Living In London on a Low/average wage

[dottiedodah]

Maybe its just me ,but every time I read about people living in /around London, all seem to be on minimum of 50/70k! Are there any people who live there on just about 30/40l or JAMS? Obviously I realise there are pockets deprivation as well ,but is there anyone on a sort of middle ground IFSWIM? We lived there as a child, and were a sort of lower MC family I suppose .Just curious really

Well most of those working in public services including nurses and teachers, plus those in hospitality, retail and a myriad of other sectors living in London will be on the wage you are suggesting so it's definitely possible, if not ideal. Owning a home rather than renting in London will be impossible for many of these people.

Yes I used to make around 30K when I lived in London and I know many others who did, too. I had a good time and I used to save at least half of my salary every month without making any serious sacrifices. Having said that, I don't think I'd be able to afford living there if I had children back then.

London is full of people earning under 30k a year. Their situations will be very different, though.

Some (fewer and fewer) will have affordable social housing.

Many, many young working people sharing flats.

Many, many just about making ends meet and privately renting flats in ‘cheaper’ areas.

Quite a few of my friends on this sort of salary are living in shared ownership flats in new builds.

In my age group (40s) lots of us are married and managed with our combined incomes to get mortgages in easier times. Tough to do that now, though.

Yeah I earn that, so do lots of my friends. Zone four (actually mins from 3(but amazing links (central in 20 mins, tube in 10) and I own owing to inheritance. Friends who rent are zone 2/3. I'm not a huge spender tho, my big spends are holidays. No car, not necessary.

I lived in London for 5 years on mid twenties salary and had a great time. Had a couple years in the 30k range, I now earn high 40’s inc bonus and own a (tiny) zone 3 flat.

I do, I earn £40,000 at the moment. Rent my own flat and run a car, before a (very) recent promotion I spent all my savings just making ends meet for a couple of years when I had to take a pay cut. I’m hoping to be able to build them up again now.

I earn about 40k and DP pretty much minimum wage. We live in a spacious flat in a nice neighbourhood Zone 2 but we have a) an interest-free mortgage, so low payments, and b) a lodger, which in an ideal world we wouldn't.

Are there any people who live there on just about 30/40l or JAMS?

Yes I have family, friends and neighbours who earn under 30K. If they own or are in social housing they tend to be over 40. Otherwise they rent privately or live at home.

They'll be renting, probably in the outer zones. I earned the sort of money you quoted- lived in a bedsit in zone 3, took an hour and a half to get to work via 3 different public transport systems. We left London so we could buy and because we got annoyed with never being abole to do stuff in the city Centre. You'd see theatre, events etc. on in he evening but you'd have to stooge around in the centre after work as there wasn't the time to go home and come back out again.

I live in London and work full time in education and only get £12000 a yeah. I do get some help with rent but once I've paid the rest of my rent and £130 a month council tax it doesn't leave me with much at all. I live alone so only have my wage. It's hard, really hard but somehow I manage to scrape through each month

@fussychica Public sector jobs in London have a higher salary weighting than the rest of the country, for example an established teacher in inner London will easily be earning £50k

Lots of people in the performing arts sector. They have to be near London cos that's where the work is, but the pay is pitiful.

Thanks for all your replies everyone .As I said just curious really .We had a 3 bed semi in North London in the 60s ,My GPs home .They bought it new for £600.00 back in the 30s ! Seems incredible now (worth about 40k in todays money) with a 100 ft garden /garage and a really big front /side garden( Corner property).GP worked in the print ,so good wage then around 30 /40 k(Today) ?Cost of living there is so high now .Never seem to here about lower middle class ,just Rich and Poor really.Been interesting to read these .

When I was on £35-40k I lived in a flat share which was a 2 bed but the lounge used as a bedroom, so costs split 3 ways to make it affordable. Luckily old flats exist with separate kitchens. My flat mates had jobs in retail and bars.

It is possible, we did it before DC and are now hoping to move back on average-ish wages.

The main problem is housing costs of course, but if you can be frugal in other areas then it's totally doable.

For example, neither of us drive so no car costs, DH can often cycle to work and I only need to be in the office a couple days a week. I know quite a few people in London with similar setup.

We're not into theatre or expensive events, and there's loads of free things to do in London. We see friends a lot at each other's houses to cut down on going out costs.

We did find it impossible when DC was younger and needed childcare, but now he's older it should be fine.

@intermittantparps how on earth do you get an interest free mortgage!?

Sorry, I meant interest-ONLY!! no idea how I typed that.

It is possible to live in London on a low salary (c. 25k) if you flatshare and/or live in zone 3.

The other key to affordability is doing without a car and, wherever possible, walking or taking buses. I could afford a car but I can't be bothered because public transport is so good.

On the plus side, there are so, so many things that are free or very cheap. Museums, art galleries, literally hundreds of Meetup groups, last minute theatre tickets, all the wonderful parks, walking along the river...

There's a thread currently on MN about London - check it out.

A relative is a teacher in London..used to live there, could only afford to buy a small 1 bed flat in zone 5 with parents contributing 1/3 of the price.

She & husband both teach in London as do many friends. None actually live there except a couple with very well paid spouses.

I also know some nurses etc, without exception they either:

• live in family properties on massively reduced rent
• are v young and living in cheap house shares
• have a much better paid partner topping up the rent

DH and I were earning 160k between us when we decided to leave London as we could not afford to buy a family home in a nice area.

Im really sorry to ask, and I did google first, but what is JAMS please?

JAMS just about managing
ie enough for food heating rent but an unexpected bill like a boiler needing replacing or someone losing school coat causes problems to replace there is no money left over each month and needs careful budgetting

Are you referring to single people earning 30/40k, or a couple where each person earns 30/40k? If the latter that's us, and I don't ever feel short of money. Though we did have to buy in zone 6 to be able to afford a decent-sized family house

I think OP means a household earning less than the median average for a london household ie 36K ( the average salary is 33K in London) many households have only 1 FT worker or 2nd is very part time
of course many London households are just a single person which is why household income is only a few thousand above average full time salary

I was single with older kids at home earning round £28k for a long time, living in zone 3. It's perfectly manageable. If I had two salaries with 30-40k I would feel rich.

I'm a teacher working in inner London and soon I will need to quit my school after 6 years because I want to buy a house and start a family and I can't afford London. Lot's of experienced teachers quit every year for this reason. Schools mostly hire cheap young teachers who live with their parents or in share accomodations.