Is £85k a good salary in London (family)?

[SleepDreamThinkHuge]

You may have been aware of a recent Twitter post where one guy was saying £85k a year in London for a family means you will still struggle. Other posters were saying it is not comfortable and definitely not rich. Others were also saying that £85k means your income is higher than 95 percent of the population in the UK. And some have mentioned just because you are £85k you do not need to send your child to private school it is a choice or buy a financed car.

Where do you stand? I can see both arguments but as someone who lives in London how I would love to earn £50k+ let alone £85k. Working in the public sector in a job I like means I earn just over £32k. In the near future, could earn closer to £50k in the next 5 years if I train, and take a more team leader/management responsibility. I think I am not the only one. A lot of people assume just because you live in London you are guaranteed to earn over £50k easily. Many professions are earning less than £50k in London (nurses, teachers, some doctors, police, public sector workers, banking staff in branches etc...

Grad salaries in London start at 30k so it must be possible.

They will be if they have childcare. Stop and critically evaluate the facts. Actual facts.

@Botw1 I know lots of families with household incomes of around £85k that don’t have any holidays. If almost all of your income is taken for housing and childcare, there are no luxuries. Whereas I have a friend with that income that goes on holiday to Florida every year…but her mortgage is £200 per month!

Please do tell us your household income AND expenditure.

Its around £4, 757 per month to live off. That's one person's wage. Even in London it's doable I think some have lost sight of reality.

Like posters are saying on here they are earning 32k and let's not forget all the people who will earn 20kish.

They missed out all the extras such as chb and UC.

And….they will be getting top ups to compensate for that. It’s almost as if no one reads the thread.

@Dibblydoodahdah

If your personal circumstances aren't relevant then neither are mine

Everyone that's fine on less than this income must have either bought a long time ago / with a big deposit or rent in social housing. I was in a help to buy 2 bed that was 875 in zone 6 (massively under market value) and we were very comfortable with no kids on a similar salary to this. When I was on 38k I lived in a studio in zone 5, so no idea how these families are doing it !

We are on close to £95 but don't live the high life in Brighton, have a small 3 bedroom house because of the location we choose to live in and step out in to. Good parts of London have equivalent house prices for similar stock. However, we have a big deposit and don't have young children that need childcare after school or nursery care. We both can WFH to be around for our secondary age children and don't have to pay for travel on those days. It is not straightforward though as we are early 40's so didn't have the windfall in property prices my elder brother did for example. At the end of the day though we choose to stay put in a very expensive location, schools tie us here but it is our choice so I suppose that money would go further in different parts of Brighton or not so appealing parts of London.

And many of them will be renting a room in a house share or living with parents on a vastly reduced rent/expenditure.

The average rental on a 2 bed flat in my grotty area of SE London is £1400. This is before council tax, bills and food so a high salary doesn't last as far as in other places.

@Botw1 as I said I wasn’t complaining about my situation, I was being empathetic to others but you clearly aren’t able to do that.

Do tell us how much UC you get, how cheap your council house is….

Yes, I did but I don't agree with the sentiment and I don't think it is true of British people. I literally said that thinking about this in terms of class may not be a good way to think but unlike the U.S British culture does focus on class (probably less so now than it used to to be fair)

@Dibblydoodahdah

What an odd presumption to make.

@Emotionalstorm I lived on £20k in London 20 years ago as a graduate but it was bloody tight after I had paid my rent, graduate loan (for post-grad fees) and travel card. I lived in a scummy house share in zone 4. I worked with many grads who had a comfortable life on the same income…because they lived with their parents, their parents bough them a flat, their parents supplemented their monthly income…

Talk about disingenuous, besides it depends on context, how big is your deposit, childcare etc.

@Lostinalibrary I have read the thread. I understand London is expensive and its mainly the rent that is the issue as well as travel costs.

You won't get top ups on 32k. No need to be rude.

Perhaps @Goldenbear gives a good point. It's difficult if you have schools and family to consider nobody wants to just up sticks.

However I feel these posts always bring the same if your paying £2000 on a mortgage this is a luxury and an element of CHOICE. You are able to live in a nice area this is a choice again. It might not buy you yearly holidays but maybe that's the trade off.

Someone being topped up isn't anyway near taking home nearly £5k a month. If you feel it is why don't you take a lower paid job? @Lostinalibrary

https://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php

Breakdown of £85k salary

It’s lost on them; our household income is significantly higher than the op - so no beef here. We are also out of the childcare trap. I can see quite easily how and £85k salary disappears with 40% tax, childcare fees in the £0000s, commuting costs to work. With no UC, CHB or other help, it will get incredibly tight. 3 holidays a year they are not having! People just don’t think critically nowadays. People are set in their opinion and won’t change it - even when evidence suggests otherwise.

Nursery fees iny area is £100 a day so a full time place would cost £2k, which is a full time salary for some people.

@Botw1 oh so you bought your house 25 years ago and can’t understand why people
starting out now in London/SE are struggling on an household income of £85k…or you don’t live in London/SE…

Just wondering why you are so lacking in understanding?!

My friend's one bed flat in London is now £1800 a month. It's not flash, and many of the flats in the building are housing association.

I really don't know how families live in the area. I was last on about £40k as a top of scale classroom teacher. The rent and council tax of that flat would have used every penny of my take home pay. So a normal classroom teacher with London allowance would be in the same position.

Its good if you have low housing costs and no childcare costs. Otherwise it is very hard. Childcare in London is really another mortgage.

@Dibblydoodahdah

I'm not lacking in understanding.

I understand perfectly well that peon 85 are not destitute, even in London.

It's a good wage. Even in London.

I reserve my sympathy for those actually struggling

You won't get top ups on 32k.

Many people on £32k, and even more, will be (or could be) getting a UC top up.