To think on £30,000/year I should be able to afford to live on my own in London?

[kjhgfdfhj]

I earn £30,000, which I know isn't high by any means but I think it's decent. But I still can't afford to rent my own place in London. Lots of my colleagues who must earn around the same amount somehow rent flats in London and I don't get how. The only ones I understand are those who live with partners as there's two incomes to pool together for rent and bills.

I really don't see myself ever getting into a relationship, and feel like because I'm single I'll never be able to give myself the kind of home and lifestyle I want. I never really realised before how much being single negatively impacts you financially.

*treated

I earn more than £30k and there's no way in hell I could afford to live alone, even in the furthest reaches of the London suburb I'm currently in.

Technically she doesn’t ‘need’ holiday or gym membership. She could survive without but she’s not long been on that salary and it’s nice to treat your children.

We pinged £30 to another child this evening for a takeaway as she’s on call all weekend - she’s on £85k but with a large mortgage. Shocking, eh? Parents treat or indulge adult children. Shouldn’t be allowed.

And yes @kjhgfdfhj it sucks, sadly you would struggle to live alone on 30k in london.

I was offered a job at a lower salary than advertised - based in central london. They had advertised at 46k and offered me 38k (higher than what I was currently on but even so - I applied based on what they'd listed).

I did the maths and worked out it would be struggle, and not worth moving to be worse off financially.

A couple on double that in a small one bedder wouldn't be living the dream. DS and DIL pay £1800 pcm in a fairly central location and between them have £73k coming in. Once bills are paid they can live a modest London life with a couple of modest holidays. They are in a fortunate position and wouldn't be crass enough to assume it would be easy or straightforward for a single colleague. They are late 20s and have lots of chums in flat shares..

Have already replied to this - I've said my parents treat me which I really appreciate. And that of course if someone can afford it, supporting their adult children financially is a great thing to do.

As I said, I'm just personally suprised that someone can be on 42k, pay 850 in rent, and need finanical help with things like a gym subscription and new glasses.

But everyone's financial situation is different and I'm not here to derail the thread!

What’s your monthly budget for accommodation OP? I really sympathise- I started off in London renting a room for £550 back in 2007, when I left earlier this year I was renting a very nice one bed with garden in Walthamstow for £1300. (This was an upgrade from the £900 flat in zone 3 I’d been in before, but lived alone in London for 10 years) I definitely sympathise on the ‘single’s tax’ too

I ruled out applying for jobs in London after my studies as to have to move into a flat share would have felt like a step backwards (I had my own one bed flat in my home city). The city I did move to was expensive compared to my home city but on a salary of about 35k I could afford to rent a one bed in a decent area. Fast forward 10 years and new people coming to my work for that same role now can't afford to live alone or centrally. These are highly qualified adults in their late 20s/30s. It's depressing.

I know someone who does but she lives in a studio flat in Ealing at about £1k a month.

Of course you can live in London on 30K!!! Millions do for fucks sake.

You wont be living in Chelsea, Fulham or Clapham, forget hip hang outs like Shoreditch and Peckham, but lots of places in your budget, on 30K thats about a 1K a month , anything above that you'll struggle to convince estate agents to take you on.

You can look in Crystal Palace, in the South which actually has lots of young middle class people and hang outs of bars and cafes.

You can look in outer suburbs in South East London places like Bromley or over west London like Hayes, which may be a bit boring, but are safe.

There are a lot of social housing controlled rents you can apply for in London, you will qualify for the below for example in hip West Norwood which has lots of coffee bars and cool pubs and restaurants and farmers food market.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/128978840#/?channel=RES_LET

But if you use your £1000 a month budget to a flat share in a large house, altough not ideal, you can live pretty much anywhere , even uber posh and central Marylebone. I know this as my friend lives there in a flat share found through a normal estate agent, so no mates rates.

Lastly there are guardian angel options , where you live in a flat on token rent in a disused police station , etc awaiting development. They are full of artists and creative people and safe and cheap way to live in a good area.

www.peabodysales.co.uk/find-a-home/search-results/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpqPxvo-n-wIVC57tCh3uLQ8LEAAYASAAEgKd8PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds. you may be able to afford one of these OP.

Good luck, London is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Sadly £30k even though its not a bad salary isn't a lot in London.

Tbh we came to London in the early 80s and our rent on a very grotty studio in a really gritty area was more than my salary. All of the people we knew either rented with a partner or someone else.
None of us had only 1 job.
It was come out of your office at 5pm and be in your 2nd job by 5.30pm.
It was the only way we survived.

One guy we knew was very lucky as he did get help to buy a 2 bed flat where most of us were struggling to afford a studio. But he still had a lodger and his gf living there and they all had extra income.

I live in the South East (not London
and not a posh area) and a person needs to earn an annual salary of 30 times the monthly rent. Rent here for a one bedroom flat starts at £950.

DD knows some one who does that. He is currently sleeping behind the bar of big old pub that is awaiting redevelopment with about 15 other people
His last place was an office block
It keeps the squatters out

Isn't it awful, I can't afford to live in London either.

but lots of places in your budget, on 30K thats about a 1K a month

Generally it's advised to spend no more than 40% of your income on rent right? That wouldn't be a grand on 30k.

Sadly I'm guessing a lot of people are spending far more, it's very difficult times.

You also don't want to get stuck in a trap of all your money going into rent and none into savings, if you can help it.

I mean, that’s none of you and all, but hardly necessary.

£42,000 after tax, NI, average pension counts and (assumed) student loan is £2,500 a month.

If she’s paying £850 rent, that leaves her with £1,650.

If she’s in a flat share she’ll be paying 1/3 of bills/council tax, which won’t be more than £200 per person.

She’s left with £1,450 a month for food, travel and miscellaneous (savings, clothes etc).

You say you help her out, so presumably this £1,450 isn’t enough.

Does she travel to work on Concorde?

Not a chance. Not if you want a decent home and any kind of life.

• nice not none

£30k in London? Other cities, yes. London, no.
You aren't Penny from the Big Bang Theory

"I earn 55k and sometimes SHOCK my mum still pays for a weekend away, new expensive boots for me etc etc. It's called being a nice parent."

I think it's called being a rich parent :)

@Kennykenkencat I would have LOVED to live like this when I was a young graduate! At least until I found somewhere long term.

@Biochemist Its a bit more loose than that, in recognition of the housing market. You can stress test your own income and see what you can rent:

blackstonesresidential.com/rent/affordability-calculator/

@LazyJayne it's just a parent thing isn't it? Like if I go for a coffee with my dad he says "I'll get it"
We went food shopping the other week and he shoved £50 at me for petrol and paid for my food shop. I don't expect it but he does it

it’s a parent thing to want to pay for nice things for your child sure, but the poster said her child was ‘struggling to get by’ on her £42K salary. This feels a bit disingenuous

Totally, but there's a diference between offering to pay (my dad does this too with petrol ), and saying they have to pay for things that the child can't afford, which is what the PP described.

I don't think anyone was criticising being generous to your kids, it was more the financial situation described didn't seem to make sense.