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?

I voted yabu on the basis that she's an adult so it's her business.
In any case as she's renting she can move elsewhere if it does prove expensive. If she's just split up from someone and wants/needs a change maybe just support her?
If she's moving closer to work she might save a fortune on her commute.

I earn £70k plus bonuses and live alone comfortably in London. I’m older than your DD and my rent in a very nice part of west London is £1500 for. 2 bed flat.

The vast majority of my friends (also in London) moved out of house shares by their late 20s because they wanted to live alone. I think it's totally normal to want to particularly after a divorce. Financially, I think it's fine too.

I should add that we live in central/east London. I tend to buy fresh fruit/veg from local vegetable stalls and markets- £1 a bowl. We go to Billinsgate and Smithfields and fill the freezer. Its so fresh and FAR cheaper than supermarket meat/fish. We also walk everywhere!

If she’s earning 65k, presumably she’s in a job with a significant amount of responsibility? Does she ring you up and ask mummy what to do at work whenever there’s a challenge? I’m guessing she’s a capable, smart young woman and just cracks on. No doubt she’ll be able to do the same in her personal life. If at 27 my parents had offered me sage advice such as disagreeing with where I was going to live / work or anything else it would’ve been met with a ‘thanks but I’m a grown adult and have been for some years now so respectfully, stop poking your nose in!’

She can most definitely afford it.

How is 27 too young to live alone. I moved out and lived alone at 18. On a fraction of what your daughter earns....

Ah she’ll be grand. She earns almost double our household income and we have 3 kids at home!

I would be saving for a deposit to buy somewhere but hey she wants to live a bit post divorce. Let her enjoy it. If it goes wrong she’s only renting

Her choice. She is earning good money. If she finds it's unaffordable, she'll have to give notice and move out again. Lesson learnt. Don't interfere.

Your duty is to love and support her, not 'protect' her! Fgs leave her alone! I appreciate she's had conversations with you but she is obviously successful and doing plenty of things right so let her crack on.

Yes she can afford it. DS earns less than that and rents a (very) small studio flat in Hampstead for about £1,100 pcm and lives very comfortably within his means despite a very active social life. In fact he is looking to buy a proper flat (shared ownership) in Central London with his next pay rise.

I think she could find cheaper accomodation though!

She can definitely afford it but she would have more fun sharing with one or two housemates. If she shared with one she could get a larger flat with a garden/large balcony. If she shared with two she could possibly end up in a house with garden.

Then she would have money left over to save for a deposit (or to go away for an entire year to 18 months).

Remind her she is only young once and she may as well enjoy herself doing things.

If i was her I would seriously be looking into buying. A £300k mortgage is around £1500 a month and there seems to be a lot of shared ownership schemes around East London.
To be honest though, she's 27 and a divorcee so i think you need to take a step back unless she's specifically asking you for advice with her finances. I don't think my parents have ever known how much i earn!

She can definitely afford it on £65k with no DCs!

It can be nice living in a flat share with one sensible and clean person but if she wants to live alone there’s nothing stopping her.

A couple of people have mentioned looking in SE - it’s good value but not as cheap as it was - SE15 is good though and (when lockdown is over) fairly buzzy without the built up crazy that is East.

Best of luck to her! I’m sure she’ll enjoy it.

She can afford to do it if living paycheck to paycheck. However, it would be pretty foolish. A sensible approach would be to live a little cheaper whilst concurrently saving for a deposit to buy.

Yes she has involved you in the conversation and your job is to say ‘what do you think?’ ‘Why not try, you can always change your mind?’ ‘Sounds fun, what is there to loose?’ Not grind her down by saying your can’t afford it’ ‘you shouldn’t do that’ ‘you don’t understand your own money’

It’s her life encourage her to live it however she wants and have some fun.

I moved countries to London at 27...she is 27 let her crack on with her live. Maybe she will manage - maybe she won’t but it’s her life lesson to learn.

That's a decent amount of money to live alone in London on.

... with the exception of council tax.. surely other bills will cost what they cost now. Not higher just because its London..

According to a salary calculator with no 'funny stuff' she will be taking home £3,861.67

Is she paying in to a pension? if not - why not?

she can afford to spend 1.5k per month, as she will still have 2,361 left to play with, what do you think she needs more money for?

Sounds like an exciting time for her, easily affordable to pay rent and have a great social life on that salary

@LalalalalaLlama

A nicer lifestyle?!
£400 on food.
£500 on socialising. PER MONTH.

Thats not a nice lifestyle!?

Time is very important to Londoners. You can't really put a price on it, and she'll be saving lots of if she moves nearer to her job, not to mention a big reduction in commuting costs. London is amazing if you can afford to live there, which she most certainly can. She has no dependents. The culture, diversity, history and people..nowhere else in England comes close IMHO. And at 27 it's a no brainier

She had her ex-husband doing all the outgoings and now her mummy telling her where/how to live?

She should move to NY/Sydney for a couple of years.