relocation to UK 120k household income

[homealone2022]

Hi,

Currently live in a different country but DH has just been offered a post in London with an annual salary of 120k. The post looks really interesting but we've heard that London is very expensive so not sure whether it would be enough for our family to live on - it would be DH, myself and our seven year old son. Would anyone have any pointers as to whether it's enough and what we can expect? Thank you

Liverpool Street is on the eastern side so you probably don't want to be crossing the City every day (although people do). Have a look at the train and tube routes from Liverpool St and see where might work.

South London there is -

Battersea (loads of development of flats etc going in there) - on river opposite Chelsea

Clapham - some lovely streets

Wimbledon - inc. Wimbledon Village which is super posh!

Southfields (on the edge of Wimbledon, but cheaper).

SE London -

I don't know this area so well, but there is Greenwich which is in the river and like a village and you may have heard of the Greenwich Meridian!

I don't know if you know London at all, but few families live in what's called the "West End" which is what tourists usually see - Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden, etc. Its fantastic, but maybe a bit too intense - not to mention expensive!

In NE London, there is Islington which has loads of shops and all sorts.

Also (more North London), there is Camden which again, is a centre in itself, and famous for its market.

Basically, London is like a cluster of villages that have all merged through history, but all have their own High Streets and different atmospheres. It's hard to sum up.

In your situation with a child, I would suggest Chelsea, Barnes, Putney, Parsons Green / Fulham or Hampstead - if you can find anything in your budget. Your DH can get to Liverpool St from any of these by tube and/ or train. Having lived all over London, there are loads of very nice 'pockets', but I would say these places are a bit less 'rough around the edges' than the nice parts of East or North London (no offence to anyone in North or East London)!

Rents get a bit cheaper the further out you go, but once you get out of the London travel zones altogether then the rail fare absolutely rockets. So my suggestion would be to look at Gidea Park. It's in zone 6 on the Elizabeth line so under half hour to Liverpool St and really frequent trains. A decent area with good schools, but far enough out that you get a bit more for your money.

This website might be useful

www.commutefrom.com

Himm, and if he can command that salary I would expect him to be be able to do Google/do the maths on rent living costs...

I'm sure you thought this was hilarious, but it's really not.

Yes, lots of people live in London on a much lower salary than OP is talking about but OP is asking about making the decision to move there, not talking about already being there and complaining about being skint.

Most other people are being entirely pragmatic in their answers regarding the standard of living £120k would afford. I know for a fact I wouldn't move to London for that much - it would not afford anything like the standard of living someone on half that much could have in many other areas of the country.

😂😂😂 Well we've had Gidea Park and Barnes so we're almost there. 😂

Given that the DH will be working near Liverpool St on a decent-ish salary, it's highly likely that he'll be working in Financial Services. Which may mean long hours and/or after-work socialising (and is often the case for expats especially). So living nearer to the office is actually quite a sensible idea so he can spend less time travelling and more time with the OP and DC. I know this is a fairly radical approach for MN which seems to be half-full of stereotypical SAHMs who prioritise THEIR quality of life (so bigger house and garden with longer commute) over the partner who is bringing the actual money in to fund this lifestyle with cries of "but think about the DC!" Something to think about.

I am having a little giggle at the idea of Knightsbridge as a "pleasant" place to live in. Not that it's an unpleasant place, clearly! Very subjective isn't it?

I guess there are different vibes in different parts of London, some more hipster, some traditional, some a bit oligarch, some more normal...

OP have you got any friends or connections in particular parts of london, or interests that could help identify places you may like?

City workers are still largely hybrid, so commute may be less of an issue.

The majority are back 3 days a week. Obviously depends on the role. If he's a trader (or associated function), he'll be in the office pretty much full time. And if he's being paid to move to London, surely his employer actually wants to see him? Otherwise why move him?

