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.

😂😂😂

I'd expect to have to house share even earning that much for London because its so expensive

Yes this is why I was confused. I pay similar in rent on a lower salary, definitely am not frugal by any means and don't struggle to afford things like subscriptions, can still get a decent chunk in savings etc

None of this stops my parents thrusting fivers at me, and offering to pay for things, but they're doing it because they want to, rather than because I actually need it. And am bloody lucky that if I did need help, they would.

Interested in the outgoings, but like I said, don't want to derail!

I have lived in London for more than 30 years.

I was able to rent on my own a 1 bed flat in East London for more than a decade until I bought a flat in 2012.

30K is not a ''low'' salary. It is what many people with regular jobs get in London.

By reading this thread you would think everyone makes £50,000 a year and could not possibly venture beyond Chelsea or Hampstead....

Wow, wish you were my mum 😂

The depressing thing is not only the fact that you will struggle to find somewhere to live in 30k but also that so many people (presumably earning a lot more) seem completely unaware how many low paid workers London relies on to function.

Have you not noticed the number of shops, bars, cafes, restaurants, museums, tube stations etc there are in London? How much were you expecting their staff to earn...?
Less obviously visible but see also nursery workers, cleaners, HCPs, hospital Porters etc. All these people need to live in, or within easy reach of London.

Yes, it's a bigger than average 1-bed. Great location too.

Stonker of a view of the two Londons this thread. particularly love the couple on £73k who are finding things a bit tight.

Handstich had great advice, but it will be very tight to live alone on 30.

yes, being a couple makes things much easier and I reckon a lot of people end up living together when they otherwise might not for that reason

Maybe she’s paying higher rent, not sure exactly as we are her parents, not her bank manager. Her council tax is astronomical, but it’s a nice flat. She joined gym before her promotion so we just pay direct debit as she couldn’t afford it. It’s about £120 a month. Lenses are about £40. Not huge amounts but they add up. She should see rewards of her hard work.

You sound very sweet and I do the same for my children, but it's shocking how privileged one has to be to live a good life in London.

I had at least three friends that just purchased flats in cool areas a year or two after leaving university, I couldn't understand it. I pressed them on this and discovered bank of mum and dad had stumped up deposits and stood as mortgage Guarantor. ( My parents were working class, but I had the advantage of having parents who lived in inner London, so had a base to live when I moved back to London after Uni). So even I'm guilty of this privilege.

Your DD no doubt goes out socially in London and that's very very expensive, £120 on a Friday night is very very easy thing to do.

dh earns 40k we cant afford to live in london so no im not surprised-dont know how your single collegauses afford to if they really are living alone

@CaronPoivre that is crazy prices!

I'm at a fancy pants gym in centra London - nuffield health - and pay £74 a month. 120 is extortionate.

When my daughter was earning £28k in London she lived in a house share and then a small flat with a friend and just about managed. Would be very difficult on £30k by yourself. She’s earning nearer £40k now but still easier sharing. Rents are so expensive in London now.

I've lived in London all my life and know hardly anyone who earns as much as £30,000, but most Londoners I know live in social housing. The people who don't have to share and I know people in their fifties and sixties having to hop from one houseshare to another every few years. Others in their thirties and forties are still living with their parents. We desperately need rent caps and more social housing.

Absolutely your daughter should see the results of her hard work and there is nothing wrong with treating your children… But it still doesn’t fully add up.

I started out in London on 38k paying similar rent for a flat with my boyfriend, I needed zero help from my parents, spent what I liked without being frugal and had subscriptions/ memberships (my gym was 25 quid a month but it is basic!) Why would your DD sign up to a £120 gym she couldn’t afford before getting a promotion?

I work in marketing for those who asked

Stonker of a view of the two Londons this thread. particularly love the couple on £73k who are finding things a bit tight.

Why though? I would find that tight with todays housing costs & particularly childcare costs.

120 is extortionate.

I agree! I would never pay that, way too tight!

London is a tale of two cities.

Those in LA housing can live quite well on £30k. Those who aren't in social housing need much higher salaries.

Life is lived cheek by jowl in London. There can be a couple of hundred yards between a gang ridden estate and a 2.5m house. The estate may have allocated parking; the £2.5m House may have on street parking in a small residents' parking zone where one has to pay hundreds to park 150 yards from your house.

I'm a Londoner & don't know anyone who didn't buy without help eg cash gift & living at home for cheap rent. Not insignificant help either, 6 figure help. The problem now is for many people a good salary isn't enough to buy, you also need family help.

@finallydones I don't think I said they were finding things tight. I think I said they could live a modest London life with a couple of modest holidays. Not living the dream in London.

Those in LA housing can live quite well on £30k. Those who aren't in social housing need much higher salaries.

There is the vast middle ground too though, people like my parents who have very expensive houses but paid very little for them & had "normal" jobs.

@RosesAndHellebores ? I'm too tight to pay £120 for a gym membership! If you're lucky to work for a big name company you normally get a discounted gym on site anyway.

People often don't give all the details of their whole living situation.

To talk to my colleague casually you'd think she lives alone, she doesn't. She had parents help with deposit for a 3 bed flat and two old school friends rent rooms from her.

Another friend lives with her sister.

Another friend lives in a studio alone but its really grim, riddled with damp, in an awful area a very long walk to decent transport.

Loads will live in zone 4/5/6 in places you've never heard of.

I got very lucky and rented a one bed flat for £700 a month in ok condition in Syndenham (this was 2017) I was on £30k at the time. It was a bit of a stretch but it felt so good not to have to share my space with anyone.

I've never seen anything as cheap again. I only lived there a year then moved in with my now husband.