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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how you afford to live in London?

505 replies

seekinglondonlife · 26/12/2021 20:32

Name changed regular as my family are on MN and I don't want my posting history linked.
We decided to do Christmas in London this year, we've had a crap year and just wanted to get away. We're staying in a fairly central hotel, have been travelling around and exploring by bus everyday and I feel like I really want to move here. The diversity, having shops open on a Sunday past 5pm, the atmosphere, the ability to choose 5 or 6 different ethnic restaurants on the same street. The public transport is fantastic.

I've been looking in so many estate agents windows and cannot get over the cost of rent/to buy a property. How do 'normal' people live here? I've been friendly with a few of the hotel staff, they've lived and worked in London for 20+ years and have raised their families here, but they are on NMW jobs, so how do they do it? Does everyone get housing benefit?

If you feel inclined please say roughly where you live and how much you pay for rent/mortgage. Also what are the downsides? (Apart from the cost of housing!)

TIA

OP posts:
DeepaBeesKit · 26/12/2021 20:34

Most staff in hospitality under 30 will be living either a) in large cheap HMOs in very poor areas b) still living with their parents who may have bought many years ago when prices were less mad, or may be renting in social housing c)will be in receipt of housing benefit or d) will live outside london in towns like slough with fast trains.

rattlemehearties · 26/12/2021 20:36

We used to pay well over half our income on rent. Council tax was okay. As you say public transport is excellent and good value for money, lots of variety for groceries so that was affordable, lots of free entertainment/cheap outings too. But we didn't have savings and couldn't save because so much of our money went on rent.

DeepaBeesKit · 26/12/2021 20:37

Ps to answer your question, we afforded to live there in our twenties by a) living in fairly grotty flats/houseshares in quite grotty areas despite being in relatively well paid professional occupations. We saved as much as we could. b) got on the housing ladder early in 2012 before a big boom. c) we were on high incomes.

blueshoes · 26/12/2021 20:38

Most people don't live in central London. Commutes of more than an hour are not unusual. That is why WFH during lockdown was such a boon for office workers and other employees who were able to work remotely.

nordica · 26/12/2021 20:40

I live in zone 4 on the outskirts where houses are been cheaper. Pretty much everyone I know either does the same and lives in outer London, or in a house share if more central. Then there are lots who bought their home 20+ years ago when it was about a quarter of the price it is now. I think I only know a handful of people who live in zone 1 and they are all in housing association or council properties (and have been in the same flat for over 10 years).

Itonlytakesonetree · 26/12/2021 20:40

I'm a teacher and need to move out of London. One normal salary is not enough to live on. I've been here 30 years and have no links anywhere else now, but I am financially drowning, so have to put on my big girl pants and start over.

Fere · 26/12/2021 20:41

What is your budget is the very first question.

HelloDulling · 26/12/2021 20:41

If you are looking in central London estate agents, the prices are insane. Prices further out are still astronomical, but look at areas in Zone 2 or 3 for something a little more realistic.

London is a brilliant, brilliant place to live. We moved out ten years ago and I still miss it so much.

TheOpenRoad · 26/12/2021 20:42

In my experience, it's a combination of 1) inherited/gifted money from parents, either to buy outright or for a sizeable deposit, and/or 2) living in not so nice areas and/or 3) very decent six figure salaries

TheOpenRoad · 26/12/2021 20:43

And yes, zones 3-6 rather than 1-2

Motherofcats007 · 26/12/2021 20:45

I lived in zone 3/4 in house shares. All my roommates were professionals (in PR, constructions, NHS, IT) in their late 20s/ early 30s. I moved up north before I turned 30 because it was just not sustainable.

tectonicplates · 26/12/2021 20:45

Some minimum wage staff are married to people on high incomes

Also, as someone who grew up in the suburbs, I'll never understand why anyone would want to live in zone 1. The whole point of suburbs are that you go into town during the day and then you go home again afterwards.

DrRamsesEmerson · 26/12/2021 20:45

I'm old: we bought our flat in Zone 2 before prices went crazy (and had two good professional salaries to do it with). Then when DD was born we sold and bought a house in Zone 3. No inheritance, then or ever, so we wouldn't be able to do it if we were starting out now.

sbhydrogen · 26/12/2021 20:47

I'm a born and bred Londoner. We almost bought a 1930's 3-bed (with classic box room) doer upper in Zone 4 under the Heathrow flight path for half a million. Luckily we pulled out when we realised it truly was a terrible deal.