On £120k you’ll either be living in an unfashionable part of London or the suburbs.
London isn’t cheap, in my part of town you’d struggle to keep up with your neighbours on £120k if you care about that sort of thing. Rent will take up a huge chunk of income.
But if you don’t care about keeping up with Jones neighbours or the fact that the local nurseries charge £2k for full time childcare per child and would be fine with a fairly modest lifestyle then you should be ok. And the good news is that you won’t have to get involved with the school fees chatter because on £120k, you won’t be sending your child private in London (min £20k a year) unless your folks are helping out.

@SofiaSoFar I stand by the fact it’s a stupid bloody question. Op isn’t asking if she can maintain x,y,z on that income, or anything specific, just whether she can manage. Which is dumb.

Suggest joining a Facebook site like 2 Fat Expats or Grumpy Expats for suggestions.
120k is significantly more than many in London will have as an income, so it will be doable. But it might not give you the payoff you are hoping for. Would you be looking at English state school, or the Americian school? Are you on an expat package that pays for flights home, pension/tax equalization, private Healthcare etc, or are you on 120k and on your own? The "extras" made a massive difference to our possible quality of life.

In short, you can definitely do it if London and the job are what you want. If you want an expat lifestyle and big spends, it probably isn't the posting for you.

OP has a 7 year old and won't be working. She won't be paying for childcare.

Thank you for everyone's suggestions. I think some of you are right that DH should be researching this but he's just excited about the opportunity so am trying to be sensible and figure out whether we should go for it as a family. Where we currently live normal schools are fine so I wasn't thinking about private ones. DH would have to be in the office at least part of the time so I am not sure that we could live completely outside London. But he's also been really good about supporting my career in the past and so I feel like I should seriously consider this move at least for a while.

"😂😂😂 Well we've had Gidea Park and Barnes so we're almost there. 😂"

Barnes people use Hammersmith tube and then it's just the Circle Line.

Or 15 mins on very frequent mainline trains to Waterloo and then Northern Line.

People do far worse. Blimey.

Plenty of very good primary schools in london, OP.

Lame

Some sense. Yes. After tax and mortgage/ rent plus nursery fees you'll be struggling between rent and bills in London and much of SE with a household income of £120k and just one person earning it (a couple with one person working or even a single parent is taxed more here than one person working with a partner/ spouse who has the same household income!).

Even in the SE outside London, if you need any childcare I'll say you'll struggle. Otherwise, you can choose between living somewhere like Surbiton or Haywards Heath and your partner having a short commute into the city, but having a decent sized home in a nice area with good schools. Or you can live more centrally somewhere very small.

What can you do about your career here? If you are considering coming, and your child is 7 so needs minimal/ cheap childcare, I'd look into that and see how the figures stack up with you being a dual income household.

At that level of salary your husband’s employer will likely be covering private healthcare so that takes care of that side of things

Good areas to live that have good access to the City (ie Liv St) plus lots of green space for a 7 year old to enjoy are Putney, Wimbledon, Richmond (all District Line and c. 45-60 mins on District) or anywhere on the Northern Line south of Clapham North (similar sort of commuting time depending where you are on the line)

If you want to be within walking distance of Liv St then somewhere like Angel would be worth considering but that will be much more expensive than those that are south of the river

What is the obsession with people mentioning nursery fees?? The OP only has a 7 year old unless I've missed something

Can someone fill me in on the joke about Knightsbridge, Putney and Barnes? I feel left out

I've got quite a few friends on this sort of income managing fine, but they mostly live quite far out (eg the suburby bits of south london), and also are in houses they own with decent deposits (family help to buy) so their mortgage costs will be lower than what you would likely spend on rent.

It's definitely manageable but it might not be the lifestyle you expect if you are coming from a country with lower costs.

Good areas to live that have good access to the City (ie Liv St) plus lots of green space for a 7 year old to enjoy are Putney, Wimbledon, Richmond

These are all super expensive desirable areas and you will be like poor relations living there on a household income of 120k. The only people I know living in these areas are on double this amount eg 2 earners on 120k+