To think DD isn’t earning enough to live alone in London?

[Sunnydaysp]

DD is 27 and earns £65k a year. She currently has a long commute in to London for work each day but following her recent divorce and sale of their home, she wants to move to London for a fresh start. She has no DC, so is looking at one bed flats which appear to be around £1,500-£2,000 a month in rent, not to mention all of the bills on top too. I appreciate that DD earns a very good wage for her age, however, I’m concerned that she will be stretching herself too far by attempting to live alone and paying an extortionate amount in rent rather than house sharing, which seems to be the norm for most young professionals. She seems to think she can easily afford it, but DD has never lived alone and doesn’t really seem to appreciate the cost of living, as ex husband always managed the household outgoings etc. AIBU in thinking that DD will be stretched in attempting to live alone on her salary in London with the rental amounts described?

That’s insane money to spend on rent, she must be looking in very expensive areas.

@peachypetite seems to be the norm from what I can see for a half decent flat in an ‘ok’ location. She’s predominantly been looking in East London.

Why doesn't she go into a house share? She's only 27 and it seems very young to be living on your own.

Yes she can afford it. She earns 3.5k a month after tax and if she has rent of 1500 a month she will have two grand left.

I’d certainly not want to be in a house share with a child if I could afford my own place.

Why are you not supporting her to find somewhere within her means and putting her down that she doesn’t understand costs?

She earns good money so would be better renting as cheaply as possible, and saving for a deposit for place of her own.

Sorry no dc, but again, that makes it even more affordable.

I just googled 'zone 3 1 bed flats London' and there are loads under £1500 (which is still daft money for monthly rent in my mind but I get it, it's London). And landlords are probably open to negotiation atm more than ever.

She can definitely find cheaper than that but at the end of the day she needs to decide herself.

I lived alone in London on a smaller salary that that for 5 years. Not easy but doable. It will be really important for her to budget carefully but at 27 she needs to know to do that anyway.

Well she should be taking home around £3500 depending on pensions and student loan payments so if she spent £1500 a month on rent she'd have £2000 left for bills and expenses. What on earth do you think she'd be spending £2k on a month that she would struggle to budget? If she doesn't already, make sure she has a Monzo or Starling account to help with expenditure.

You would normally spent over half of your take home on your living expenses, so rent and bills of about £2000 would be ok on her salary.

Having just got divorced, seems fair enough to want a change of scene and live a bit (and she can afford it).

She can afford it, and I get the lure of living alone, but she’d have a better lifestyle in general with one good flatmate sharing the cost, leaving her with more to save and do nice things like go on holiday. There will be other smart young professional women she’d have fun sharing with. It’s up to her of course

She's crazy to spend all that on rent, but if it's what she wants then she should do it. She can always change her mind.

If she's willing to live a bit further out she could pay a bit less. However life is short, so fuck it - she's only young once. How nice to be able to live on your own in a cool area at 27! Lucky her

She can easily afford it. I thought you were going to say 20k.

I’d be really irritated that at 27 my mother was concerning herself enough with my salary and outgoings to post about it on an online forum

She’s a grown woman. Leave her to make her own decisions.

She doesn't need to live in a huge house share, but would she consider just one housemate? That would be a way of reducing costs without having loads of people in the house. There are lots of two bedroom flats around. She could potentially even look for a flatmate who wants a place in London for weekdays only so therefore don't mind having the smaller bedroom (you almost always get one bedroom bigger than the other in London two-beds).

East London is great but achingly trendy and so very very expensive. She'd be better off looking - dare I say - south of the river.

A good studio apartment would make more sense as cheaper.

But in her shoes, I’d look at sharing a really nice place with one flat mate. She could get an en suite in a lovely area, in an apartment with a garden and living room, and in your twenties I think it’s fun to have company. It sounds like she married young and maybe didn’t have a time flat sharing in London.

Obviously some folks would always prefer to live alone and you can end up with mad flat mates so I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea!

Of course she can afford it. Unless you think she also needs luxury Caribbean holidays every year and designer clothes too?

It would be even more affordable if she looked at some areas in South East London. There are some really trendy/ pretty areas down there & they tend to be cheaper as not on the tube.

In any event she's a grown woman who is obviously very successful, it's not really any of your business.

@Wtfdidwedo According to DD she takes home £4K a month. I know she doesn’t have a student loan, but not sure on any other specifics. I’m just concerned that council tax, bills, food etc. all adds up. She’s wanting to create a new life for herself, so it’s important that she has money left for socialising and hobbies, which I don’t think she will.

Haven’t heard of Monzo or Starling, will mention to DD

Time to cut the apron strings. She’s 27. She’s an adult. She can do whatever she wants.

She's 27. Even if it's a ridiculous idea leave her to it.

She needs to look at other areas, East London is extremely popular.

My Dd lives in Blockley which is near Greenwich. She and her boyfriend pay 1000 per month for a really lovely 1 bed flat which has a shared courtyard garden and a cellar for bikes etc.

Between them they earn about 50k so your Dd should be fine.

Poor DD - no - just kidding.

She sounds like she has her head screwed on.

You must be extremely wealthy yourself, if you think she can't live on that salary on her own!!!

At present, I'm supporting 5 people on £28,000 a year. And we live very comfortably.

She’s 27 and earning a good salary. She’s been married and divorced. I think you should leave her to live her life, she’s an adult and I’m sure she’ll work things out for herself.