Used to spend the best part of £2k a month on rent alone to live in a flat in Battersea. Literally opposite the park but it had no natural light.

If we lived in London with kids we'd be screwed unless my parents retired and looked after our DDs for free.

onlychildhamster · 26/12/2021 20:48

@seekinglondonlife East Finchley,zone 3. 20 minutes on the tube to the west end

Bought 2 bed flat in 2019 for £400k. We saved up £70k in 3 years by living with family and so our mortgage is £1020. Our take home pay for DH and myself is £4200 after tax, student loan and national insurance etc. We don't get any benefits.

GonnaBeYoniThisChristmas · 26/12/2021 20:50

Zone 2.

C 3,000 pcm on mortgage.

2 FT earners with good salaries. Quite sensible on other expenditure eg no flash cars, clothes or holidays.

No inheritance or lottery wins (sadly!)

smurfsss · 26/12/2021 20:50

Central London / Zone 1

£3,252 a month on rent for a 2bed flat with DH and 2 young DC. It's absolutely crippling but I won't live anywhere else except Zone 1.

SocksAndTheCity · 26/12/2021 20:51

@rattlemehearties

We used to pay well over half our income on rent. Council tax was okay. As you say public transport is excellent and good value for money, lots of variety for groceries so that was affordable, lots of free entertainment/cheap outings too. But we didn't have savings and couldn't save because so much of our money went on rent.
I live in the Square Mile (hence the username!) and my rent is predictably astronomical at £2K+ pm for a 1bed, but as PP above I have pretty much zero transport costs and there are so many things to do and see here that cost nothing at all.

The public transport and council tax costs especially in my home town are extortionate, as would my train fares be here if I was travelling into work (£150pw minimum on trains/underground going off people I know). I'd rather spend it on rent and have that time back to do other things with Smile.

Original poster
seekinglondonlife · 26/12/2021 20:52

Thank you for all of the replies. Just to clarify, vI don't want to live in zone 1 (as if that could happen!) but was in Shepherds Bush and Golders Green today and really liked the feeling for those. Still mad prices though.
My next question is do families raise several children in a flat? I remember on the Jewish thread a poster saying 7 dc in a 2 bed wasn't unusual... Surely that would be a terrible quality of life? Or are Londoners just minimalists and 3dc in a 2 bed flat is perfectly doable?

OP posts:
MauveMavis · 26/12/2021 20:52

I live in zone 1. But I have a small one bed flat. didn't run a car for years, cycle to work and am an NHS consultant.

Colleagues who have kids though and didn't get on the property market early enough really really struggle. Even with both parents working and living further out.

It actually affects recruitment and retention of staff.

Restart10 · 26/12/2021 20:54

We are in Zone 2. Moved back to London after living abroad. Love living here, it's very diverse, endless options for just about anything but yes it is expensive.

Comedycook · 26/12/2021 20:54

We live in zone three in a four bed house we own...we are not well off. We bought it years ago for less than 300k because my parents died fairly young and I had an inheritance.

Day to day living in London isn't particularly expensive for us. The kids get free bus travel... utility bills aren't different if you live in London are they? I shop for food at Lidl and Aldi.

Original poster
seekinglondonlife · 26/12/2021 20:55

Also, I have seen so many blocks of what I assume are council/social housing stock. Is it easy to get these properties, or is the waiting list years long?

OP posts:
tectonicplates · 26/12/2021 20:55

I won't live anywhere else except Zone 1.

Why?

KittenKong · 26/12/2021 20:56

Luck, city jobs. Neither has hands up from anyone. Bought first flat just before crash in the 90s and ended up with a property worth 2/3 what we paid. Had to wait 8 years to earn a little over (tiny flat, rough area) and rented for a few years. Spotted a flat for sale near where DH grew up (so we knew the area) and leapt at it.

Had a couple of rounds of redundancy just after mum died, so my small inheritance helped us the through that and allowed me to take time off when ds was little, and extend our lease. So we never got out little mews houses nearby (that was the plan and they were a reachable next step when we moved here - but are now £3m+ and all foreign money owned these days).

Most people I know have either massively paid jobs in the city, or have worked for years abroad and returned with gazillions and bought with cash.