all the posters saying don’t ever live in London on less than £100k - when they don’t actually live in London themselves...

I do. Londoner born and bred. (And realistic)

And I live in SE London. With an actual SE postcode, not a DA postcode, as has been mentioned (Sidcup, Chislehurst, Bexley etc)
And you are embellishing the 100k price tag from this thread but in all honesty, to relocate on £55k is nuts at the moment (not the same as moving 20 years ago). We even moved from SE10 to SE9 very recently and the prices of property increasing in just the past two years is nuts that I just think some people have no comprehension of just how much (talking of a 2 bed flat increasing by £300,000 in that time despite Brexit so it’s not something I would advise based on the OP’s circumstances.

I have managed on that salary okay but we live in a one bed flat and sleep in the sitting room (our child has the bedroom). I would say we have a fairly good lifestyle but definitely watched what we spent on groceries, went on cheapest holidays. It is do-able and I would never live anywhere other than London because I love it so much!

I live in Croydon and earn £52k. Single parent. That's quite commutable to Battersea.

Maybe insufficient info. My postcode here is CR0 but two minutes up the road is SE postcode and cheaper.

You are 10 mins on train from east Croydon to Clapham which is walkable to Battersea.

My house is 3 bed and cost £529k but I had 50%+ deposit which makes it manageable.

It is definitely more realistic blackteasplease to consider just outside London and Croydon with a Surrey postcode is something to consider and quite rural/beautiful in parts (obviously not anywhere near the Ikea, ha ha!). Rents are still high there though.

Croydon is grim, as a Londoner it’s a bit funny that people are actually suggesting Croydon as it doesn’t have the best reputation.

Croydon is a smart move. Prices can only go one way. Fantastic transport links. Huge regeneration project. When Docklands was Poplar, Croydon was posh.

When I came to London in 1980 Wandsworth was similarly viewed.

In ten years time Croydon will be as desirable as anywhere else. Get in now while it's cheap.

I like areas like Croydon - also Ilford. They are their own medium sized towns with great links to London. That being said I'm not sure £55k really affords much of a future for a family unless its a for a shortish period to see the sites etc.

To be fair, I moved out at 18 and rented in (west) London on pitiful student loan/retail salary whilst at uni, which is significantly less than £55k, but I managed. Of course it is possible to live in London on £55k or less but you have to consider your quality of life and long term plan if you’re moving as a family of 4. £55k would be more than enough for me as someone in their early 20s/no dependants.

Have you actually been to London much OP? I think you’d be best off booking in a day of flat viewings across London so you can get a feel of potential areas, public transport options, and what housing you can get for your money and take it from there. You may fall in love with London or you may just write it off completely

An area no one ever mentions as a possibility is Chessington. It's plain to look at but it's not a bad area at all. Loads of cheap (for London) houses with gardens, amazing countryside on your doorstep with Ashtead Common. Lots for children to do nearby. Cheap commute into Clapham Junction. Plenty of trains. 3 bed houses with gardens start at 350k and the commute to London is about 25 mins - faster than from many zone 2 & 3 areas.

Chessington? Where Croydon is edgy and on the up, Chessington is just a bit nothingy rough.

I have family in Chessington and it's way better than Croydon and not what I consider rough at all. Tolworth is a bit skankier tho. Surbiton is okay. I lived in SE25 and worked in a school in New Addington and jaysus that IS rough. Thornton Heath is quite grim too.

In ten years time Croydon will be as desirable as anywhere else. Get in now while it's cheap that was being said 20 years ago!

Clapham Junction where so many lines go through is actually in Battersea (the station's name is a complete misnomer!)

The experience of living in London will be something special and different from what you are used to for sure. When our kids were young my OH was offered a job within the company he was working for at the time in New York so we went there for 18 months.

I'd go for it - you can always go back home again. Also recommend looking at south east London or around Croydon.

I agree with MrsKoala, I'd choose Chessington over Croydon any day. It's more suburban. Not the Tolworth end, but the end near the stations. Croydon is oppressively urban. There's no green space. Chessington has miles and miles of green space around it - lovely for cycling with kids, dog walks, letting the DC learn about nature etc. But it still has shops, supermarkets, loads of stuff to do locally and a short commute into London. Croydon is too built up.

Despite what some pp would have you believe, many of us live happily in areas like Croydon and find them great places to raise children and have a manageable commute. Croydon borough borders the semi rural Surrey Hills to the south and includes much of trendy Crystal Palace to the north. Lots of green space including South Norwood Lakes (with its own sailing club), country parks and nature reserves.

Central Croydon is being redeveloped and looks pretty unloved atm but as pp has said it's a proper town with lots of useful shops and brilliant transport links. 15 mins from East Croydon to Clapham Junction and onto Victoria.

In terms of your dilemma. Moving to a more expensive area will mean a change in lifestyle but it needn't be as grim as many pp make out. Only you know if the sacrifices in terms of housing and commute vs. what your family will gain from a move to London is worth it for you.

Sorry but central.croydon is not a nice area.

I grew up in Purley and my nan lived in Croydon. Even 20 years ago my nan would have only go to town early in the morning and avoided it in the afternoon as it is so rough.

My bil is a police officer n central.croydon and it is awful.
I made the mistake of going to oxygen trampoline park instead of airhop in Guildford. It was so rough I felt Intimidated by the gangs of teengers in there.
Some areas of the Croydon borough are ok but they aren't as commutable. As pp have said
I would vere towards Chessington.

I don't think Croydon is "grim" at all. I'm not from here originally but moved her as a compromise location for work (long story).

I live in Addiscombe if that helps the "what do we think of Croydon " argument.

Croydon has gone up alot since I moved here 10 years ago. Haven't strictly benefited as such as I've had a divorce in the middle of that.

If it doesn't go up any more (I'm fairly sure it will) then it doesn't really matter. Addiscombe is a nice area with a community feel about it. There s alot of green space close by. The kids go to a good state school. We are 3 tram stops from east Croydon but you can walk at a pinch, making London an easy commute. It also easy to get to Brighton or the countryside.

Any way, just a suggestion!

I'm a single parent living in London. I never have, not ever will, earn anywhere near £55k. I don't have any savings or any spare, but we have a pretty good life. Possibly I am too used to living on a very low income, but the idea that you would be living in penury on £55k is ludicrous.

Ahhh I see the “anything below 100k is abject poverty” crowd is out in force again 🙄 at least someone’s talking sense formerbabe. There was a 2-bed flat just down the road from me (Mitcham area) for £200k on rightmove recently. I earn 39k and have a lovely life - I live alone, save £500 a month, have money for treats, going out and holidays. I think it would be doable - and not unpleasant - in the areas people have suggested. But then again I don’t consider Wandsworth Common, Clapham or Kensington the absolute minimum benchmark for what constitutes a ‘nice life’